[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1051 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1051

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 4, 2017

    Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. 
Menendez, and Mr. Peters) 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 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 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 that 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 encourage 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.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY.

    Officials at all levels of the United States Government, including 
cabinet-level national security officials, general officers, and other 
executive branch officials, are hereby authorized to travel to Taiwan 
to meet their Taiwanese counterparts.

SEC. 5. SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on travel 
by United States executive branch officials to Taiwan.
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