[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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