Washington, DC – On Friday, Congressman Neal Dunn (Florida-02) introduced the Block Organ Transplant Purchases from China Act, or BLOCK Act, to prohibit federal reimbursement for organ transplants and related medical services when the organ’s origins cannot be verified. The bill would prohibit any organ transplant procedure that is not procured from an entity participating in the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) from receiving federal reimbursements to ensure that organ donation does not originate from illegal Chinese organ markets.

“The Chinese Communist Party has a long track record of human rights violations stemming from illegal organ harvesting in their own country,” said Congressman Dunn. “Communist Party authorities regularly target Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in China for this barbaric practice. The United States must do everything in its power to ensure that we are not participating in illegal Chinese organ harvesting. The BLOCK Act is an important step toward ensuring that healthcare providers are not complicit in this atrocity and hold anyone who knowingly participates in this practice accountable.”

“Forced organ harvesting in China is an atrocity that demands immediate action,” said Congressman John Moolenaar. “The BLOCK Act is a critical step in ensuring that no federal funds are used to support the illegal and inhumane procurement of organs tied to China’s brutal, state-sponsored campaign. This bill holds healthcare providers accountable, preventing any complicity in the trafficking of organs from innocent victims in China—many of whom are political prisoners, Uyghurs, and religious minorities. As we confront this horrific abuse, the United States must send a clear message: we will not be complicit in this appalling crime. Americans who participate in this violation of human rights will face severe penalties.”

“There is overwhelming evidence that China has systemically targeted ethnic and religious minorities for forcibly acquired organ donation and that the country regularly violates internationally-accepted rules regarding organ donorship,” said Congressman Gus Bilirakis. “We cannot remain silent in the face of these gross human rights violations and perpetuate the practice by offering a marketplace for the ill-gotten organs.”

Background:

In its 2023 annual report, the bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) covered a wide range of topics related to Beijing’s human rights violations and offered a list of recommendations to Congress and the Biden Administration. A top recommendation was to pass legislation to combat forced organ harvesting and sanction those involved in human trafficking.

Multiple reports indicate that China is a major harvester and trafficker of forcibly acquired organs. An exhaustive study in the American Journal of Transplantation found incriminating evidence suggesting that physicians in China participated in executions by organ removal.

Experts estimate that the human organ trafficking industry in China is worth $1 billion a year and is fueled by harvesting organs from China’s 1.5 million concentration camp inmates.

The BLOCK Act would prohibit federal reimbursement for organ transplants and related medical services if the transplanted organ cannot be verified as being procured from an entity participating in the OPTN and create civil penalties for healthcare providers who knowingly take part in a prohibited organ transplant.

Congressman Dunn is joined by Reps. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) and John Moolenaar (MI-02), who serves as Chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

Read the full text of the BLOCK Act here.