Marjorie Taylor Greene votes against sanctioning China over organ harvesting
Cami Mondeaux
Video Embed
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) voted against a bill seeking to impose sanctions on China over reports of human trafficking for the purposes of organ removal and harvesting.
The House passed the measure with a 413-2 vote, with only Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) voting against the legislation. The pair voted against the sanctions because it amounted to U.S. overreach, the lawmakers said, with Massie noting the legislation gave the president too much authority over imposing sanctions.
PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS JOIN MTG TO VISIT JAN. 6 DEFENDANTS IN DC JAIL
“The bill gives the President unilateral broad authority to sanction individuals and politicians without any adjudication or due process,” Massie told the Washington Examiner. “Furthermore, according to language in this bill, anyone who receives or offers compensation for an organ donation could be defined as an organ trafficker eligible for punitive actions from the US President.”
Greene echoed similar sentiments, calling the proposal a “flawed bill” that encourages increased U.S. involvement in global affairs.
“American politicians are elected by American citizens to protect American interests,” Greene told the Washington Examiner. “This bill, by promoting ‘the establishment of voluntary organ donation systems … in bilateral diplomatic meetings and in international forums,’ calls for non-American politicians, not elected by American citizens, to protect non-American interests. This is nothing more than another piece of legislation from the swamp that fails to put America First.”
The legislation was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) earlier this year and sought to impose sanctions on individual people from China who have been involved in forced organ trafficking. The legislation would require the State Department to revoke their passports, as well as anyone who has been convicted for “knowingly transferring any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation.”
Under the bill, the president would be required to provide Congress with a list of suspects who have participated in forced organ harvesting or human trafficking with the intent of organ harvesting. For each suspect on the list, the president must impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions, according to the legislation.
An identical version of the legislation has been introduced in the Senate, although it’s not clear when it may be brought up for a vote.
“There is growing evidence that the Chinese Communist Party has and continues to harvest organs from persecuted religious groups, prisoners of conscience, and inmates,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who introduced the bill in the Senate, said. “This bill will identify and punish CCP members involved in forced organ harvesting. It’s past time to hold Beijing accountable for these heinous acts.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The legislation stems from recent reports that China has become a major organ harvester, with lawmakers citing a study from the American Journal of Transplantation that found evidence of Chinese transplant surgeons removing organs before the donors were declared brain-dead.
Lawmakers previously introduced similar legislation in the last Congress, but it failed to make its way to a vote in either chamber.