H.R. 4821 · 117th Congress

To hold accountable senior officials of the Government of the People's Republic of China who are responsible for or have directly carried out, at any time, persecution of Christians or other religious minorities in China, and for other purposes.

Introduced on Jul 29, 2021 by Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-4). 39 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Oct 11, 2022): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Jul 29, 2021
Cosponsors
39
0 from the other party
Policy area
International Affairs
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To hold accountable senior officials of the Government of the People's Republic of China who are responsible for, complicit in, or have directly persecuted Christians in China, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Asia
  • China
  • Detention of persons
  • Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
  • Foreign aid and international relief
  • Human rights
  • Immigration status and procedures
  • International organizations and cooperation
  • Lawyers and legal services
  • Members of Congress
  • Protest and dissent
  • Religion
  • Sanctions
  • Trade agreements and negotiations
  • Visas and passports

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Passed House, Sep 29, 2022). Public domain.

Combating the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act

This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should promote religious freedom in China and makes statements of policy related to such freedom. In particular, the bill states that it is U.S. policy to consider senior Chinese government officials who are responsible for the persecution of Christians or other religious minorities in China to have committed (1) a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights for the purpose of imposing certain sanctions, and (2) a particularly severe violation of religious freedom for the purpose of determining whether such an individual is admissible into the United States.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Vicky HartzlerR-MO-4Sponsor

Republicans · 39

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jul 29, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Jul 29, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Jul 29, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, 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.
  4. Jul 29, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, 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.
  5. Jul 29, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, 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.
  6. Jul 29, 2021 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
  7. Feb 8, 2022 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  8. Feb 9, 2022 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  9. Feb 9, 2022 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  10. Sep 28, 2022 · HouseMr. Castro (TX) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  11. Sep 28, 2022 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H8200-8203; text: CR H8200-8201)
  12. Sep 28, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4821.
  13. Sep 28, 2022 · HouseAt the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
  14. Sep 29, 2022 · HouseThe title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
  15. Sep 29, 2022 · HousePursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 1396, proceedings on H.R. 4821 are considered vacated.
  16. Sep 29, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: Pursuant to section 10 of H. Res. 1396, and the motion offered by Mr. Hoyer, the following bills passed under suspension of the rules: H.R. 1638, as amended; H.R. 3304, as amended; H.R. 4081, as amended; H.R. 4821, as amended; H.R. 6889, as amended; H.R. 6967, as amended; H.R. 8163, as amended; H.R. 8510, as amended; H.R. 8681, as amended; H.R. 8875, as amended; H.R. 8956; S. 1198; and agree to the Senate amendments to H.R. 5641.
  17. Sep 29, 2022 · HousePursuant to section 10 of H. Res. 1396, and the motion offered by Mr. Hoyer, the following bills passed under suspension of the rules: H.R. 1638, as amended; H.R. 3304, as amended; H.R. 4081, as amended; H.R. 4821, as amended; H.R. 6889, as amended; H.R. 6967, as amended; H.R. 8163, as amended; H.R. 8510, as amended; H.R. 8681, as amended; H.R. 8875, as amended; H.R. 8956; S. 1198; and agree to the Senate amendments to H.R. 5641.
  18. Oct 11, 2022 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. Association of American Universities5 reports
    $315K reported (all issues)
  2. CROPLIFE AMERICA1 report

Reports filed in 2023, 2024, 2025.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.