{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-cruz-colleagues-condemn-abduction-demand-release-of-pastor-ezra-jin/", "Cassidy, Cruz, Colleagues Condemn\u00a0Abduction, Demand Release of Pastor Ezra Jin", "2025-10-31", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "LA", "Bill Cassidy", "C001075", "www.cassidy.senate.gov", "cassidy", "https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced a resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party for the abduction of Pastor Ezra Jin and other leaders of the Zion Church and calling for their release.\n\n\u201cFaith isn\u2019t a crime. We need to call out China for once more targeting people of faith,\u201d said Dr. Cassidy.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party is conducting yet another sweeping crackdown on Christians, and they are again targeting Pastor Jin and the Zion Church. The CCP fears anything it cannot directly control, perhaps most of all, faith. The United States has powerful tools to provide protection and relief to people facing persecution and violence, and we should use those tools unless and until China releases the members of the Zion Church,\u201d said Senator Cruz.\n\nCassidy and Cruz were joined by U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV),Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tim Scott (R-SC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jim Justice (R-WV), and Rick Scott (R-FL) in introducing the resolution.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party\u2019s campaign of repression against Christians, including the targeting of churches such as the Zion Church, is a violation of fundamental religious freedom rights. I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of this resolution, which sends a clear message: faith is not a crime, and the United States condemns the recent alarming arrests of church leaders by CCP authorities,\u201d saidSenator Capito.\n\n\u201cThe abduction of Pastor Ezra Jin and the ongoing religious persecution against Christians in China is a tragedy and a violation to individual rights and freedoms. I strongly condemn the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s continued religious persecution of Christians, as well as believers of other faiths, and will continue to advocate for those being unfairly silenced,\u201d said Senator Grassley.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party\u2019s crackdown on Pastor Jin and the Zion Church is an attack on the God-given right to live out one\u2019s faith. I\u2019m joining this bipartisan resolution to condemn China\u2019s persecution of Christians and other religious minorities and to call for the immediate release of all those arrested. The United States stands with the persecuted and is committed to defending religious freedom,\u201dsaid Senator Tim Scott.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party\u2019s (CCP) track record of brutal religious persecution and oppression is evil and unacceptable, with the arrest of Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and members of the Zion Church as the regime\u2019s latest violation of religious freedom and human dignity. America must always stand on the side of religious freedom as a basic human right and commit always to condemning evil violations of this right around the globe. I\u2019m proud to join Senator Cruz on this resolution to condemn China\u2019s religious persecution and demand the immediate release of Pastor Jin and all those imprisoned for worshipping God,\u201d said Senator Rick Scott.\n\n\u201cEveryone deserves the right to practice their religion freely without fear. For years we\u2019ve seen the Chinese government terrorize, persecute, and disappear Uyghurs, Christians, Buddhists, and other religious minorities. Just in the last few days, they\u2019ve arrested Pastor Ezra Jin and other members of the Zion Church for simply doing what so many of us do each day: worshiping their God. I urge President Xi to release them along with all political prisoners,\u201d said Senator Coons.\n\nCompanion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House by Representative Andy Barr (R-KY-06).\n\n\u201cThe CCP\u2019s latest human rights violation is attacking and persecuting Christians. Senator Cruz and I are fighting to hold the CCP accountable if they continue targeting people of faith. We won\u2019t rest until they release Pastor Jin and all the other people of faith wrongly detained,\u201d said Representative Barr.\n\nBackground\n\nOn October 10, 2025, the Chinese Communist Party conducted the largest coordinated, nationwide crackdown against a Christian urban house church in over four decades. At least 22 pastors and church members from Zion Church, one of China\u2019s largest underground congregations, were arrested, including a prominent pastor and the founder of Zion Church, Pastor \u201cEzra\u201d Jin Mingri.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-cruz-colleagues-condemn-abduction-demand-release-of-pastor-ezra-jin/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.081459853798151, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}