It also maintains a database of prisoners of conscience, holds regular roundtables and hearings, and issues letters to other institutions concerning human rights matters.
[8] The commission consists of a staff of researchers and analysts and is overseen by as many as nine members each from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as senior executive branch officials.
[2] On December 23, 2022, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that Todd Stein, CECC deputy staff director, would be one of two individuals sanctioned by China with effect from the same day.
The order specified that this was in retaliation to the United States having sanctioned two Chinese officials earlier that month over human rights issues in Tibet.
[9] In an emailed comment to The Associated Press, Stein said the sanction order against him did not matter in light of the "thousands of prisoners of conscience jailed by Chinese authorities.