[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 77 (Friday, June 4, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1033]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             A TRIBUTE TO TAIWAN VICE PRESIDENT ANNETTE LU

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 3, 2004

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, this weekend the eyes of the world will 
return to the beaches of Normandy as we commemorate the 60th 
Anniversary of D-Day, a seminal event in the liberation of Europe from 
tyranny that ensured peace and prosperity for generations. And as it 
turns out, D-Day was not the only event sixty years ago that would have 
a major impact on world history and the cause of freedom and justice. 
On June 7th, we will also celebrate the 60th birthday of Annette Lu, 
who has become one of most tireless fighters for democracy, women's 
rights and equality, and who has just been re-elected vice president of 
Taiwan.
  Mr. Speaker, Vice President Lu's understanding of human rights is 
rooted in part in her graduate studies in the United States. She 
received her Masters degrees in Law from both the University of 
Illinois and Harvard University. After that, it would have been 
relatively easy for Annette Lu to stay in the United States to practice 
law, or to pursue a quiet legal career in Taiwan. Instead, she returned 
home in 1978 to run for Taiwan's National Assembly. In 1979, the 
authoritarian regime threw Annette Lu in jail because she had the 
temerity to make a speech commemorating International Human Rights Day. 
She spent five years and four months behind bars, but she took up the 
cause again immediately upon her release.
  Out of prison, Annette Lu continued her fight for democracy and 
international recognition for Taiwan. As a local official, as the 
National Policy Advisor to former President Lee Teng-hui, and as a 
leading member of the Legislative Yuan--Taiwan's highest lawmaking 
body--Annette Lu fought successfully for a greater role for her 
homeland in international affairs, for women's rights in Taiwan and 
around the world, and for adherence to internationally-recognized human 
rights.
  In May 2000, Annette Lu was elected Taiwan's first female Vice 
President, which is no small achievement. Vice President Lu has since 
traveled the world demonstrating Taiwan's efforts and achievements in 
human rights, democracy, and humanitarianism. She has built bridges to 
the people of Tibet and India, and for her efforts has received the 
Peace Corps Academy's World Peace Prize.

  In short, Annette Lu has made a great contribution to Taiwan and to 
the international community, thanks to her steadfast beliefs and her 
unwillingness to remain silent in the face of injustice.
  In that same spirit, Mr. Speaker, we here in Washington should take 
meaningful steps to end a continuing injustice: the manner in which our 
nation treats senior officials from Taiwan, including the President and 
Vice President. When former President Lee Teng-hui was invited to give 
a speech at his alma mater, Cornell University, in 1995, it was my 
great honor to win passage of a resolution demanding that the State 
Department grant him a visa. Despite fierce resistance from an 
administration reluctant to defy China, we won that battle, and the 
world kept spinning after President Lee's visit to Ithaca. Now that 
Taiwan's Presidential elections are past, it is high time that 
President Chen and Vice President Lu be welcomed in Washington, DC.
  This coming Sunday in San Francisco, I will have the enormous 
privilege of presenting Annette Lu with an award for her untiring 
efforts in the cause of human rights, her devotion to equal rights for 
women, and the personal sacrifices she has made to help uplift those 
who are suffering injustice. I will bring her a copy of this statement 
as a sign of the respect that she commands in the U.S. Congress. But 
Mr. Speaker, the day is coming when the Vice President and President of 
Taiwan will be able to visit our nation's capital and we in this body 
should do all that we can to hasten that historic day.

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