US House passes Chinese Crackdown with 1 Dissenter - Guess Who

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution Wednesday calling on China to end its crackdown on Tibet and release Tibetans imprisoned for "nonviolent" demonstrations.

The vote was 413-1. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who recently dropped out of the presidential race, was the lone congressman voting against it. The resolution passed just hours before runners were to carry the Olympic torch on a six-mile route around San Francisco Bay. San Francisco, California, which is in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 8th District, is the only U.S. stop for the torch relay, which is wrapping up the first week of a 23-city international tour.

Pelosi and other House members introduced the resolution, which urges China to end the crackdown in Tibet and "enter into a substantive dialogue" with the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India. "It is my hope that the House of Representatives will send a clear message that we support the fundamental freedoms of the Tibetan people and a peaceful solution to the instability in Tibet," Pelosi said Tuesday on the House floor. "It is long past time for Beijing to reassess its failed policy to attack and demonize the Dalai Lama, and show the world it can have civilized discussions as a responsible world power," she said.

The resolution, which has no force of law, also asks the State Department to reconsider its decision to exclude China from its list of countries considered the "world's most systematic human rights violators," and calls Chinese officials to allow independent international monitors and journalists access to Tibet.
In the Senate, Sens. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, and Oregon Republican Gordon Smith introduced a similar resolution, The Associated Press reported.

By mid-morning, protesters were marching along the San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge, where on Monday three protesters scaled suspension cables and unfurled a large banner that read, "One World. One Dream. Free Tibet."
In some places in the city, protesters acted out violent confrontations between Chinese authorities and Tibetan monks. One protester moved through a crush of people in a makeshift military tank. However, pro-Chinese demonstrators also were out in droves, waving Chinese flags. In one incident, a man with a Tibetan flag snuck into a pro-Chinese crowd and a skirmish ensued. The pro-Chinese protesters surrounded the Tibetan demonstrator, yelling. No arrests were made.
San Francisco authorities have put up barricades around the flame's planned route. Police were also monitoring the protests from the bay, where they sat on jet skis and boats.

When the flame arrived in the city Tuesday, thousands of people chanted slogans and waved banners to demonstrate against China's human rights record, including its treatment of Tibet.
http://waronyou.com/2008/...

Their trying to say Paul dropped out ,again.