The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TAIWAN TRAVEL ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H57-H59 on Jan. 9, 2018.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TAIWAN TRAVEL ACT
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 535) to encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 535
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Taiwan Travel Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), enacted in 1979, has continued for 37 years to be a cornerstone of relations between the United States and Taiwan and has served as an anchor for peace and security in the Western Pacific area.
(2) The Taiwan Relations Act declares that peace and stability in the Western Pacific area are in the political, security, and economic interests of the United States and are matters of international concern.
(3) The United States considers any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States.
(4) Taiwan has succeeded in a momentous transition to democracy beginning in the late 1980s and has been a beacon of democracy in Asia, and Taiwan's democratic achievements inspire many countries and people in the region.
(5) Visits to a country by United States cabinet members and other high-ranking officials are an indicator of the breadth and depth of ties between the United States and such country.
(6) Since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, relations between the United States and Taiwan have suffered from insufficient high-level communication due to the self-imposed restrictions that the United States maintains on high-level visits with Taiwan.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS; STATEMENT OF POLICY.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United States Government should encourage visits between officials from the United States and Taiwan at all levels.
(b) Statement of Policy.--It should be the policy of the United States to--
(1) allow officials at all levels of the United States Government, including cabinet-level national security officials, general officers, and other executive branch officials, to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese counterparts;
(2) allow high-level officials of Taiwan to enter the United States, under conditions which demonstrate appropriate respect for the dignity of such officials, and to meet with officials of the United States, including officials from the Department of State and the Department of Defense and other cabinet agencies; and
(3) encourage the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, and any other instrumentality established by Taiwan, to conduct business in the United States, including activities which involve participation by Members of Congress, officials of Federal, State, or local governments of the United States, or any high-level official of Taiwan.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act, and I recognize Mr. Chabot for his longstanding dedication and support to the people of Taiwan.
Mr. Speaker, Taiwan succeeded in a momentous transition, a transition which took them to democracy. They did this decades ago, and since, it has become a beacon of democracy across the Asia-Pacific.
Taiwan is a strong friend and critical partner to the United States. Congress has been central to this longstanding bond, championing a strong relationship with Taiwan through a number of landmark measures, like the Taiwan Relations Act, impressing successive administrations to fulfill their obligation to sell defensive arms to Taiwan. Today, Congress continues this legacy with this Taiwan Travel Act, which has gained strong, bipartisan support.
We should encourage our officials to visit Taipei, to meet with their democratically elected counterparts on the many issues, the many programs, that we work on together, such as global health, commercial ties, global cooperation and training, the framework that we have in place. We should also welcome Taiwanese officials here.
Mr. Speaker, there are, in fact, no laws that bar our executive branch officials at any level from visiting Taiwan. The EPA Administrator in 2014 was the last executive branch official to visit Taiwan. A total of six Cabinet-level officials have visited Taiwan since 1979.
As our 10th largest trading partner, Taiwan deserves more attention. U.S. interests in the region deserve more respect. This bill encourages officials, at all levels of the U.S. Government, including Cabinet-
level officials, to travel to Taiwan to meet their counterparts and vice versa.
{time} 1515
Mr. Speaker, we must build stronger ties in our relationship with Taiwan.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act. I am pleased to have joined with Congressman Chabot in introducing this bill, the Taiwan Travel Act.
Taiwan is not just an important trading partner, our 14th largest market. It is not just a land of 23 million people. It is a democratic ally of the United States, a place where our values are displayed in the Asia-Pacific region. Yet it would be surprising for most Americans to know that leaders from Taiwan are not allowed to visit the United States under any reasonable format. Instead, the President of Taiwan cannot visit Washington, D.C., but can visit Los Angeles for a refueling stop on the way to Costa Rica.
What an absurd fiction that the President of Taiwan would fly across the Pacific again and again to visit their friends in Costa Rica or other Central American countries and that the refueling stop in the United States is just a 2-day effort to put fuel on a jet plane.
Now, my district actually benefits from this, because when the President and several different officials of Taiwan come to America, they refuel at Los Angeles Airport and they come to the Sheraton Universal Hotel in the 30th Congressional District. But in spite of the benefit both in terms of image and the economy that the current situation provides for the 30th District, it is time for us to grow up and it is time for us to realize that Taiwan is a vital ally and that its most important leaders should be visiting Washington, D.C., and talking not only to the legislative branch, but talking to the executive branch as well.
We should no longer be in a circumstance where, when Members of Congress from other parts of the country want to visit with the President of Taiwan, they have to fly to Universal City and stay at the Sheraton in my district and visit there.
We could communicate far better if the President of Taiwan was able to land at Dulles and be in the halls of Congress.
This bill simply says that it is time to encourage travel of the high-ranking officials of each country to the other and meetings at the highest levels. These are important steps in ending this effort to isolate Taiwan, because by encouraging a greater level of high-level visits and dialogue, we would ease Taiwan's international isolation and reaffirm that the U.S. has a political and security commitment to the freedom of Taiwan.
Mr. Speaker, I commend Mr. Chabot for introducing this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), the chairman emeritus of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank our esteemed chairman for his years of service to our country.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act, authored by my good friend and colleague, Chairman Steve Chabot. Over the years, Steve and I have worked closely together on our Foreign Affairs Committee, and his commitment and leadership on strengthening U.S.-Taiwan relations has been second to none.
We have worked to shift U.S. policy on Taiwan to a more favorable position for our friend and ally, Taiwan, rather than an acquiescent policy that U.S. administration after U.S. administration continued to implement out of fear from a Chinese economic retaliation or diplomatic retaliation or military retaliation.
Frankly, Mr. Speaker, it is a shame that we continue to allow China to dictate our foreign policy when it comes to Taiwan. The Taiwanese have been great partners for the United States, whereas China seeks to undermine everything we do, yet administration after administration have gone so far as to self-impose restrictions and self-impose limitations in our dealings with Taiwan, and that includes a self-
imposed restriction on allowing the Taiwanese President and other high-
ranking government officials from Taipei from coming to Washington, D.C., to meet with Congress, to meet with administration officials, to meet with other policymakers. This is unconscionable, and this farce needs to end.
We should have direct dialogue with the democratically elected leadership of our ally, Taiwan, and we should not allow China or the fear of Chinese reprisal to dictate this.
Without this, we are putting ourselves at a disadvantage. We are harming and insulting an ally. Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, we are damaging our national security interests and giving China, in effect, a veto over our foreign policy decisions.
That is why Mr. Chabot's bill is so important, Mr. Speaker. The Taiwan Travel Act states that it should be U.S. policy to not only allow visits from Taiwanese officials at all levels of the government, but to encourage these visits, to facilitate these visits.
It also states that our own policymakers, including at the highest levels of our government, should visit Taiwan for face-to-face meetings with their counterparts.
Mr. Speaker, the United States is a global leader. We are a sovereign nation. Who we choose to meet with and who we choose to recognize is our sovereign right. We should not allow China or anyone else to impact our decision. For far too long, America has allowed China to prevent us from taking full advantage of our partnership with Taiwan.
The Taiwan Travel Act is an important step toward doing the right thing for our friend and ally, and I hope that the administration will reverse these damaging policies.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, the chairman of our esteemed committee, for the time. I urge all of our colleagues to support Mr. Chabot's bill.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), who is the author of this bill.
Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on this.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of all three of these overwhelmingly bipartisan bills.
First, I would like to speak on H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act, a bill which I introduced this Congress along with my colleague, Congressman Sherman. We appreciate his support on this and a lot of other issues in this Congress, Chairman Royce and other Members as well.
For close to 4 decades now, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act has served as a cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations, and together, with President Reagan's six assurances, we have maintained peace and stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region. However, there are still major steps that we can take to further strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan relationship.
I believe one of the most important improvements that we can make is to allow the President of Taiwan and other high-ranking officials, like Taiwan's foreign and defense ministers, to visit Washington, our Nation's Capital, something that is currently prohibited. This is our own self-imposed policy and it is outrageous. These restrictions are only carried out because of potential diplomatic retaliation from the PRC, from China.
Personally, I think restricting high-level visits by senior Taiwanese officials is not only insulting, but it is counterproductive.
We should be encouraging more direct dialogue with the democratically elected President of Taiwan and other highest elected officials.
We let the leaders of China, the PRC, come to Washington on a regular basis and we give them the highest honors, yet we shun the democratically elected leaders of our longtime ally, Taiwan.
We need to send a strong signal that the current approach to bilateral contacts and communications between the U.S. and Taiwan is outdated and it is time for it to go and be changed, and that is what this bill is all about.
If we seriously want to promote greater democracy in the region, we should be as supportive as possible to the countries that are actually practicing democracy, and that is what Taiwan does. It is a longtime ally of ours.
That is exactly why I introduced the Taiwan Travel Act along, again, with Congressman Sherman and Chairman Royce a year ago--January 13, 2017, to be exact.
This bill, which has broad, bipartisan support from a long list of cosponsors, states that our government should encourage visits between the U.S. and Taiwan at all levels.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to quickly voice my support for H.R. 3320, a bill championed by my friend and colleague, Chairman Ted Yoho. This bill directs the Department of State to assist Taiwan in regaining observer status in the World Health Organization, WHO. Unfortunately, Taiwan has been excluded from participating in most of the really important international organizations, including the WHO, for almost 50 years now.
Many of my colleagues and I have advocated for years for Taiwan's meaningful participation in the WHO, much to the dismay of China, which has consistently thwarted these efforts.
Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO creates a dangerous and unnecessary gap in global health, especially considering the stellar health research and medical resources Taiwan has to offer. That is why H.R. 3320 is so important. WHO membership for Taiwan is not only in the best interests of Taiwan, it is in the best interests of the rest of the world, including the United States.
Mr. Speaker, lastly, I want to voice my support for H. Res. 676, Chairman Royce's and Ranking Member Engel's resolution supporting the rights of the people of Iran and condemning the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate protesters. This is a commonsense measure.
The current regime in Iran has never respected human rights or the rule of law. The recent situation in Iran only underscores this reality.
I am pleased to see my colleagues quickly condemning the atrocities by that government this very day; however, I want to take this opportunity to stress the importance of remembering the big picture in Iran. It is a country, let's face it, that is being run by thugs. Not only do they perpetrate violence and marginalize their own people, they harbor, promote, and finance terrorism throughout the region. They threaten America and its allies. They continue to develop ballistic missiles, which we know that one day they would like to have tipped with nuclear devices. That could be a threat not just to our allies in the region, but the United States.
This most recent outbreak of civil unrest in the country should not be a surprise, considering the Iranian regime's ruthless tactics.
Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues join me in support of this measure also and take further steps to hold Iran accountable for both its domestic and international violations. I urge my colleagues to support all three of these measures.
Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank the gentlemen from California, Chairman Royce and Mr. Sherman, for their support on these and other measures.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, every year, China threatens Taiwan, attempts to strangle that democracy, bases missiles just over the Taiwan Straits, conducts military exercises designed to simulate an invasion, hurts the economy of Taiwan, and hurts the people of Taiwan.
{time} 1530
What is the mildest possible response that the United States could make to these provocative and hostile actions? It is the adoption of the Taiwan Travel Act, H.R. 535, to simply have meetings with Taiwanese officials and simply allow them to land, even at those airports in the United States inconvenient for refueling on the way to Costa Rica.
We should welcome the leaders of Taiwan as we welcome the leaders of other allies of the United States, and this is the mildest answer we could make to the saber-rattling from Beijing.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am a decades-long supporter of Taiwan; and as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have made supporting stronger U.S.-
Taiwan economic and security ties a priority for our committee. I have traveled to Taiwan many times, as have members of the committee.
I really want to thank Chairman Chabot for introducing this important measure, and I want to thank him for being a long-time champion for Taiwan, especially when he was chairman of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee.
The U.S. and Taiwan share a common commitment, and that commitment is to democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Taiwan's successes serve as an example of what can be built on these important principles. We should be supporting countries that have achieved democracy to serve as an inspiration for those values across the world.
The Taiwan Travel Act is important because it will encourage more interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan. This is long overdue. It is needed, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 535.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 535.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________
