[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 139 (Friday, September 8, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S13138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 WELCOMING HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Senate Resolution 169, 
submitted earlier today by Senator Thomas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 169) expressing the sense of Senate 
     welcoming his holiness the Dalai Lama on his visit to the 
     United States.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I am today joined by the distinguished 
chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Senator Helms, the equally 
distinguished ranking minority member Senator Pell, and Senators Mack 
and D'Amato to introduce a resolution welcoming the visit to the United 
States this week and next of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
  The story of the 14th Dalai Lama is one with which I believe we are 
all familiar. Exiled from his homeland along with over 100,000 of his 
fellow Tibetan citizens, repeatedly frustrated and rebuffed in his 
sincere efforts to resolve their differences with the Chinese 
Government, His Holiness has never wavered in his determination to 
bring freedom and the full panoply of human rights to his people. His 
commitment to nonviolence in pursuit of the goal, even in the face of 
consistent provocations, has never faltered and earned him the Nobel 
Peace Prize.
  For 45 years since the forcible invasion and occupation of their 
country by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Tibetans have been 
subjected to systematic abuses and human rights violations. Those 45 
years have seen the deaths of tens of thousands of Tibetans, the 
destruction of thousands of their temples and monasteries, the 
imprisonment of their religious and political figures, the forced 
sinocization of their country, and the systematic destruction of 
traditional Tibetan culture.
  Despite hollow Chinese declarations to the contrary, the present 
state of human rights in Tibet is deplorable. The Chinese Government 
continues to arrest and imprison Tibetans solely for their religious 
beliefs or for the peaceful expression of political dissent. Yesterday, 
the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs which I chair held a 
hearing on Tibet. Witnesses presented ample evidence of these 
continuing abuses; Mr. Gendun Rinchen, a former political prisoner in 
Tibet, very recently escaped across the Himalayas into India and flew 
here this week to provide us with firsthand testimony on the plight of 
the Tibetan people.
  Mr. President, the resolution is fairly self-explanatory. It extends 
the welcome of the Senate to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, urges the 
President to meet with His Holiness and to encourage the Chinese 
Government to sit down at the negotiating table with the Tibetan 
Government-in-exile, and reminds the Tibetan people that as they move 
forward in their struggle the Congress and the American people stand 
with them.
  In closing, I note that one of the central tenets of Tibetans' 
Buddhist belief is that life and its sufferings are transitory; this 
has allowed them to remain remarkably restrained since the invasion. I 
sincerely hope that sometime soon the Chinese Government will see fit 
to sit down with His Holiness and negotiate an end to the present 
unacceptable and untenable situation so that the Tibetan people no 
longer have to be patient in their suffering.
  Mr. President, I urge the adoption of the resolution.
  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution 
be considered and agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements related to the 
resolution appear at the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 169) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

       Whereas historically Tibet has demonstrated those 
     attributes which under international law constitute 
     statehood: it has had a defined territory and a permanent 
     population; it has been under the control of its own 
     government; and it has engaged in, or had the capacity to 
     engage in, formal relations with other states;
       Whereas beginning in 1949 Tibet was forcibly and coercively 
     invaded and occupied by the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas under the principles of international law Tibet is 
     an occupied country and its true representatives continue to 
     be His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-
     exile, which the Congress has recognized on several 
     occasions;
       Whereas the Tibetan people are historically, territorially, 
     and culturally distinct from the Chinese population in the 
     People's Republic of China and were forcibly incorporated 
     into the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas the Tibetan people are entitled to the right of 
     self-determination as recognized in 1961 by the United 
     Nations General Assembly in Resolution No. 1723;
       Whereas instead of being afforded that right they have been 
     subjected to repressive actions on the part of the Government 
     of the People's Republic of China, which have resulted in the 
     deaths of countless Tibetans, the destruction of over 6,000 
     temples and monasteries as well as much of Tibet's unique 
     cultural and spiritual patrimony, the fight of the Dalai Lama 
     and over 100,000 Tibetans from their homeland, the 
     established in Tibet by the Chinese of a consistent and well-
     documented pattern of human rights abuses including numerous 
     violations of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, 
     and the settlement of thousands of Chinese in Tibet in an 
     effort to reduce Tibetans to being a minority in their own 
     land; and
       Whereas this September His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be 
     making his first extended visit to Washington, DC, since 
     1993; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) warmly welcomes His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the 
     United States;
       (2) urges the President to meet with His Holiness the Dalai 
     Lama during his visit to discuss substantive issues of 
     interest to our two respective governments, and to continue 
     to encourage the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     to meet with the Dala Lama or his representatives to discuss 
     a solution to the present impasse in their relations; and
       (3) urges His Holiness the Dalia Lama to remind the Tibetan 
     people that, as they move forward in their struggle toward 
     preserving their culture and regaining their freedom, the 
     Congress and the American people stand with them.
     

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