Introduced in House — H.R. 3737

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3737

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 4, 2025

Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To address Chinese Communist Party efforts to censor the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, and for other purposes.

Section 1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Tiananmen Massacre Transparency and Accountability Act.

Sec. 2. Findings

Congress finds the following:

(1)

June 4, 2025, is the 36th anniversary of the brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrations for democratic reforms held on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing.

(2)

For the past 36 years, the Chinese Communist Party and the Government of the People’s Republic of China has—

(A)

censored any mention of the brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing and in an estimated 400 other cities in the People’s Republic of China;

(B)

banned schools from teaching about the pro-democracy protests of 1989 and their brutal suppression on June 4th of that year by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA);

(C)

blocked internet search terms and removed content related to the June 4, 1989, crackdown;

(D)

disappeared the person known as Tank Man because of his courageous attempt to stop the advance of PLA tanks;

(E)

prevented the Tiananmen Mother’s group from publicly mourning or remembering their family members killed during the crackdown;

(F)

arbitrarily detained individuals who call for a full, public, and independent accounting of the wounded, dead, and imprisoned for participating in the spring 1989 demonstrations;

(G)

supported the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region’s suppression of the annual Tiananmen vigil which was, until 2020, the only commemoration allowed on the People’s Republic of China territory;

(H)

backed the arrest the organizers and participants of the annual vigil in Hong Kong, including Chow Hang-tung, Jimmy Lai, Joshua Wong, Gwyneth Ho, and Lee Cheuk-yan;

(I)

supported criminal schemes to silence critics of the People’s Republic of China in the United States according to Department of Justice indictments, including seeking to destroy a California sculpture park that contained statues commemorating the Tiananmen Massacre and plotting to disrupt the New York political campaign of a former Tiananmen student leader;

(J)

hid the fact that an estimated 1,000,000 people, from all walks of life, including students, government employees, journalists, workers, police officers, and members of the Armed Forces called for democratic reforms in 1989—seeking the elimination of corruption, accelerated economic and political reforms, protection of human rights, particularly the freedoms of expression and assembly—concerns that remain pertinent in China today; and

(K)

never acknowledged the use of excessive force nor apologized for the deaths and injuries caused by ordering the armed PLA troops and tanks into Beijing.

(3)

The United States Congress took steps, over the past 36 years, to mark the Tiananmen demonstrations and their violent suppression because of the profound impact the event has had on United States-People’s Republic of Chin relations and because commemorating Tiananmen was censored and banned in China and now in Hong Kong.

(4)

Section 7031(c) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118–47), as carried forward by Public Law 119–4, authorizes the Secretary of State to deny entry into the United States officials of foreign governments and their immediate family members about whom the Secretary of State has credible information have been involved, directly or indirectly, in … a gross violation of human rights.

(5)

Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes inadmissible any foreign person whose entry or proposed activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.

Sec. 3. Statement of policy

It is the policy of the United States to—

(1)

mark the solemn significance of the 1989 demonstrations and the impact the Tiananmen Massacre has had on United States-People’s Republic of China relations;

(2)

create strategies to address the Chinese Communist Party’s censorship and restrictions on the free flow of news and information that limit what the Chinese people know about the Party’s actions and what the world knows about China;

(3)

seek to secure the release of Jimmy Lai and any others jailed for participating in Tiananmen Massacre vigils;

(4)

use existing sanctions authorities to hold accountable the People’s Republic of China officials engaged in censorship actions, particularly those targeting United States technology platforms and United States citizens;

(5)

protect United States citizens and legal residents, including those seeking within the United States to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre or those publicly calling for democratic reforms in China, from intimidation or harassment by the Government of the People’s Republic of China or individuals acting on its behalf;

(6)

pursue criminal prosecutions under United States law to hold accountable the Government of the People’s Republic of China and those individuals acting on its behalf for engaging in transnational repression targeting United States citizens and legal residents;

(7)

raise in diplomatic exchanges with officials of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, as appropriate, the economic and strategic benefits for United States-China relations of transparency and an end to censorship, including about the Tiananmen Massacre; and

(8)

use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the United Nations to—

(A)

address censorship and restrictions placed on the free flow of news and information by the Government of the People’s Republic of China;

(B)

condemn the transnational repression campaigns conducted by the Government of the People’s Republic of China targeting United States citizens and legal residents; and

(C)

seek decisions by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the cases of individuals unjustly detained by the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region.

Sec. 4. Tiananmen Massacre Exhibition

It is the sense of Congress that the Librarian of Congress should work with relevant nongovernment organizations, such as the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and June 4th Memorial Association, to stage exhibits, in person and online, to showcase the history of the Tiananmen protests, highlight the stories of Tiananmen Massacre survivors who are now United States citizens, and demonstrate the enduring legacy on United States-People’s Republic of China relations of the pro-democracy demonstrations and their violent suppression.