[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 24, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H6485-H6487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    WELCOMING MADAME CHEN WU SUE-JEN, THE FIRST LADY OF TAIWAN, TO 
                            WASHINGTON, D.C.

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree 
to the resolution (H. Res. 533) welcoming Madame Chen Wu Sue-jen, the 
first lady of Taiwan, to Washington, D.C.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 533

       Whereas Taiwan's First Lady Chen Wu Sue-jen, wife and 
     political partner to her husband President Chen Shui-bian, 
     has been unwaveringly and courageously striving for justice, 
     human rights, and democracy in Taiwan and has herself held a 
     seat in the Legislative Yuan;
       Whereas Taiwan is now a model vibrant democracy and one of 
     the top ten trading partners of the United States;
       Whereas supporting democracy, human rights, and free market 
     economies has been a longstanding policy of the United 
     States;
       Whereas the Government and people in Taiwan have 
     consistently provided tremendous support and generous 
     contributions to the United States after the terrorist 
     attacks against the United States that occurred on September 
     11, 2001;
       Whereas First Lady Chen Wu was one of the main forces 
     behind Taiwan's charity and humanitarian assistance for the 
     victims of the terrorist attacks;
       Whereas First Lady Chen Wu will visit the United States 
     beginning on September 22, 2002, and will bring with her a 
     strong message from her husband and the people of Taiwan that 
     Taiwan's cooperation with the United States in this joint 
     anti-terrorism campaign will continue and be further 
     strengthened;
       Whereas First Lady Chen Wu, on behalf of President Chen 
     Shui-bian, visited France in November 2001 to receive the 
     International Human Rights Award; and
       Whereas First Lady Chen Wu, confined to a wheelchair due to 
     a tragic traffic accident during a political campaign, is a 
     strong and effective advocate for Taiwan's physically 
     challenged citizens: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives extends its 
     warmest welcome to Taiwan's First Lady Chen Wu Sue-jen during 
     her visit to Washington, D.C., in September 2002.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Rohrabacher) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within

[[Page H6486]]

which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous 
material on H. Res. 533, the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, and I would like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hyde) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), our good ranking 
minority member, for expediting consideration of H. Res. 533, a 
resolution welcoming Madame Chen Wu Sue-jen of Taiwan to Washington.
  Madame Chen's visit comes at an important moment in our Nation's 
relationship with Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. Although 
the United States has repeatedly asked Beijing to resolve its 
difficulties with Taiwan through peaceful means, the Communist Chinese 
military has placed hundreds of ballistic missiles on the coast of 
China aimed at Taiwan. To make matters worse, Communist China is 
building more and more of those missiles.
  The Communist authorities portray the peaceful cause of Taiwan 
independence as a terrorist movement. Nothing could be further from the 
truth. Taiwan threatens no one. On the contrary, Taiwan has been 100 
percent supportive of the war against terrorism; and it has, for 
example, given generously to the humanitarian effort in Afghanistan and 
trying to help the Afghan Government in this very pivotal moment. 
China, on the other hand, has helped the Taliban. While the Taiwanese 
has been helping those people trying to create a more democratic 
society in Afghanistan, trying to create a more peaceful environment, 
the Communist Chinese, on the other hand, have been helping the 
Taliban. They have helped them build a 14,000 secure-line telephone 
system; and I might add that on September 11, the Communist Chinese 
authorities flew in to Kabul and signed a trade agreement with the 
Taliban.
  China has also assisted Iraq in building a fiber optic communications 
network that is used for the Iraqi military. So it is clear who 
supports terrorism and who does not.
  First Lady Chen Wu will be bringing with her a strong message from 
her husband and the people of Taiwan that Taiwan's cooperation with the 
United States in its anti-terrorism campaign will continue and will 
strengthen in the future. This is the sort of mature behavior that the 
world has come to expect from Taiwan.
  We hope that Beijing will soon follow in Taiwan's footsteps and 
become a truly constructive member of the world community. The threats 
that it is making against a peaceful Taiwan, the threats of military 
action, are irresponsible; and we should take note that the rest of the 
world should take note of Communist China's behavior. Such a change in 
behavior on the part of Communist China toward the people of Taiwan 
should be also noted. We would invite the Communist Chinese to take a 
second look at their policies.
  In the meantime, I urge my colleagues to vote for H. Res. 533 and 
welcome the First Lady of Taiwan, Madame Chen to the United States. 
Madam Chen and her husband represent democratically elected leaders. 
Her husband was elected President of Taiwan. No one has elected in a 
free election those so-called leaders in Beijing who threaten Taiwan 
with violence and military action.
  Let us take this moment to tip our hat respectfully to the wife of an 
elected President of a country, and that is what Americans should be 
doing instead of kowtowing and being afraid to anger tyrants overseas.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the chairman of our Committee on International 
Relations, for his support and leadership in bringing this legislation 
to the forefront. I also want to commend the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Gilman) for his authorship of this resolution, and of course, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) and his management of this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. I would 
first like to commend, as I said earlier, the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Gilman) for introducing this important resolution. As the ranking 
Democrat on the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, I was very 
pleased to join the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking 
member of our side of the Committee on International Relations, as an 
original cosponsor of this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, the economic and political transformation of Taiwan over 
the past decades is truly remarkable. From the depths of poverty in the 
1950s, Taiwan has turned into an economic power house which is now one 
of America's top 10 trading partners.
  Turning away from one-party rule, Taiwan has become a vibrant 
democracy, serving as a beacon to those across the Asia-Pacific region 
who yearn for freedom and showing that democracy can thrive in a 
Chinese context, especially within the context of meeting with the 
people of China.
  Mr. Speaker, the election of Chen Shui-bian to the presidency in 
March of 2000 further demonstrates the depth and strength of Taiwan's 
democracy, as President Chen is the first member of the opposition to 
serve as President.
  As a result of these positive developments, the relations between the 
United States and Taiwan have never been closer. There is no better 
example of this close relationship than the visit to the United States 
this week of Taiwan's First Lady, Madame Chen Wu Sue-jen.
  First Lady Chen Wu has long fought for democracy and human rights and 
humanitarian causes in Taiwan. The First Lady previously served in 
Taiwan's legislature. She has provided critical assistance to her 
husband in his political efforts.
  Maybe not known to the Members of our body, Mr. Speaker, but First 
Lady Chen Wu was seriously injured in a traffic accident years ago; and 
as a result, she has become a paraplegic, but what is more important is 
the tremendous courage and her fortitude in continuing to support her 
husband, not only to stand as a symbol, a beacon for democracy to the 
people of Taiwan but certainly an example of someone who has that 
determination as First Lady Chen Wu has demonstrated, not only to the 
people in Taiwan but certainly to the people here in America.

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. Speaker, since the horrendous tragedy of September 11, the First 
Lady has also been a driving force behind Taiwan's charity and 
humanitarian assistance for the victims of the terrorist attacks. The 
First Lady will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow to meet Members of 
Congress, and I do strongly urge my colleagues to take this opportunity 
to meet her. I have no doubt that they will be impressed by her 
strength, her sense of compassion, and her commitment to building 
stronger ties between the United States and Taiwan.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge support from my colleagues for this 
House Resolution 533. Again I could not have asked for a greater 
advocate and champion of freedom and democracy in the Asia Pacific 
region than the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) and I 
commend his leadership and management of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself just a few moments to 
close this debate.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) and 
I visited many hot spots around the world in our time together, and he 
has always demonstrated a love of liberty and justice, and I think that 
today this resolution demonstrates that in a democratic society even 
where there are some disagreements, and we all understand people have 
disagreements on various issues, that fundamental values that this body 
represents cross party lines.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the gentleman from 
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) and others who have been so active on 
the Committee on International Relations,

[[Page H6487]]

sometimes we have heated debates, but quite often those debates are not 
about the fundamentals but are instead about details, and today we are 
talking about something that is very fundamental, and that is showing 
respect to a country that has a democratically elected government. We 
show our respect to that country by tipping our hat and greeting the 
First Lady of that country who is visiting with us, a lady who has 
herself endured many, many crises and challenges in her life and 
demonstrates a courage, and a lady who is married to a man who was 
elected the first really democratically elected leader of a Chinese 
people and a man now who represents the republic there in Taiwan and is 
a good friend to the United States.
  So I would urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H. Res. 533.
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome Ms. Wu Sue-jen, Taiwan's 
First Lady, in her visit to Washington, DC, and in strong support of H. 
Res. 533, a resolution welcoming Madam First Lady to the Capitol of the 
United States.
  Throughout her life, Ms. Wu has been a reliable partner for President 
Chen Shui-bien and a determined fighter for democratic development in 
Taiwan. While she has been paralyzed from the waist down since 1985, 
Ms. Wu has nonetheless remained politically engaged and continued to 
play a key role in Taiwanese politics. She was elected and served as a 
member of Taiwan's Legislative Yuan in 1986, and has played a great 
role in President Chen's ascension first to the Mayor of Taipei, and 
later, Taiwain's presidency.
  While I am not able to welcome President Chen in Washington, DC 
today, it is a great pleasure to welcome Ms. Wu to our nation's 
capital. I believe it is critically important to America's commitment 
to democracy for the U.S. Congress to welcome representatives of a 
democratic and free people to our capital, and I look forward to future 
opportunities to welcome democratically elected leaders of the 
Taiwanese people.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support for H. Res. 533, a 
resolution welcoming Madame Chen Wu Sue-jen, the first lady of Taiwan, 
to Washington, D.C.
  First Lady Chen has sacrificed so much for the freedom of her 
countrymen and women. Her efforts to establish political pluralism in 
Taiwan led to a botched assassination attempt that left her permanently 
paralyzed from the waist down. Yet she continues to work tirelessly for 
the ideals that she so strongly believes in--self determination, the 
rule of law and human rights.
  Self-determination is a right that the Taiwanese should not be 
deprived of, and it is in our interests to demand that communist China 
immediately stop threatening Taiwan when its leaders simply state a 
fact of truth . . . Taiwan is independent and it should be a full-
fledged member of the United Nations. Taiwan's courageous leaders have 
every right to express their people's desire to be independent . . . 
especially from the gruesome dictatorship in Beijing. As President Chen 
so bravely articulated: ``Taiwan's future and destiny can only be 
decided by the 23 million people living on the island.''
  We support the efforts of the Bush Administration to clearly 
articulate a policy on Taiwan that places more emphasis on Taiwan's 
interests and less on our concerns with the People's Republic of China. 
Accordingly, it was disappointing to learn that our U.S. representative 
to Taiwan recently criticized the government there for viewing ``the 
mainland through the prism of economic threat.'' It makes no sense to 
shrug aside Taiwan's fears that their businessmen may be inadvertently 
assisting the communists to build up their military resources.
  We need to work closely with our Administration so that there is a 
single strong focused unambivalent message from the United States that 
our government understands the aspirations and the fears of the people 
of Taiwan. Madame Chen is an inspiration to all of us and we heartily 
welcome her here to the United States.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Jeff Miller of Florida). The question is 
on the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Rohrabacher) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution, H. Res. 533.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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