[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4009 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 506
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4009
To provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to forced organ
harvesting within the People's Republic of China, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 5, 2026
Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Young, Mr. Johnson,
Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
July 27, 2026
Reported by Mr. Risch, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to forced organ
harvesting within the People's Republic of China, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Falun Gong and Victims of
Forced Organ Harvesting Protection Act''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> In this Act:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
the House of Representatives; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of
the Senate.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Forced organ harvesting.--The term ``forced
organ harvesting'' means the removal of one or more organs from
an individual by means of coercion, abduction, deception,
fraud, or abuse of power or a position of
vulnerability.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Organ.--The term ``organ'' has the meaning
given the term ``human organ'' in section 301(c)(1) of the
National Organ Transplant Act (42 U.S.C. 274e(c)(1)).</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FORCED ORGAN
HARVESTING WITHIN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF
CHINA.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose
the sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to each foreign
person included in the most recent list submitted under subsection
(b).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) List of Persons.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a list of foreign
persons that the President determines to have knowingly and
directly engaged in or facilitated forced organ harvesting
within the People's Republic of China.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Updates of lists.--The President shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees an updated list
under paragraph (1)--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) as new information becomes
available;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) annually thereafter until the date of
termination under subsection (h).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Form.--The list required by paragraph (1)
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a
classified annex.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this
subsection are the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Blocking of property.--The President shall
exercise all of the powers granted to the President by the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et
seq.) (except that the requirements of section 202 of such Act
(50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply) to the extent necessary to
block and prohibit all transactions in property and interests
in property of a foreign person on the most recent list
submitted under subsection (b) if such property and interests
in property are in the United States, come within the United
States, or are or come within the possession or control of a
United States person.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Inadmissibility of certain individuals.--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or
parole.--An alien included in the most recent list
submitted under subsection (b) is--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) inadmissible to the United
States;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) ineligible to receive a visa
or other documentation to enter the United
States; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (iii) otherwise ineligible to be
admitted or paroled into the United States or
to receive any other benefit under the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101
et seq.).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) Current visa revoked.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) In general.--An alien
described in subparagraph (A) is subject to
revocation of any visa or other entry
documentation regardless of when the visa or
other entry documentation is or was
issued.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) Immediate effect.--A
revocation under clause (i) shall, in
accordance with section 221(i) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1201(i))--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (I) take effect
immediately; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (II) automatically cancel
any other valid visa or entry
documentation that is in the alien's
possession.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Exception.--Sanctions under paragraph (2)
shall not apply to an alien if admitting or paroling the alien
into the United States is necessary to permit the United States
to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the
United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and
entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United
Nations and the United States, or other applicable
international obligations of the United States.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (d) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections
(b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person who violates,
attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of
regulations promulgated to carry out subsection (a) to the same extent
that such penalties apply to a person who commits an unlawful act
described in section 206(a) of that Act.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (e) Exception To Comply With National Security.--The
following activities shall be exempt from sanctions under this
section:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Activities subject to the reporting
requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947
(50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Any authorized intelligence or law enforcement
activities of the United States.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (f) Exception Relating to Provision of Humanitarian
Assistance.--Sanctions under this section may not be imposed with
respect to transactions or the facilitation of transactions for--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) the sale of agricultural commodities, food, or
medicine;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) the provision of humanitarian
assistance;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) financial transactions relating to
humanitarian assistance or for humanitarian purposes;
or</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) transporting goods or services that are
necessary to carry out operations relating to humanitarian
assistance or humanitarian purposes.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (g) Waiver Authority.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Waiver.--The President may, on a case by case
basis, waive the imposition of any sanction under this section
if the President determines such waiver is in the national
security interests of the United States.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Reports.--Not later than 120 days after the
date on which the President submits the first list under
subsection (b)(1), and every 120 days thereafter until the date
of termination under subsection (h), the President shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the
extent to which the President has used the waiver authority
under paragraph (1) during the 120-day period preceding
submission of the report.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (h) Sunset.--The authority to impose sanctions under this
section shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) Definitions.--In this section:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Admission; admitted; alien; lawfully admitted
for permanent residence.--The terms ``admission'',
``admitted'', ``alien'', and ``lawfully admitted for permanent
residence'' have the meanings given those terms in section 101
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person''
means an individual or entity that is not a United States
person.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with
respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a
person had actual knowledge, or should have known, of the
conduct, the circumstance, or the result.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) United states person.--The term ``United
States person'' means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) a United States citizen or an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United
States;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) an entity organized under the laws of
the United States or any jurisdiction within the United
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity;
or</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) any person located in the United
States.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 4. REPORT ON ORGAN TRANSPLANT POLICIES AND PRACTICES OF
THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the
National Institutes of Health, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report on the organ transplant policies and
practices of the People's Republic of China.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under
subsection (a) shall include--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) a summary of de jure and de facto policies
toward organ transplantation in the People's Republic of China,
including with respect to prisoners of conscience (including
practitioners of Falun Gong), other prisoners, and victims of
forced organ harvesting;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2)(A) the number of organ transplants that are
known to occur or are estimated to occur on an annual basis in
the People's Republic of China;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the number of known or estimated voluntary
organ donors in the People's Republic of China;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) an assessment of the sources of organs for
transplant in the People's Republic of China; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) an assessment of the time, in days, that it
takes to procure an organ for transplant within the Chinese
medical system and an assessment of whether such timetable is
possible based on the number of known or estimated organ donors
in the People's Republic of China;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) a list of all United States grants during the
10 years before the date of the enactment of this Act that have
supported research on organ transplantation in the People's
Republic of China or in collaboration between a Chinese entity
and a United States entity; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) a determination as to whether forced organ
harvesting within the People's Republic of China constitutes an
``atrocity'' (as such term is defined in section 6 of the Elie
Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public
Law 115-441; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note)).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall
be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 5. EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF GOODS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) In General.--The authorities and requirements to
impose sanctions authorized under this Act shall not include the
authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of
goods.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Good Defined.--In this section, the term ``good''
means any article, natural or man-made substance, material, supply or
manufactured product, including inspection and test equipment, and
excluding technical data.</DELETED>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Falun Gong and Victims of Forced
Organ Harvesting Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House
of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and
the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
(2) Forced organ harvesting.--The term ``forced organ
harvesting'' means the removal of one or more organs from an
individual by means of coercion, abduction, deception, fraud,
or abuse of power or a position of vulnerability.
(3) Intelligence community.--The term ``intelligence
community'' has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003).
(4) Organ.--The term ``organ'' has the meaning given the
term ``human organ'' in section 301(c)(1) of the National Organ
Transplant Act (42 U.S.C. 274e(c)(1)).
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Public and private organizations have persistently
expressed concerns regarding organ transplant policies and
practices in the People's Republic of China, including
allegations of forced organ harvesting of those targeted by
authorities of the People's Republic of China based on
religious beliefs, ethnic background, or other affiliations.
(2) The 2023 International Religious Freedom Report of the
Department of State stated, ``Civil society organizations
continued to express concern over reports that authorities [of
the People's Republic of China] forced members of religious
organizations, in particular Falun Gong members and ethnic
Uyghurs, to serve as organ donors.''.
(3) The Government of the People's Republic of China has
failed to provide a full, credible, and independently
verifiable response to repeated international calls for
increased accountability and transparency for its organ
transplant policies and practices, particularly allegations
related to forced organ harvesting.
(4) The United States Government, including the
intelligence community, has yet to provide its formal
assessment of allegations related to systemic organ harvesting
practices by the Government of the People's Republic of China,
including against Falun Gong practitioners.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States Government
should--
(1) investigate allegations of systemic forced organ
harvesting in the People's Republic of China, including
incidents involving Falun Gong practitioners; and
(2) condemn illegal, coercive, non-consensual, or non-
transparent organ procurement and transplantation practices,
including forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience.
SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FORCED ORGAN HARVESTING
WITHIN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
(a) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose the
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to each foreign
person included in the most recent list submitted under subsection (b).
(b) List of Persons.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a list of foreign persons
that the President determines to have knowingly and directly
engaged in or facilitated forced organ harvesting within the
People's Republic of China.
(2) Updates of lists.--The President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committe