Back to Dashboard
HRES-1259House2026-05-07International Affairs

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai detained by the People's Republic of China during future engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

YourVoice.Now Summary

The House asks the President to press Xi Jinping to free five people jailed in China — no law changes.

The details

You would see no change in your daily life from this. The House agreed to it on May 13, 2026, as a formal statement of opinion. It has no legal force. It spends no money and changes no law. In it, the House asks the President to press China's leader, Xi Jinping, to free five people it names. It wants those cases raised at meetings with Xi, including a summit expected in May 2026. The five are Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu, his wife Pang Yu, Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai. The House says Pang Yu and Pastor Jin have been denied medicine they need. Abbas, a retired doctor, vanished in 2018 and was later given 20 years after a closed trial. Jimmy Lai, who started the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, was given 20 years in February 2026. The House also asks the President to seek proof that the five are alive. It urges a push for their access to lawyers, family contact, and medical care.

Congressional Summary

This resolution calls upon the President to prioritize the humanitarian release of five specified individuals (Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Gao Quanfu and his wife Pang Yu, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, and Jimmy Lai) and others unjustly detained by China during future engagements with China's President Xi Jinping.The resolution also (1) urges the President to seek verifiable proof of life, access to independent legal counsel, family communication, and medical care for these detainees; and (2) reaffirms the U.S. commitment to defending political and religious freedom and advocating for the release of those unjustly detained for exercising such fundamental freedoms.

Details

Congress
119th
Chamber
House
Status
summarized
Action
Introduced in House
Action Date
2026-05-07
Date Added
2026-05-09
Source
Congress.gov →

Like reading a bill in plain English?

We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.

By default, we'll only email you once — when the app launches. Unless you opt in below, you won't receive anything else. We don't share or sell your email.