[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3397 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3397

To encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 27, 2016

  Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. Gardner) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels, 
                        and for other purposes.

    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 makes the following findings:
            (1) The Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), 
        enacted in 1979, has continued for 37 years to be the 
        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 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 
        democratic practices 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 that 
        country.
            (6) Since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, 
        relations between the United States and Taiwan have suffered 
        from a lack of 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--
            (1) the United States Government should encourage visits 
        between the United States and Taiwan at all levels; and
            (2) the United States Government must not place any 
        restrictions on the travel of officials at any level of the 
        United States Government to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese 
        counterparts or on the travel of high-level officials of Taiwan 
        to enter the United States to meet with officials of the United 
        States.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--It should be the policy of the United 
States--
            (1) to 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) to 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) to permit the Taipei Economic and Cultural 
        Representative Office, and any other instrumentality 
        established by Taiwan, to conduct business in the United 
        States, including activities that involve participation by 
        Members of Congress, officials of Federal, State, or local 
        governments of the United States, or any high-level official of 
        Taiwan.
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