space out there, there are things going on but we do not have a lot of coverage exactly. is this something that we should be concerned about? >> i think that we should understand, that as the pressure is applied, in -- as it was in iraq and afghanistan, as the people of pakistan are applying pressure, this will not necessarily end the activity. .

we could not ask for better partner. i look forward to continuing that relationship. thank you for testifying. we look forward to working with you. with that we shall adjourn. >> thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2008] >> student leaders from the 1989 tiananmen square protest war in washington yesterday talking about human rights in china. that is next on c-span. and topics at 7:00 include

president obama's trip to the middle east and health care legislation. washb" washington journal" is ey day at 7. >> this weekend, the midwest's largest literary event on saturday starting at 11:00 eastern and throughout the day. panels and offers on the economy, globalization and the american worker, homosexual rights, the former illinois gov. blagojevich, civil rights and so john netroots, the mob and counterfeiting, and a look at an altar. then stanley greenberg on advising many great leaders. he is interviewed by mary matalin.

and on sunday bill ayers, university of illinois professor. we will discuss his latest book. he will take your calls as well as questions from the audience at the literary festival. for a complete schedule of programs and times, go on line. >> now a portion of a rally marking the 20th anniversary of the tiananmen square protests in beijing, china. hundreds were killed in the government crackdown that followed. the event was held on the west lawn of the u.s. capitol building. >> jim, are you ready? >> i am ready. i would like to welcome you to the 20th commemoration anniversary of the tiananmen square movement.

we are here to remember the brave and honor the fallen. we are here to call for truth, because truth is the underbelly of tyranny and it's the most powerful sort of freedom. to bring invocation and true to our work, i would like to call rev. bob to give the indication. bob. >>[applause] >> let's pray. temple[speaking in a foreign-lae

]

[speaking in foreign language]

amen. dear heavenly father, today on this special occasion, we come before you with praise and worship in one accord.

it is our father in heaven who washes our tears as we repent and confess our sins. we have gathered together in remembrance of this day every year for the past 20 years. we have witnessed the wonderful works that you, our god, the creator of heaven and earth, and created in your image. today we gather to remember the victims in tiananmen square massacre and those who fight for righteousness. we pray that you receive those victims and look over their families. we will not live for ourselves from now on, but live for you. we are scattered around the

world. we pray that when the right time comes, were called to go back to our own country, our home where we love deeply. dear heavenly father, we keep your commands. although those who committed the massacre has not confessed their evil doings. we forgive those who have tom does and leave the judgment to you. because we believe it is wrong to avenge. we know that their thoughts are not our ways. their ways are not our ways. we trust in your deep love and in your wisdom. lord, we have been wandering in the wilderness for a long time. once again, we pray that the

lord opens china's doors. let us return to the land of our fathers without fear. we are here to pray for china's freedom. let the holy spirit to move into that plant swiftly. set your people free from all the bondage throughout time. deliver your people from evil since wher. where the spirit of the lord is, there is freedom. may you redeem your land. may your righteousness sigh all over china. may your mercy and love for 0 from heaven like a mighty river upon the land. in jesus christ's holy name ,amen. may god bless all of you. thank you.

>> thank you, bob. i'm very pleased to call to the podium harvard fellow, president and founder of the initiative for china, a former political prisoner in china and veteran of the tiananmen square democracy movement. dr. leee. >> ladies and gentleman [ speaking in chinese]

ladies and gentlemen, we gather today with one voice calling for truth. after the passage of 20 years there are those today who wish to cloud the legacy of 10 and then by saying democracy has many forms and western-style democracy is not for china. some even say the chinese people do not want democracy. some say that for the sake of stability, china needs a strong single party government -- single-party government. analysis of this reasoning quickly reveals itself as self- serving rhetoric devised to rationalize the legitimacy of

absolute power. if one accepts this logic, then one must also accept the concept of slavery, that some people actually decide to be slaves, that one human being actually has the right to tell another human being how to think, how to pray, and how to associate. the absurdity of this logic is evident. freedom and democracy may indeed have many faces, but freedom, democracy in whatever form, have a common foundation. that foundation is truth. we are here today to call for truth. without truth, there's no basis for any relationship between people and between nations.

we are here today to ask why the chinese government is so afraid of the truth. we are here today to call on the government of china to confront truth, to acknowledge what happened on the morning of june 4, 1989. we call on the chinese government to end the blacklist of people who participated in tiananmen. we call on the chinese government to end its harassment of the best and brightest citizens who dared to speak the truth, in particular, we call on the chinese government to release the signer of the charter and to another person who is in solitary

confinement for his lifelong advocacy of democracy. most of all, we call on the u.s. government and like-minded defenders of freedom to support truth by supporting an open and free internet for all people. the technology to bypass the firewall constructed by tyrannies to broublock the truth from their people, to enslave their minds. wthe democracies of the world have opened the internet to millions of people in vietnam and north korea. we have destroyed these firewalls and struck a blow to the tyranny much in the same way the berlin wall brought an end

to communism in europe. we are here today to remember, but we are also appeared to call for truth. it is truth that tyrannies fear most. it is truth that builds stable societies and create international stability. we must demand truth from the government of china. we must pick up the call of foreign brothers as we brought democracy into tiananmen square. the chinese people erected a statue of the goddess of democracy. long live free them. long live democracy. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, doctor.

i am extremely pleased to call one of the most fervent voices in congress for freedom, democracy, and human rights. the most honorable greg smicraih of new jersey. [applause] >> thank you so much. thanks to each and everyone of you for being here today. on this very important remembrancer of tiananmen square. my friends, the brave and tenacious heroes of tiananmen square will never be forgotten, nor will their big sacrifice. for some it was torture and for others it was death. their sacrifice will never be in vain. i truly believe that future generations of chinese and other advocates of democracy worldwide will forever honor their courage, vision, and

belief in democracy. the chinese people deserve no less. it is a matter of when, not if, that democracy will come to china. 20 years after the incident, a pro-democracy advocates remain in concentration camps, subject to torture and degradation. on several trips to china, and another congressman have been in that prison. we stayed a couple of hours. we saw men and women with their heads shaved. they looked like concentration camp victims from the second world war. right before the beijing olympics when all the world community was gushing over the chinese dictatorship we went over and gave a list of political prisoners, including some who were there at tiananmen and remain incarcerated. the chinese government took the list and laid it aside. not one of those individuals have been released.

the tiananmen square massacre was a turning point in china, and not for the better. the hard-liners in beijing have since unleashed unprecedented cruelty on labor activists, political prisoners, religious believers, and have committed massive crimes against women and children through forced abortions. the ugly spirit of tiananmen square massacre continues today unabated throughout china, with brutality and efficiency that only a nazi could love. with some notable exceptions, including last year's savage crackdown on the tibetans, the chinese leadership has taken their murder and torture behind closed doors, where the cries and screams and tears of

thousands of dissidents are heard by no one except the torturers, themselves. for its part, the international community has failed to seriously challenge, oppose t 's massive human-rights violations, including the weak response of the united states of america. that must change. when u.s. secretary of state clinton visited china a few months ago to talk about treasury bonds, she said human rights should not be allowed to "interfere with that and other issues." that attitude enables the chinese dictatorship to continue brutalizing its own people. while i respect president obama's outreach to the muslims in cairo today, that event truly

could have been scheduled for any other day but the transie20h anniversary of tiananmen square. that priority. this solemn remembrance of the victims of the mass murder of tiananmen square and the oppression of their bodies, but not their hopes, by tanks should have been the white house priority today. there is bipartisan support on capitol hill. republicans and democrats care deeply about human rights in china, but we need to more than just say and tulk wordalk. it's time for deeds. we need to link human rights with trade and other parts of our relationship. next week secretary geithner will be in china pushing

treasury bills to finance the u.s. debt once again. we should be talking about human rights. we should be visiting at every level the men and women who languish in prison and suffer unspeakable agony. that should be our priority and after that the trade and economic issues. human-rights first. you are here as a witness. someday, god willing, will be free. thank you very much. >> [man shouting in the crowd at the congressman] >> i would like to address the gentlemen in the back screaming. we hear you. i'm asking you to extend some courtesy to the people that are giving their time to speak to us as well. thank you. [applause] i am pleased to turn the podium over to mr. michael horowitz,

senior fellow at the hudson institute and a gentleman i have had the pleasure of knowing for the past few months. there's nobody that knows more about truth than michael horowitz. >> thank you. [applause] it is so much my pleasure to be here among heroes and to speak out for democracy in china. but i must tell you a confession. i do so for very selfish reasons. i am the grandfather of six beautiful children. and my certain view is that the hope they have and that the hope i have for them of a good life in the 21st century will wrest

more than on any other single factor, on freedom and democracy in china. we talk, as we should in washington, about a muslim terrorism, and it poses real threats to free people. but muslim terrorism cannot continue forever. the world will be upset, but not ultimately shaken by what these terrorist fanatics do. on the other hand, if china remains a democracy in the 21st century, my grandchildren, my children have the risk that there century will be even more bloody than mine in the 20th century has been. so that the heroes we celebrate today speak not only for china.

they speak for 21st century in which the world knows competition to build better computers, but better cars, better everything, and everybody wins from that competition, rather than a world in which we seek with increasing ability to destroy one another. and the key is democracy in china, and the heroes who fight for the world and for my grandchildren are the men and women here that we honor today. some of those heroes are practitioners who have in the face of unbelievable torture created internet freedom systems that the doctor spoke about, that will shatter the internet firewalls with which china

confines its own people. others are leaders of the church like offu bob fu, my friend. i think of him more as a texas man today. he brings the spirit of china and the spirit of texas to the issue of religious freedom for the churches in china who offer the people of china the life they must have and will have beyond the dictatorship. i think of people like the doctor at and all of the others here who sacrificed and whose example has set history in motion. make no imistake about it.

i also want to thank them as being an american. by being here, i know that your heart is in china, but by being here you are strengthening china. because you remind us as americans that we are the children of immigrants, who fled from dictatorships. you remind us of our roots and strengthen our resolve to fight for democracy in china and make us better americans. thank you so deeply for that. but i want to say to those of you here, perhaps the most important thing i can say, do not be discouraged. i know that the heroes of tiananmen must have days in which they think nobody cares anymore. there are such deep discouragements, because they don't see progress. a little bit more progress every

single day. the great thing i want to share with you is, that is not how history is made. history is not a process of gradual change until you reach victory. history is brave men and women, lonely, who keep that little candle, that little flame flickering, until magically, it seems, overnight it happens. what seemed impossible yesterday seems obvious and inevitable on that day. i have seen it in the civil- rights revolution in the united states. i have seen it with the soviet union. we think dictatorships are strong because they speak in a seemingly united way. we think we are divided and weak in democracy. dictatorships are fragile. so, everybody here, let us give

deep honor to the men and women who have shown even more courage than they did in tiananmen by fighting off the feelings of defeat, the bad days, and still working with all of their hearts and souls to keep that flame flickering, just keep it going, do not be discouraged. dictatorships are fragile. and you will bring down those walls. it may come a lot sooner than you think. you are more powerful than you know. we are so deeply grateful to follow in your path. thank you very much. and keep fighting for my grandchildren. you are going to give them a wonderful life. thank you. [applause]