[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 41 (Monday, March 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3539-S3540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 9--RELATING TO A VISIT BY PRESIDENT LEE 
    TENG-HUI OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON TAIWAN TO THE UNITED STATES

  By Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Brown, Mr. Robb, 
Mr. D'Amato, Mr. Simon, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Helms, Mr. Coats, Mr. Pell, Mr. 
Warner, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Grams, Mr. Dole, Mr. Kempthorne, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. 
Specter, Mr. Hatfield, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Roth, Mr. Thurmond, 
Mr. Hatch, Mr. Gorton, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Mack, Mr. Inouye, Mr. 
Ashcroft, Mr. Chafee, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Cochran, Mr. 
Conrad, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Gregg, and Mr. Craig) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                             S. Con. Res. 9

       Whereas United States diplomatic and economic security 
     interests in East Asia have caused the United States to 
     maintain a policy of recognizing the People's Republic of 
     China while maintaining solidarity with the democratic 
     aspirations of the people of Taiwan;
       Whereas the Republic of China on Taiwan (known as Taiwan) 
     is the United States' sixth largest trading partner and an 
     economic powerhouse buying more than twice as much annually 
     from the United States as do the 1,200,000,000 Chinese of the 
     People's Republic of China;
       Whereas the American people are eager for expanded trade 
     opportunities with Taiwan, the sixth largest trading partner 
     of the United States and the possessor of the world's second 
     largest foreign exchange reserves;
       Whereas the United States interests are served by 
     supporting democracy and human rights abroad;
       Whereas Taiwan is a model emerging democracy, with a free 
     press, free elections, stable democratic institutions, and 
     human rights protections;
       Whereas vigorously contested elections conducted on Taiwan 
     in December 1994 were extraordinarily free and fair;
       Whereas United States interests are best served by policies 
     that treat Taiwan's leaders with respect and dignity;
       Whereas President Lee, a Ph.D. graduate of Cornell 
     University, has been invited to pay a private visit to his 
     alma mater and to attend the annual USA-ROC Economic Council 
     Conference in Anchorage, Alaska;
       Whereas there is no legitimate policy grounds for excluding 
     the democratic leader of Asia's oldest republic from paying 
     private visits;
       Whereas the Senate of the United States voted several times 
     in 1994 to welcome President Lee to visit the United States; 
     and
       Whereas Public Law 103-416 provides that the President of 
     Taiwan shall be welcome in the United States at any time to 
     discuss a host of important bilateral issues: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the 
     President should promptly indicate that the United States 
     will welcome a private visit by President Lee Teng-hui to his 
     alma mater, Cornell University, and will welcome a transit 
     stop by President Lee in Anchorage, Alaska, to attend the 
     USA-ROC Economic Council Conference.
       Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy 
     of this concurrent resolution to the President.

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I am introducing today, on behalf of 
myself and 35 colleagues, a resolution calling on President Clinton to 
allow his excellency Lee Teng-hui, President of the Republic of China 
on Taiwan, to come to the United States for a private visit. A nearly 
identical resolution is also being introduced today by my colleagues in 
the House of Representatives, Congressmen Lantos, Solomon, and 
Torricelli.
  This is not the first time this issue has come before this body. The 
last Congress spoke very clearly on the question of a visit by 
President Lee. The Senate approved unanimously a resolution offered by 
myself and Senator Robb calling on the administration to make several 
changes to United States-Taiwan policy, including allowing President 
Lee to visit the United States. Then, under Senator Brown's leadership, 
the Senate agreed by a vote of 94-0 to amend United States immigration 
laws to add a provision specifically welcoming the leader of the 
Taiwanese people to enter the United States at any time to discuss 
issues of mutual concern. This amendment was eventually adopted by the 
Congress and signed into law.
  Unfortunately, up to now, the Clinton Administration has chosen to 
ignore Congress and yield to the People's Republic of China on this 
issue. In the last several months, various State Department officials 
have indicated in public forums that they do not intend to allow 
President Lee to make a private visit. Mr. President, this State 
Department policy allows the People's Republic of China to dictate who 
can and cannot enter the United States--and that offends this Senator 
and many others.
  For many years, Congress and the executive branch have prodded the 
people of Taiwan to make greater strides toward democracy. Taiwan has 
responded: Over the last decade, Taiwan has ended martial law, allowed 
the development of a free and vigorous press, and legalized opposition 
political parties. Last December, people throughout Taiwan went to the 
polls in a free and fair election, which was vigorously contested by 
all parties.
  I remind my colleagues that Taiwan is the world's 13th largest 
trading partner and the United States' 5th largest trading partner. 
With $17 billion in United States exports to Taiwan in 1994, it 
purchased twice as many United States products as the People's Republic 
of China. It holds the world's largest foreign reserves. Taiwan is also 
friendly, democratic, stable, and prosperous. Its human rights record 
has steadily improved.
  Yet, rather than rewarding Taiwan for these great strides, it remains 
the policy of the Clinton administration to deny entry into the United 
States to the democratic leader of Asia's oldest republic; in effect, 
treating Taiwan like an international pariah. Many of us were outraged 
last May when the administration refused to allow President Lee to 
overnight in Hawaii en route to a presidential inauguration in Central 
America. While we are aware of the need to maintain a productive 
relationship with the People's Republic of China, there is no 
defensible argument for allowing Communist bureaucrats in Beijing to 
block a private visit to the United States by the elected leader of the 
Taiwanese people.
  President Lee, a Ph.D. graduate of Cornell University in New York, 
has expressed a desire to visit his alma mater. In addition, President 
Lee has been invited to attend the annual USA-ROC Economic Council 
Conference in Anchorage, AK. Other Senators and Representatives have 
invited him to visit their respective States. It would be entirely 
appropriate to allow one or more of these private visits.
  The attached resolution demonstrates the support of the new Congress 
for democracy movements around the world and our commitment to 
increased economic ties and people-to-people contacts between the 
American people and the people of Taiwan. If the administration 
continues to ignore the voice of Congress, it may be necessary to move 
further legislation amending United States immigration laws or 
reopening the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act in order to facilitate these 
changes.
  I urge the administration to reconsider its current position on a 
visit by President Lee. Certainly, there is ample precedent for 
allowing a private visit. After all, the administration has 
[[Page S3540]] seen the benefit of having Yasser Arafat, leader of the 
PLO, attend a White House ceremony. Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Fein, the 
political wing of the Irish Republican Army, has been granted travel 
visas. Tibet's exile leader, the Dalai Lama, called on Vice President 
Gore over the strong objections of the People's Republic of China. Each 
of these men represent unofficial entities with which the United States 
does not have official ties. Similarly, in each case, other countries 
with whom we maintain diplomatic relations objected. yet, the 
administration rightly chose to allow visits to advance other policy 
goals. A similar rationale should be applied to President Lee.


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