It gives me great pleasure today to be able to speak in support of the Falun Gong practice. The Falun Gong is a peaceful movement that is worthy of tremendous admiration for its courage in the face of harsh government persecution.

It is sad and truly disturbing to hear reports that at least one hundred Falun Gong practitioners were tortured last year. The world must unite so we can collectively continue to fight and end this cruel and outrageous maltreatment by the Chinese government.

It is our God-given right to freely express ourselves in any manner and not only must the Chinese authority recognize this simple human right, but they also must apply it to the Falun Gong.

As the great Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice."

Let it be known that we will continue to work diligently in this struggle for human rights so that one day this just cause will march victorious. We will overcome.

With that said I leave us with words from the Dalai Lama, "All human beings, whatever their cultural or historical background, suffer when they are intimidated, imprisoned or tortured....We must, therefore, insist on a global consensus, not only on the need to respect human rights worldwide, but also on the definition of these rights...for it is the inherent nature of all human beings to yearn for freedom, equality and dignity, and they have an equal right to achieve that."

Thank you and God bless.