Rep. Miller offered the following resolution:

            House Resolution No. 341.

            A resolution to urge President George W. Bush not to attend the opening ceremonies at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

            Whereas, The President of the United States, as the leader of the most powerful democracy, stands as the leader of Western democracies. This was true in World War II and during the Cold War, and remains true today. What the President of the United States does and says has influence around the globe. Attending the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in light of Chinese internal repression and support for outlaw regimes abroad would give undeserved approval to the People's Republic of China; and

            Whereas, The People's Republic of China has made their hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, a celebration of China's rise to great power status after a generation of economic progress under a liberalized economy. Yet this dramatic economic progress that has enriched the well-being of many Chinese takes place under the one-party rule that China has experienced for nearly 60 years; and

            Whereas, Once we had hope that economic progress in China would support political liberalization in Beijing and promote liberty and democracy in the world's most populous nation. The massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989 of democracy demonstrators by the Chinese security forces demonstrated all too clearly that the Chinese Communist Party would not accept democracy as a price of economic progress. China continues to violate human rights within its borders, with ethnic minorities and people of faith denied the right to simply state they are unhappy with their lives and rights under the Chinese government; and

            Whereas, China's record of dubious behavior extends to its international relations as well. China's support for rogue states that oppress their people is too extensive to be sheer coincidence. China's choice of friends reflects China's opposition to democracy and freedom. Chinese support for the Sudanese government's campaign in Darfur of ethnic cleansing, if not actual genocide, is but the most appalling decision by the Chinese government. The rulers in Beijing have also been key supporters propping up the governments of countries with extensive human rights violations, such as Burma, North Korea, and Zimbabwe; and

            Whereas, The Chinese people may be justifiably proud of how quickly China has claimed a place on the world stage through hard work that has transformed a backward agrarian state into a major industrial exporter. Yet the celebration in Beijing this summer is not one that elevates the Chinese people. The 2008 Summer Olympics will be used by the rulers in Beijing to bolster the monopoly of power those rulers maintain. The approval of the world will allow the Chinese government to continue policies that violate standards of human rights at home and abroad. No leader of the Western world should appear to validate that kind of celebration; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge President George W. Bush not to attend the opening ceremonies at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; and be it further

            Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States of America.