Press Release
Smith calls on State Department to combat organ harvesting & traffickingSmith, Moolenaar, Dunn send letter to Sec. Rubio urging State Department intervention in China’s forced organ harvesting empireToday, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), joined Representative John Moolenaar (R-MI), Chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Representative Neal Dunn, M.D. (R-FL) in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the Department of State to deploy its existing Rewards for Justice authorities to “deter and disrupt the market for illegally procured organs” and “hold accountable those responsible for the gruesome practice” of forced organ harvesting in the People’s Republic of China. “For far too long, China’s state-sanctioned organ trafficking empire has been overlooked and operated unchecked,” said Smith, a senior lawmaker and China policy expert. “As a result, Uyghurs, Falun Gong practitioners, and other prisoners of conscience have suffered the consequences, having their organs brutally removed and sold for profit by CCP officials. “The State Department already has the funds and the authority to offer rewards for actionable intelligence; it is time that we deploy them to dismantle this illegal and gruesome billion-dollar industry and deliver justice to those whose lives have been mercilessly stolen.” Smith’s legislation to halt forced organ harvesting and trafficking Smith—who has chaired more than 107 congressional hearings on human rights abuses in China—is the author of the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2025 (HR 1503), a bill that passed the House with large bipartisan support by a margin of 406-1 in May of 2025. Smith’s legislation would authorize targeted sanctions—such as asset freezes, visa bans, and export restrictions—against any individual or entity the President determines is “funding, sponsoring, or otherwise facilitating” forced organ harvesting or trafficking for organ removal. The bill also requires comprehensive State Department reporting on forced organ harvesting and trafficking of organs both in China and throughout the globe. “While we continue to push the Senate to bring HR 1503 to a vote—which I am hopeful will occur in September—the State Department must use all of the tools at its disposal to disrupt this illicit global market for human organs, hold perpetrators to account, and deter future atrocities and human rights violations.” ### Contact: |