HR 5838 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act
To state the policy of the United States with respect to religious freedom in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill establishes U.S. policy regarding religious freedom in China, stating that Chinese government officials responsible for abuses of religious freedom against minorities including Christians, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners may be subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. The bill directs the State Department to support efforts to promote international religious freedom in China and to monitor transnational repression of religious minorities by the Chinese government. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should designate China as a country of particular concern for religious freedom, strengthen diplomatic efforts on behalf of religious minorities, raise the cases of detained religious prisoners with Chinese officials, and call for the unconditional release of unjustly detained religious and political prisoners.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4] (R-MO)
5 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Oct 28, 2025 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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. · house
- Oct 28, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 28, 2025
Mr. Alford (for himself, Mr. Steube, Mr. Crenshaw, and Mr. McCaul) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 state the policy of the United States with respect to religious freedom in the People’s Republic of China, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act”.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
(a) Holding Officials of the People’s Republic of China Responsible for Religious Freedom Abuses.—It is the policy of the United States to consider that any official of the Government of the People’s Republic of China who is responsible for or has directly carried out abuses of religious freedom, including those involving arbitrary detention, forced sterilization, torture, forced labor, and serious restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, expression, and movement against religious minorities, including Protestant Christians, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners, in the People’s Republic of China may have committed a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights for purposes of imposing sanctions with respect to such official under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.).
(b) Department of State Programming To Promote Religious Freedom in the People’s Republic of China.—It is the policy of the United States—
(1) that the relevant bureaus of the Department of State, including the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, should support efforts to promote international religious freedom in the People’s Republic of China; and
(2) for programs of the Department of State to promote religious freedom in the People’s Republic of China and monitor transnational repression of religious minority groups engaged in by the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PROMOTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States should promote religious freedom in the People’s Republic of China by—
(1) designating the People’s Republic of China as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under section 402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)(ii)) as long as the Government of the People’s Republic of China continues to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom (as defined in section 3 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 6402));
(2) strengthening diplomacy relating to religious freedom on behalf of Christians and other religious minorities facing restrictions in the People’s Republic of China, including through the widespread engagement of international partners to combat abuses of religious freedom committed by the Government of the People’s Republic of China;
(3) raising the cases of religious and political prisoners at the highest levels with officials of the People’s Republic of China;
(4) calling on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to unconditionally release all unjustly detained religious and political prisoners and ensure that detainees who have not yet been released are treated humanely with—
(A) access to family, the legal counsel of their choice, independent medical care, and international monitoring mechanisms; and
(B) the ability to practice their faith while in detention; and
(5) encouraging the global faith community to speak in solidarity with oppressed religious groups in the People’s Republic of China. <all>
Comments