House Foreign Affairs hearing spotlights bills on Americans detained in China, Belarus sanctions and USCIRF reauthorization
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Summary
Members urged legislation and oversight to help Americans detained abroad, reauthorize the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and renew Belarus-targeted measures; lawmakers pressed for stronger diplomatic and enforcement tools.
Representative Chris Smith urged the House Foreign Affairs Committee to back legislation aimed at helping Americans he said have been unjustly detained in the People’s Republic of China and to reauthorize measures pressing Belarus to free political prisoners.
Smith told the committee he has proposed a bill to press the executive branch to develop a coordinated strategy to assist U.S. citizens detained in China. He described "well over 200 to 300" Americans he says have been accused or detained and recounted family testimony of abuse. "There is no due process of law," Smith said, adding that his measure would require the president to "devise a strategy" to assist those detained and to advocate for them before and after hearings.
Smith also urged reauthorization of the Belarus Democracy Act, first enacted in 2004, saying it previously allowed the United States to restrict visas and trade for individuals linked to President Alexander Lukashenko’s government. "It is the template for the Magnitsky approaches," Smith said, and he argued renewed authorities would provide the executive branch with targeted tools to pressure Belarusian officials and seek releases of political prisoners.
On religious freedom oversight, Smith called for prompt reauthorization of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). He described the commission as a bipartisan body whose reports help spotlight abuses "including and especially dictatorships like China," and he praised its fact-finding role in drawing attention when the State Department "subordinates" religious-freedom concerns to other diplomatic priorities.
The committee’s chair and other members did not vote on any of the measures during the hearing. Members discussed next steps for legislative drafting and oversight; several asked for prompt reauthorization work so the executive branch would have a ready set of tools for diplomatic pressure.
The committee adjourned without taking votes; members said their written statements would be entered into the record.