119-hr2522

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2522 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2522

 To designate the area between the intersections of 18th Street 
Northwest and Church Street Northwest, and 18th Street Northwest and P 
Street Northwest, in the District of Columbia as ``Jimmy Lai Way'', and 
 for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 31, 2025

 Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Moolenaar, Mr. 
 Krishnamoorthi, and Mr. Suozzi) introduced the following bill; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and 
 in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
 of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To designate the area between the intersections of 18th Street 
Northwest and Church Street Northwest, and 18th Street Northwest and P 
Street Northwest, in the District of Columbia as ``Jimmy Lai Way'', and 
 for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONDEMNING THE ARBITARY DETENTION OF JIMMY LAI IN HONG KONG.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds the following:

    (1) Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, a Hong Kong democracy advocate, 
 media entrepreneur, and a British citizen, has been in prison 
 since December 2020 on multiple fabricated charges, and is 
 serving a sentence of almost 6 years in prison under 
 politically motivated fraud charges, concurrently serving two 
 other sentences, one for joining a vigil to mark the 1989 
 Tiananmen Square Massacre, and another for participating in 
 peaceful protests in 2019.

    (2) Jimmy Lai is held in solitary confinement for 23 hours 
 and 10 minutes each day, with only 50 minutes for restricted 
 exercise and limited human contact or access to daylight. He 
 suffers from diabetes and has experienced significant weight 
 loss and increasing frailty since being imprisoned. He was 
 denied access to independent medical care.

    (3) The Apple Daily newspaper which Jimmy Lai founded and 
 published was forced by the authorities in Hong Kong to close 
 in June 2021, and the parent company Next Media was delisted 
 from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under government coercion in 
 January 2023, severely restricting the free flow of news and 
 information that undergirded Hong Kong role as a major 
 financial center.

    (4) On August 10, 2020, Lai was charged with ``collusion 
 with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger 
 national security'' under Article 29 of the National Security 
 Law, charges levied in part because of meetings taken with 
 United States officials, including those during the first 
 Administration of President Donald J. Trump (2016-2020) and 
 supporting publicly the policies pursued at that time by the 
 Administration.

    (5) Jimmy Lai's meetings with former United States 
 Government officials and public figures, including the Vice 
 President, Secretary of State, Speaker of the House of 
 Representatives, and Consul-General in Hong Kong have been 
 cited by the prosecution in the court proceedings.

    (6) Lai trial under the National Security Law began in 
 December 2023 and is ongoing.

    (7) A group of United Nations experts, being alarmed by 
 multiple and serious violations of Lai's rights, including the 
 right to a fair trial and access to a lawyer of his own 
 choosing, called for his immediate release.

    (8) The minimum sentence required under the National 
 Security Law is 10 years imprisonment, and therefore it is 
 possible that Lai could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

    (9) In 1997, the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty 
 over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China

    (PRC) with 
 guaranteed that fundamental rights are protected under both the 
 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, which 
 enumerate specific rights and freedoms including those of 
 speech, of the press, and of assembly.

    (10) The Government of the People's Republic of China has 
 repeatedly undermined Hong Kong's autonomy since, in particular 
 since the Umbrella Movement protests in 2014, the mass 
 prodemocracy protests in 2019, and the imposition of the 
 draconian National Security Law in 2020.

    (11) Since its enactment in June 2020, the National 
 Security Law, unilaterally passed by the National People's 
 Congress Standing Committee and enforced by officials in Hong 
 Kong as a pretext to repress legitimate and peaceful speech, 
 assembly, and expression of political opinions.

    (12) Jimmy Lai stands for the values of democracy, human 
 rights, respect for the rule of law, religious freedom, freedom 
 of expression, and media freedom, and is prosecuted and 
 persecuted by the PRC's proxies in Hong Kong solely because of 
 his opinions and activities in pursuit of these values.

    (b) Sense of Congress.--Congress--

    (1) condemns the unjust imprisonment, mistreatment, and the 
 show trial of United Kingdom citizen Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong;

    (2) calls upon the Hong Kong authorities to release Jimmy 
 Lai immediately and unconditionally and cease prosecuting him 
 and others charged under the National Security Law;

    (3) reaffirms the importance of the freedom of speech and 
 the right of publishers, journalists, and media workers in Hong 
 Kong and around the world to operate free from intimidation, 
 harassment, repression, censorship, and fear;

    (4) recognizes that the severe restrictions on the free 
 flow of news and information from Hong Kong impacts the ability 
 of individuals, corporations, and diplomats to make decisions 
 about travel, investments, and political conditions in Hong 
 Kong;

    (5) urges the Secretary of State and other relevant 
 Department of State officials to advocate for the release of 
 Jimmy Lai by raising his case with officials of the Hong Kong 
 Special Administrative Region and People's Republic of China;

    (6) urges the Secretary of State to employ the financial 
 sanctions found in the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act 
 and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act for Hong Kong officials 
 complicit in the arrest and prosecution of Jimmy Lai and other 
 political prisoners in Hong Kong;

    (7) urges the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
 Rights to hold a special session and appoint an impartial and 
 independent United Nations mechanism to evaluate, monitor, and 
 report on a range of human rights violations in the People's 
 Republic of China, including the impact of the National 
 Security Law on human rights in Hong Kong, as requested by over 
 United Nations Special Experts in 2020; and

    (8) urges the Government of the United Kingdom and all 
 governments that view extension of human rights, the rule of 
 law, and an end to censorship as critical aspect of their 
 national and economic security to call for all charges against 
 Jimmy Lai to be dropped, the trial to end, and for the 
 immediate and unconditional release of Jimmy Lai.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF ``JIMMY LAI WAY'' IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

    (a) Designation of Street Name.--

    (1) In general.--The area between the intersections of 18th 
 Street Northwest and Church Street Northwest, and 18th Street 
 Northwest and P Street Northwest in the District of Columbia 
 shall be known and designated as ``Jimmy Lai Way''.

    (2) Reference.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
 document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
 area referred to in paragraph

    (1) shall be deemed to include 
 ``Jimmy Lai Way''.

    (b) Designation of Address.--

    (1) Designation.--The address of 1520 18th Street Northwest 
 in the District of Columbia shall be redesignated as 1 Jimmy 
 Lai Way Northwest.

    (2) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
 document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
 address referred to in paragraph

    (1) shall be deemed to be a 
 reference to 1 Jimmy Lai Way Northwest.
            (c) Signs.--The Administrator of General Services shall construct 
street signs that shall--

    (1) contain the phrase ``Jimmy Lai Way NW'';

    (2) be similar in design to the signs used by the District 
 of Columbia to designate the location of Metro stations; and

    (3) be placed on--
        (A) the parcel of Federal property that is closest 
 to 1 Jimmy Lai Way Northwest (as redesignated by 
 subsection

    (b)

    (1) ) in the District of Columbia; and
        (B) the street corners of 18th Street Northwest and 
 Church Street Northwest, and 18th Street Northwest and 
 P Street Northwest, in the District of Columbia.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING MAIL DELIVERY BY THE UNITED STATES 
 POSTAL SERVICE TO 1 JIMMY LAI WAY.

 It is the sense of Congress that the Postmaster General should 
recognize any mail which is addressed to the Hong Kong Economic and 
Trade Office at ``1 Jimmy Lai Way'' in San Francisco, California, or 
New York, New York, with the appropriate postal codes, and should 
deliver such mail to--

    (1) 130 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California 94104; 
 or

    (2) 115 East 54th Street, New York, New York 10022, as the 
 case may be.
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