In Texas, Grassroots Support Grows for Countering CCP Forced Organ Harvesting

State lawmakers say Texans don’t want public money and institutions funding the CCP’s atrocities, and support legislation that would sanction perpetrators.

Falun Gong practitioners hold a rally outside the Texas State Capitol builindg in Austin, Texas, on July 20, 2024. Wu Xianglian/The Epoch Times

In recent weeks, 10 Texas state senators have written to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in support of legislation he introduced to dismantle the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) forced organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience.

Texas in 2023 became the first state to take a stand against the Chinese communist regime’s forced organ harvesting practice, enacting a law to block Texas health insurance providers from funding organ transplants in countries known to engage in forced organ harvesting. It was the first law of its kind in the United States, and four states have since passed their own laws to prevent public money from supporting forced organ harvesting.

The letters come from some of the state’s top lawmakers, who have responded to Texas Falun Gong practitioners’ efforts to raise awareness of the CCP’s persecution of religious minorities. In July, the practitioners had delivered about 9,200 signatures from Texans who support Cruz’s Falun Gong Protection Act to the nation’s capital.

The state lawmakers have come to stand in solidarity with the local Falun Gong community, welcoming them at the state capitol this year and last year on World Falun Dafa Day in May, and becoming familiar with local efforts to raise awareness of the religious persecution. Texas has in recent years also taken a proactive stance to curb CCP and foreign adversary influence with actions that include executive orders to harden institutions against CCP influence operations and the nation’s first law criminalizing transnational repression, which went into effect Sept. 1.

Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual discipline founded in China in 1992, teaches the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. Considered a religion in the United States, Falun Gong has been banned and targeted by the Chinese communist regime with a violent persecution campaign since 1999.

Its practitioners, who by official count once numbered 70 million to 100 million in China, were the first prisoners of conscience to fall victim to the regime’s practice of forced organ harvesting—the killing of healthy, nonconsenting prisoners to sell their organs for profit. Since then, evidence suggests the regime has expanded its targets to other groups it suppresses, like the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Texas Sen. Robert Nichols, who has served since 2007, is the most senior Republican in the state senate, and extended his support for the federal bill in an Aug. 21 letter.

“The evidence of regime-sponsored organ harvesting is overwhelming and shocking. Investigations, including the 2019 China Tribunal, have determined that these atrocities constitute crimes against humanity,” he wrote.

Texas Sen. Angela Paxton, who earlier this year sponsored a resolution commemorating May 13 as World Falun Dafa Day, also wrote Cruz to express support for the bill.

“During the 87th Texas Legislature in 2021, I pushed for the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, condemning the horrific practice of forced organ harvesting. Furthermore, during the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1040, taking a clear stand against this atrocity. This bill prohibits Texas health plans from reimbursing for organ transplants from countries that practice forced organ harvesting,” she wrote.

“It is fitting that Texas’ leadership should extend to the federal level through your efforts.”

Texas Senate Majority Leader Tan Parker condemned the CCP as well. “History will record how the world responds to these atrocities, and the United States cannot remain silent,” Parker wrote. “Your bill provides a vital mechanism for accountability and protecting innocent life.”

Texas Sen. Mayes Middleton added that the federal bill provides the tools needed to hold CCP perpetrators of forced organ harvesting accountable, “including sanctions, visa restrictions, and comprehensive reporting by the State Department. It also reaffirms America’s moral leadership in defending religious freedom and human dignity.”

Texas House Majority Leader Tom Oliverson, who introduced a resolution to commemorate May 13 as World Falun Dafa Day this year, urged Senate action on the bill.

Texas House Reps. Steve Toth, Terri Leo-Wilson, Wes Virdell, Denise Villalobos, and Mike Olcott also urged swift action in the Senate.

On Sept. 3, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also signed on to co-sponsor the bill.

A Falun Gong practitioner since 1996, Texas resident Harvey Han said he told state lawmakers that federal lawmakers had introduced legislation the same year Texas passed its law, but after passing broadly in the House, it never made it to the Senate floor.

This year, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) reintroduced the Falun Gong Protection Act, which passed unanimously in the House. The Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act (HR 1503) introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission as well as the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, also passed with overwhelming support in the House.

But there have yet to be any hearings scheduled for the Falun Gong Protection Act in the Senate.

“The people in Texas support this issue,” Han told The Epoch Times. “We hope that this time ... the state level can also influence the federal level, and give Senator Cruz the confidence ... and see the people’s willingness in Texas—‘They want me to pass this bill.’”