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.
“U.S. NEEDS A NEW POLICY ON TIBET” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3005-H3006 on May 2, 2017.
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:
U.S. NEEDS A NEW POLICY ON TIBET
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, in 2002, Congress passed the Tibetan Policy Act to support the aspirations of the Tibetan people to safeguard their distinct identity. The law laid out steps to protect the distinct religious, cultural, and linguistic identity of Tibet and to press for improved respect for the human rights of the Tibetan people--a dialogue between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government, the immediate and unconditional release of Tibetan prisoners of conscience, establishing a U.S. consular office in Lhasa, and requesting that the 11th Panchen Lama be allowed to pursue his religious studies without Chinese Government interference.
Mr. Speaker, these were basic, commonsense steps, yet 15 years later there is little progress. The Chinese-Tibet dialogue has been suspended since 2010.
There are hundreds of Tibetan prisoners of conscience. Many are monks. Some like Tenzin Delek Rinpoche have died in custody.
There is still no U.S. consular office in Lhasa, a major problem for U.S. officials trying to respond to emergencies like the 2015 earthquake that trapped dozens of our citizens in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. And the Chinese Government, officially atheist, has declared that it will decide who will be reincarnated as the next Dalai Lama.
Mr. Speaker, I want to express my concern for the well-being of the missing 11th Panchen Lama, the second highest leader in the Tibetan religion. Twenty-two years ago, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was detained by Chinese authorities when he was just 6 years old and just 3 days after the Dalai Lama declared him to be the reincarnated Panchen Lama. Today, he is one of the world's longest serving political prisoners. China has refused to provide any details of his whereabouts.
Let me be clear. The Chinese Government does not have the right or the authority to name the reincarnated religious leaders of Tibet, not the Panchen Lama and not the next Dalai Lama.
Mr. Speaker, I constantly receive reports from Tibet of human rights abuses and affronts to basic human dignity, like the demolition of buildings and forced eviction of religious people from the famous Buddhist Institute of Larung Gar or the restrictions that keep Tibetans from traveling around their own country, much less abroad.
We need to rethink U.S. policy toward Tibet. For years, China has faced no consequences for its failure to respect the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people. This must change.
Along with a bipartisan group of Members of Congress, I have introduced H.R. 1872, the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. This bill imposes consequences for just one aspect of China's bad behavior: its restrictions on travel to areas in China where ethnic Tibetans live.
U.S. diplomats, journalists, and tourists have to get a special permit to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region, and travel to other Tibetan areas is also tightly controlled. But under H.R. 1872, no senior leader responsible for designing or implementing travel restrictions to Tibetan areas would be eligible to enter the United States.
The rationale for the bill is simple. The basis of diplomatic law is mutual access and reciprocity. But while the Chinese enjoy broad access to the United States, the same is not true for U.S. diplomats, journalists, or tourists going to Tibet, including Tibetan Americans trying to visit their place of origin. This is simply unacceptable. If China wants its citizens and officials to travel freely in the U.S., Americans must be able to travel freely in China, including Tibet.
Allowing travel to Tibet is only one step China needs to take. It must also remove the obstacles to freedom of movement for Tibetans within China and abroad. China can't have it both ways. Either Tibetans are Chinese citizens or they are not. If they are, they must enjoy the same rights and privileges as other Chinese citizens.
China also must permit His Holiness the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet for a visit if he so desires. He is a man of peace who will soon turn 82 years old. He should be able to visit his homeland.
China also should demonstrate true respect for the human rights and religious freedom of the Tibetan people. A first step would be to permit an independent international investigation into the July 2015 death, in custody, of revered lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche.
On our side, the new Trump administration needs to appoint the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues as quickly as possible. To make progress, we need someone in charge. They must insist that China restart the dialogue to lead a negotiated agreement in Tibet.
They should develop a list of Chinese officials subject to sanction under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. No one responsible for torture and extrajudicial killings or for significant corruption should benefit from coming to our country and doing business here.
They should publicly engage the Dalai Lama and the democratically elected leader of the Tibetan people. The State Department should take every opportunity to benefit from the Dalai Lama's knowledge and decades of reflections.
The Secretary of State should highlight the democratic practices of the Tibetan people and meet personally with the Sikyong, Dr. Lobsang Sangay, and the administration should also engage other governments to create a group of friends of Tibet. It is time to pursue a coordinated international action in support of the Tibetan people.
Mr. Speaker, time may be running out for the Tibetan people. All those who say they believe in the rights of Tibetans must move beyond words to concrete actions.
I urge my colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 1872, the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, and to support additional measures to protect all that is unique about Tibet and its people.
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