(Minghui.org) Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) introduced the Falun Gong and Victims of Forced Organ Harvesting Protection Act on March 11, 2026. The bipartisan bill aims to curb and sanction the crime of forced organ harvesting in China.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) (left) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) introduced the Falun Gong and Victims of Forced Organ Harvesting Protection Act on March 11, 2026.

The proposed bill enables the sanction of individuals responsible for forced organ harvesting from living victims. It directs the Secretary of State to provide Congress with a report on China’s organ harvesting policies and transplantation system, and the President to provide a list of foreign individuals deemed complicit in the act.

The bill requires the U.S. government to block all property transactions of foreign individuals who knowingly engaged in or facilitated in forced organ harvesting and make them ineligible for visas.

Sen. Ted Cruz said in a statement, “The Chinese Communist Party operates a brutal, state-sponsored organ harvesting industry that targets people for their faith. The CCP has in particular targeted Falun Gong practitioners, committing assaults on religious liberty and fundamental human rights.

“The United States should hold accountable those who have committed these atrocities, I’m grateful to Senator Merkley for joining me in introducing this critical bipartisan legislation and urge our colleagues to expeditiously advance it.”

Sen. Cruz stressed the importance of the bill, and said the CCP has persecuted Falun Gong for years and committed the horrific atrocity of forced organ harvesting. He called it a serious violation of human rights, and he asks people to work together to fight this atrocity.

Sen. Merkley said in his statement, “China’s campaign of repression and human rights abuses continue to have horrific consequences, including reports of forced organ harvesting from vulnerable groups across the PRC. We must stand up for the victims of these crimes, and our bipartisan effort holds the Chinese government accountable for its abuses.”

Answering a reporter’s question, Sen. Merkley said that in China, political dissidents often become victims of forced organ harvesting. According to him, the political dissidents usually are made up of Falun Gong practitioners or members of persecuted ethnic minorities such as the Uygurs. He explained that the bill aims to raise awareness of the atrocity and establishes corresponding sanctions. He said that anyone identified as having ties to such practices will face visa and economic sanctions.

Sen. Merkley said, “This sends a clear message to the CCP that this practice is absolutely unacceptable. I hope President Trump will raise this issue when he meets with Xi Jinping and make it a condition that, in dealing with issues such as US-China trade relations, both sides should take actions to stop this practice.”

According to the bill, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the secretary of Health and Human Services and the director of the National Institutes of Health, would need to submit a detailed report to Congress on the official and unofficial transplant policies in communist China. This would cover how the policies are used on prisoners of conscience, including Falun Gong practitioners, and other prisoners or victims.

The bill defines the term “forced organ harvesting” as “the removal of one or more organs from an individual by means of coercion, abduction, deception, fraud, or abuse of power or a position of vulnerability.” It requires the President to submit to Congress a list of individuals participating in such actions within 180 days of the law’s enactment, and the list should be updated annually thereafter.

Violating the sanction could result in a minimum of $250,000 civil fine, or a maximum of $1,000,000 criminal fine and 20 years of imprisonment.

Sen. Cruz introduced the Falun Gong Protection Act in March 2025, which was passed by the House of Representatives in May 2025.