House overwhelmingly passes bill targeting China's forced organ harvesting

The U.S. House voted 413–2 to pass legislation taking aim at the Chinese Communist Party’s practice of forced organ harvesting. 

The Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023 would sanction anyone involved in forced organ harvesting or the trafficking of people for the purpose of organ removal. The legislation would also require government reports on forced harvesting and related trafficking. 

"Ethnic groups targeted for mass harvesting include Uyghurs—who suffer from Xi Jinping's ongoing genocide—and the Falun Gong, whose peaceful meditation and exercise practices—and exceptional good health—make their organs highly desirable," the bill's sponsor, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), said Monday after the bill passed. "The Chinese Communist Party has declared them to be an 'evil cult'—fit for butchering."

Civil penalties under the bill include a fine of up to $250,000 and criminal penalties include a fine of up to $1 million and 20 years in prison. 

Two Republicans, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), were the only lawmakers to vote against the bill.

"I voted against a bill aimed at stopping organ trafficking because it gives our President broad authority to sanction people without any adjudication & defines anyone who pays for an organ donation as an organ trafficker, punishable by the U.S.," Massie tweeted Tuesday.

Green called the act "flawed" and said it "encourages more US involvement in globalist organizations" by promoting voluntary organ donations. 

"This is nothing more than another piece of legislation from the swamp that fails to put America First," she wrote on Twitter.

The House passed a series of bills Monday taking aim at China as the communist country that has increasingly asserted its dominance on the global stage.