“Congress is making it clear that beating, torturing and jailing democracy activists is wrong. We stand in solidarity with the people of Hong Kong,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., who led the House debate. “There will be strong sanctions, other ramifications, for this crackdown and abuse of power.”

The House had approved a similar bill last month, but acquiesced and passed the version approved by the Senate on Tuesday.

“Congress has done its job," said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "As the situation in Hong Kong nears a breaking point, President Trump must not waste any time in signing this critical bill into law.”

The measure requires that the U.S. secretary of state certifiy annually whether Hong Kong should continue to receive its special treatment under U.S. law; ensures that those arrested for participating in peaceful protests are not denied visas to enter the U.S.; requires sanctions against individuals responsible for forcing confessions, torturing protesters or committing other human rights violations; and calls for annual reports on whether Hong Kong is violating U.S. export control laws or United Nations sanctions.

Smith has sought to pass similar legislation since 2014 but the ongoing Hong Kong protests and China’s efforts to suppress them provided the impetus needed for the legislation. In September, he joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and some of the Hong Kong activists at a press conference in the U.S. Capitol.

He suggested that if Congress had heeded his call five years ago, the current crackdown might not have happened.

“It could well have had a chilling effect on what Beijing and the Hong Kong communist leadership is doing because then they would have said, ‘There is a predictable consequence. We could lose that special status,’" Smith said.