[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 29, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WORLD TIBET DAY CELEBRATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 29, 1999

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, the nation of Tibet is a country with a long 
history stretching back nearly fifteen hundred years, with a unique and 
irreplaceable cultural and religious heritage.
  In 1949, the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet and since that 
time, over 1.6 million Tibetans have been killed and more than 6000 
monasteries destroyed. Whereas the government of China has committed 
``acts of genocide'' in Tibet, and is currently committing systematic 
human rights violations in that country, including torture, arbitrary 
arrest, denial of freedom of religion, denial of free speech and free 
press, and coerced sterilizations and abortions. Whereas China seeks to 
absorb Tibet into China and is conducting economic development in Tibet 
contrary to the wishes of the Tibetan people.
  The Dalai Lama, temporal and spiritual leader of Tibet, was forced to 
flee to northern India in 1959, where he has been living reluctantly 
ever since, working to keep alive the culture and religion of his 
people along with their hopes of freedom. Whereas the Dalai Lama has 
been trying unceasingly to establish a peaceful dialogue with the 
Chinese government concerning cultural, religious and political 
freedoms for the Tibetan people.
  The Tibetan people in their cultural, religious, and political life 
are now facing the grim prospect of extinction.
  On July 10th, one week after America's Independence Day, World Tibet 
Day will be held. This event shares in the spirit of freedom of 
Independence Day symbolizes, while also symbolizing the nation of Tibet 
since at this event many Tibetan communities will honor the birthday of 
the Dalai Lama (on July 6th). This day will showcase the variety and 
beauty of Tibet and affirm basic rights of the Tibetan people to 
religious, cultural and political freedoms. Further on the weekend of 
World Tibet Day, houses of worship in many parts of the world--
churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, gurudwaras--will take part in 
an Interfaith Call for Freedom of Worship In Tibet and For Universal 
Religious Freedom. One of the overall goals of World Tibet Day is 
supporting the Dalai Lama's campaign for peaceful negotiations with 
China, without preconditions, on the future of Tibet.
  I would like to help in the celebration of World Tibet Day on July 
10, 1999.

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