Promoting A Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of final passage of the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, legislation that I was proud to have authored.

This House took the lead in considering this bill, passed it with an overwhelming majority last February, and sent it to the Senate. The Senate, in its wisdom, changed only one paragraph. So the bill has come back to this Chamber for final passage.

I thank my incredible co-lead, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman McCaul, and Ranking Member Meeks for bringing this bill to the floor and all of their incredible advocacy on behalf of the Tibetan community. I welcome the opportunity to shine a light on this legislation, once more, as we send it on its way to the President's desk.

It has been more than 60 years since the People's Republic of China forced the 14th Dalai Lama into exile and took control of Tibet against the will of the people.

The dispute between the Chinese and the Tibetans over governance of Tibet has persisted ever since, even though the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people have repeatedly expressed their willingness to engage in dialogue.

Meanwhile, the PRC has done everything it can to erode Tibetan history, language, culture, and religion, in other words, to erase the Tibetans as a people.

This bill seeks to end that in the following ways: one, by explicitly recognizing that the Tibetan people are a people with a distinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical identity; two, by reminding everyone concerned that the Tibetan people have a right to self-determination under international human rights law; and three, by requiring the U.S. Government to actively counter the PRC's propaganda about Tibet, like the false claim that Tibet has been a part of China since ancient times, a position that the United States has never accepted.

With this bill, we hope to restart dialogue between Tibet and China in keeping with longstanding U.S. policy.

Mr. Speaker, the world is awash in conflict. At the heart of many conflicts lies the systematic denial of a people's human rights.

The decades-old dispute between Tibet and China started as an armed conflict of invasion, resistance, and insurgency. In the long run, the only guarantee against the resumption of violence is for the People's Republic of China to fully respect the human rights and dignity of the Tibetan people.

A vote for this bill is a vote to recognize the rights of the Tibetan people, and it is a vote to insist on resolving the dispute between Tibet and the People's Republic of China peacefully, in accordance with international law, through dialogue, and without preconditions.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to please join me and the distinguished chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. McCaul, in sending these important messages in solidarity with the Tibetan people.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding me the time.

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