(Minghui.org) Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), issued an announcement on his congressional web page on October 30, criticizing Cisco’s involvement in the suppression of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). John Moolenaar (R-MI), Chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, joined Rep. Smith in spearheading this call for action..
Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI)
These two lawmakers are known for exposing human rights abuses in China. In a letter to U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer on October 29, they urged him to allow the case against Cisco Systems, Inc. to proceed, and determine whether the U.S. tech firm giant custom-designed a tool to aid the CCP in its systematic persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
In particular, they contacted the Solicitor General for Supreme Court cases to urge the Court to deny Cisco’s petition for a writ of certiorari in Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe I, which, they say, should be reviewed on its merits rather than delayed any further.
According to a recent Associated Press (AP) report, “A Cisco presentation reviewed by AP from [2008] said its products could identify over 90% of Falun Gong material on the web. Other presentations reviewed by AP show that Cisco represented Falun Gong material as a ‘threat’ and built out a national information system to track Falun Gong believers.”
In their letter, Rep. Smith and Moolenaar reiterated congressional intent and undermined the rationale behind Cisco’s petition. “Cisco’s argument that Supreme Court review is necessary now because the case harms American foreign policy gets things entirely backwards. Similarly, Cisco’s suggestion that Congress authorized the sale of the technology is false,” they wrote. “It is absurd to think that Congress would have supported the sale of a tool custom-designed to advance religious persecution.”
The lawmakers emphasized that, “American companies must not be complicit in furthering the CCP’s human rights abuses” and highlighted Congress’ past work to shine a spotlight on such crimes against humanity, ranging from congressional hearings to well-documented published reports.
In closing, Rep. Smith and Moolenaar asked Solicitor General Sauer to join them in recommending that the Supreme Court deny the petition, stating that the “Plaintiffs in the Cisco case have been waiting for their day in court since 2011 and the Supreme Court review would add unnecessary delay.”
“For nearly two decades, I have been sounding the alarm on the role of U.S. tech companies in aiding Chinese surveillance and the subsequent human rights implications,” wrote Smith, a senior lawmaker and China policy expert. “This case is a tragic example of the real-life implications of a U.S. company’s producing technology for the CCP—widespread persecution, harassment, intimidation, and even torture.”
The letter supplements Smith’s amicus brief, submitted this past April, in support of the Plaintiffs and in opposition to Cisco’s petition for writ of certiorari. In the brief, Smith asserted that federal law and U.S foreign policy have long focused on addressing and condemning human rights abuses in China.
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