 * Chen appeals for help in call to U.S. congress hearing 
 
 * Republicans criticize Obama's handling of the case 
 
 * U.S. officials continue talks with Beijing on Chen's fate 
 
 By Chris Buckley and Paul Eckert 
 
 BEIJING/WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng made a dramatic plea for help in a cellphone call to a U.S. congressional hearing from his hospital bed in Beijing, raising the pressure on President Barack Obama over his administration's handling of the case. He left the embassy shortly before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton arrived in Beijing for talks aimed at improving economic and strategic relations between the two superpowers. Via a cellphone held up to a microphone at the hearing, Mr. Chen, speaking in Chinese, said: “I want to come to the U.S. to rest. I have not had a rest in 10 years," Chen said, according to a translation by Bob Fu, the president of Texas-based religious and human rights group ChinaAid. He said villagers who had helped him were "receiving retribution" and he was most concerned about the safety of his mother and brothers, according to Fu's translation. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, accused the Obama administration of rushing to complete the deal before Mrs. Clinton arrived for the high level meetings and failing “to put in place the kind of verifiable measures that would assure the safety of Mr. Chen and his family.” 
 
 “If these reports are true,” Mr. Romney said as he campaigned in Virginia, “this is a dark day for freedom and it’s a day of shame for the Obama administration.” 
 
 Mr. Chen’s dramatic reversal from wanting to stay in China after his escape nearly two weeks ago from harsh house arrest in eastern China and his six-day stay at the American Embassy left the administration struggling to create a new solution that would satisfy Mr. Chen, and be amenable to the Chinese government. The American ambassador, Gary Locke, reiterated Thursday that Mr. Chen had not been coerced into leaving the embassy on Wednesday and insisted that the dissident lawyer had left of his free will after a plan had been worked out with the Chinese government that he and his family could relocate to a city close to Beijing where he would pursue his law studies. That achievement has unraveled, leaving the Obama administration open to attacks from rights activists and Republicans that it had failed to adequately protect Mr. Chen after he left the sanctuary of the United States Embassy here on Wednesday. American officials spoke to Mr. Chen by telephone Thursday, and met with his wife, Yuan Weijing, at a location near the hospital, the official said.
– A congressional hearing called today to discuss the plight of blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng got a first-hand perspective: Chen himself called in from his hospital bed in Beijing to ask for US help in leaving the country, reports Reuters. "I want to come to the US to rest," he said. "I have not had a rest in 10 years." He requested to meet with Hillary Clinton, both to seek help and to "thank her face to face." (Earlier, Chen told the Daily Beast he hoped to leave on her plane.) Chen also said he feared for those who helped him escape house arrest and for his family. "The thing I (am) most concerned (about) right now is the safety of my mother, my brothers, and I really want to know what's going on with them." Chen left the US embassy when the US and Beijing struck an apparent deal in which he would remain in China. But Chen changed his mind upon release, citing threats to his family. Republicans now accuse the White House of rushing into a bad deal ahead of Clinton's visit. "If these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom and it’s a day of shame for the Obama administration," said Mitt Romney, according to the New York Times.