[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 40 (Monday, March 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1317-H1320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DEVELOPING A STRATEGY TO OBTAIN OBSERVER STATUS FOR TAIWAN IN THE 
               INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (S. 2426) to direct the Secretary of State to develop a 
strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan in the International 
Criminal Police Organization, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 2426

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE INTERNATIONAL 
                   CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Safety, security and peace is important to every 
     citizen of the world, and shared information ensuring wide 
     assistance among police authorities of nations for 
     expeditious dissemination of information regarding criminal 
     activities greatly assists in these efforts.
       (2) Direct and unobstructed participation in the 
     International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) is 
     beneficial for all nations and their police authorities. 
     Internationally shared information with authorized police 
     authorities is vital to peacekeeping efforts.
       (3) With a history dating back to 1914, the role of 
     INTERPOL is defined in its constitution: ``To ensure and 
     promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all 
     criminal police authorities within the limits of the laws 
     existing in the different countries and in the spirit of the 
     Universal Declaration of Human Rights.''.
       (4) Ongoing international threats, including international 
     networks of terrorism, show the ongoing necessity to be ever 
     inclusive of nations willing to work together to combat 
     criminal activity. The ability of police authorities to 
     coordinate, preempt, and act swiftly and in unison is an 
     essential element of crisis prevention and response.
       (5) Taiwan maintained full membership in INTERPOL starting 
     in 1964 through its National Police Administration but was 
     ejected in 1984 when the People's Republic of China (PRC) 
     applied for membership.
       (6) Nonmembership prevents Taiwan from gaining access to 
     INTERPOL's I-24/7 global police communications system, which 
     provides real-time information on criminals and global 
     criminal activities. Taiwan is relegated to second-hand 
     information from friendly nations, including the United 
     States.
       (7) Taiwan is unable to swiftly share information on 
     criminals and suspicious activity with the international 
     community, leaving a huge void in the global crime-fighting 
     efforts and leaving the entire world at risk.
       (8) The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, 
     declared its intention to support Taiwan's participation in 
     appropriate international organizations and has consistently 
     reiterated that support.
       (9) Following the enactment of Public Law 108-235, a law 
     authorizing the Secretary of State to initiate and implement 
     a plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at 
     the annual summit of the World Health Assembly and subsequent 
     advocacy by the United States, Taiwan was granted observer 
     status to the World Health Assembly for six consecutive years 
     since 2009. Both prior to and in its capacity as an observer, 
     Taiwan has contributed significantly to the international 
     community's collective efforts in pandemic control, 
     monitoring, early warning, and other related matters.
       (10) INTERPOL's constitution allows for observers at its 
     meetings by ``police bodies which are not members of the 
     Organization''.
       (b) Taiwan's Participation in INTERPOL.--The Secretary of 
     State shall--
       (1) develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan 
     in INTERPOL and at other related meetings, activities, and 
     mechanisms thereafter; and
       (2) instruct INTERPOL Washington to officially request 
     observer status for Taiwan in

[[Page H1318]]

     INTERPOL and to actively urge INTERPOL member states to 
     support such observer status and participation for Taiwan.
       (c) Report Concerning Observer Status for Taiwan in 
     INTERPOL.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to 
     Congress a report, in unclassified form, describing the 
     United States strategy to endorse and obtain observer status 
     for Taiwan in appropriate international organizations, 
     including INTERPOL, and at other related meetings, 
     activities, and mechanisms thereafter. The report shall 
     include the following:
       (1) A description of the efforts the Secretary has made to 
     encourage member states to promote Taiwan's bid to obtain 
     observer status in appropriate international organizations, 
     including INTERPOL.
       (2) A description of the actions the Secretary will take to 
     endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan in appropriate 
     international organizations, including INTERPOL, and at other 
     related meetings, activities, and mechanisms thereafter.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I rise in strong support of S. 2426, the Senate version of a bill 
that previously passed the House with strong bipartisan support.
  I especially want to commend Chairman Matt Salmon for authoring the 
House version of this important measure and Senator Gardner for doing 
the same on the Senate side. Their leadership on this issue is much 
appreciated.
  Mr. Speaker, the legislation before us today will help secure 
observer status for Taiwan at INTERPOL. The bill requires the Secretary 
of State to develop and execute a strategy to ensure that Taiwan 
participates in INTERPOL's next general assembly meeting in Indonesia. 
With this piece of legislation, we are sending a clear message that 
safety and security are a priority.
  Taiwan, Mr. Speaker, as we all know, is a model of democratization 
and openness, a thriving nation of 23 million people. Its successful 
transition from authoritarianism to a thriving democracy is a shining 
example for so many other nations.
  The sole reason that Taiwan is excluded from the international 
organizations is the persistent opposition of the communist government 
of mainland China.
  But China's opposition puts politics over the safety and security of 
people. In a world where terrorism and international drug and human 
trafficking networks are global in scope, the response must be 
coordinated globally as well.
  At this time, Taiwan relies on delayed, secondhand information from 
the United States about international criminals and criminal 
activities, making it more vulnerable to security threats. Likewise, 
Taiwan cannot share the law enforcement information it gathers to the 
benefit of INTERPOL members.
  It makes no sense to exclude Taiwan from INTERPOL due to a political 
pique, just as it makes no sense to exclude Taiwan from the World 
Health Organization, another example of the government of mainland 
China putting politics over the health and safety of people.
  But there is another reason for having a good global citizen such as 
Taiwan as a member of INTERPOL: INTERPOL is an organization that is in 
need of reform.
  A number of authoritarian countries abuse the INTERPOL red notice 
system not against criminals, but to harass political dissidents and 
exiles who are unable to travel internationally for fear that they will 
be arrested and face extradition in their home country, where they 
suffer persecution, imprisonment, and even death.
  For example, Jacob Ostreicher, a legitimate American businessman who 
was the victim of an extortion ring involving corrupt Bolivian 
Government officials and jailed in Bolivia, a matter on which my 
subcommittee held three hearings and for which I traveled to Bolivia 
with our colleague Nydia Velazquez, has, since his return to the United 
States, discovered that he has been red-noticed by vindictive Bolivian 
Government officials.
  The red notice effectively prevents him from traveling abroad. He is 
currently going through a time-consuming and costly process to clear 
his name.
  To help encourage reform at INTERPOL, we should welcome democracies 
such as Taiwan.
  I also believe strengthening Taiwan's law enforcement capabilities 
benefits American citizens as much as it does the Taiwanese.
  Every year, Mr. Speaker, tens of thousands of Americans travel to 
Taiwan, and this bill will certainly help Taiwan's police protect 
American citizens and other internationalists as they travel to Taiwan. 
It is a good bill. It is an important bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of this bill. Just to put the legislative 
history in the Record, the House passed H.R. 1853 overwhelmingly late 
last year. In fact, the vote on this floor was 392-0.
  We sent the bill to the Senate. Instead of acting on the House bill, 
the Senate xeroxed our bill, put their own name on it, and now sends it 
back here.
  If I was driven by ego, I might try to serve in the other body. But 
the decision to send the bill back to us with their own names on it is 
a trend we are seeing in the Foreign Affairs area, a trend that I do 
not condemn because it allows us here on this floor to consider well-
drafted House bills twice and to vote on them twice and to emphasize to 
the administration how serious we are about their being enacted.
  I want to thank the Senate author for his decision that we consider 
this bill a second time. The vote last time was 392-0. My hope is that 
we have a similar vote today.
  I commend the gentleman from New Jersey for describing why this bill 
is important. Since I have previously commented how important it is 
that we discuss Foreign Affairs bills not once, but twice, on the floor 
of this House, I would be remiss if I did not add my own comments.
  When this bill was introduced in the House, it was by the chair and 
ranking member of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee, Mr. Salmon and 
myself.
  I appreciate the Senate commending our draftsmanship, since imitation 
is the most sincere form of flattery.
  Why is this bill necessary? Because Taiwan functions day to day as an 
independent country and it needs to function in that manner inside 
international organizations.
  To date, Taiwan has been admitted to only one international 
organization, the World Health Organization, and there it has only 
observer status.
  The fiction that Taiwan acts as, functions as, a part of China 
complicates and interferes with so many international organizations, 
but it should not be allowed to interfere with law enforcement against 
criminal gangs and international criminal syndicates.
  As things stand now, Taiwan gets some of the information it needs 
from the international police organization known as INTERPOL, but it is 
not consistently made available. It is not reliable.
  Taiwan doesn't have realtime access to INTERPOL's networks and 
systems. This doesn't just hurt the people of Taiwan, but hurts people 
all over the world who are potential victims of criminals who cannot be 
apprehended because we don't have an efficient sharing of information 
as part of this multilateral law enforcement agency.
  It is for this reason that the bill directs the President to develop 
a strategy to obtain at least observer status for Taiwan in the 
International Criminal Police Organization, or INTERPOL.
  I commend the gentleman from New Jersey for managing this bill here 
today, and I commend the chairman of the Asia and the Pacific 
Subcommittee, Mr. Salmon, for introducing this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1645

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), the chairman of the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and 
Trade.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, before I left Houston early this morning, I met with 
President Ma from Taiwan, and we had an interesting and wonderful 
discussion.

[[Page H1319]]

  Taiwan and the United States share a lot in common. Historically, 
during World War II, for example, all the way up until today, the 
United States has been a great partner with Taiwan so as to make sure 
that area of the world is free, that it is a democracy. It is a 
thriving democracy and the folks in Taiwan are proud of the fact of the 
relationship that they have with the United States. This is another way 
that we can help this thriving area, this thriving democracy, stay up 
to date on the world criminal gangs that are roaming throughout the 
world.
  Organized crime is an international crime now, Mr. Speaker, as you 
being a former judge would know. They are more sophisticated and they 
are more in-depth about how they promote their criminal syndicates 
throughout the world. Most importantly, it is international. Crime has 
now moved to sophistication beyond what it was when both the gentleman 
from Tennessee and I were practicing at the courthouse as judges.
  Why not help out this organization, this group of people--Taiwan, 20 
million-plus individuals--so that it can keep up with the information 
and the intelligence about crime, which affects the whole world?
  It affects not only free societies, it affects societies that aren't 
so free.
  INTERPOL is the group. It is the organization that tracks 
international crime. Taiwan should have this information. It should 
have at least observer status to know what is going on with these 
criminal syndicates throughout the world. China doesn't want Taiwan to 
have INTERPOL access or even observer status. It is a political thing 
for China. As my friend from New Jersey mentioned, China, it would 
seem, would want Taiwan to have access to information about criminals--
or outlaws, as we call them.
  This is an important piece of legislation. As the ranking member 
pointed out so eloquently, it is such a good piece of legislation that 
the Senate just copied it, put its name on it, and sent it back to us 
because it wants us to vote on it twice. We will vote on it twice and 
we will show all concerned, especially the folks in Taiwan and the 
international community, that we support its right to know the 
information about criminals that lurk throughout the world.
  And that is just the way it is.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Taiwan already missed the INTERPOL General Assembly 
meeting that took place last fall in Kigali, Rwanda. Our hope is that 
with the passage of this bill, the United States will be able to figure 
out a way for Taiwan to observe the General Assembly meeting later this 
year in Indonesia.
  It is time that we insist that Taiwan be an observer to INTERPOL so 
that everyone can benefit from increased safety and security. Blocking 
Taiwan from INTERPOL is not in the interest of any nation. And as Judge 
Poe just mentioned a moment ago, even the People's Republic of China 
would benefit because this is all about trying to catch and to inhibit 
criminals from moving effortlessly across borders; so it is in its 
interest as well not to block Taiwan.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Salmon-Sherman bill which is 
before us today.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong support of S. 2426, 
directing the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to obtain 
observer status for Taiwan in the International Criminal Police 
Organization (INTERPOL).
  Last year, I supported H.R. 1853, which passed here in the House of 
Representatives, directing the Administration to develop a strategy to 
obtain observer status for Taiwan in the International Criminal Police 
Organization (INTERPOL), and for other purposes.
  As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, 
Homeland Security, and Investigations, the empowerment of law 
enforcement in order that they be able to carry out their mandate in 
upholding the rule of law and preservation of peace and security are 
imperatives I believe we must continue to seek to facilitate here in 
the homeland as well as in the global community from Nigeria to Taiwan 
and everywhere in between to maintain global stability and combat 
violent extremism.
  Our world today is fraught with global terrorism, with groups such as 
ISIL, Boko Haram, al-Shabab and their other affiliates, utilizing 
information sharing and technologies to advance their vitriolic causes.
  This is why organizing, inclusion and empowerment of nations willing 
to work together to combat domestic and global terrorism is in our 
global and national security interest.
  This measure facilitates the United States' and the global 
community's ability to move swiftly to empower police and law 
enforcement in our collective efforts of coordinating, preempting and 
acting swiftly in unison, strategically in combatting terrorism, crisis 
prevention and response and maintaining, peace, security, law, order 
and respect for the rule of law.
  I join this bipartisan measure which seeks to facilitate INTERPOL 
member states' efforts to promote Taiwan's ability to bid to obtain 
observer status in the INTERPOL.
  Indeed, since 1964, Taiwan had maintained full membership, but was 
ejected 20 years later when the People's Republic of China (PRC) 
applied for membership.
  Part of what the United States Administration can do is to take the 
lead in endorsing Taiwan in obtaining its observer status.
  Let me underscore that the Administration and our Secretary of State 
are doing a fantastic job in diplomatic efforts on behalf of our 
nation, earning us goodwill in the global community.
  The United States has expressed its affirmative intentions in support 
of Taiwan's participation in appropriate international organizations, 
as delineated in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review.
  For instance, Public Law 108-235 authorized the Secretary of State to 
initiate and implement a plan to endorse and obtain observer status at 
the annual World Health Assembly for six consecutive years, owing to 
Taiwan's significant contribution to the global community's efforts of 
addressing pandemic control and global public health issues of our day.
  Indeed, the INTERPOL's constitution allows observer status at 
meetings by police entities who are not members of the Organization.
  The current status of non-membership status preludes Taiwan from 
gaining access to INTERPOL's I-24/7 global communications systems, an 
important real time information sharing infrastructure on domestic and 
global criminals.
  The current state of affairs relegates Taiwan to hearsay or second 
hand information from friendly nations such as the United States.
  This impedes Taiwan's ability to move swiftly in information 
acquisition as it relates to its domestic and global crime fighting 
efforts.
  As a senior member of the Committee on Homeland Security, global and 
national security efforts and infrastructures that promote global 
communications to achieve peace and stability are very important to me.
  This measure seeks to protect our security interests in Taiwan as 
well as the global security of the world.
  Taiwan's inaccessibility to critical information readily made 
available to its law enforcement forces places our entire world at 
risk.
  This measure seeks to facilitate Taiwan's direct and unobstructed 
participation in the International Criminal Police which promotes 
global security.
  I support and urge the support of this measure because it is 
beneficial for all nations and their police authorities to be able to 
share information with authorized police authorities in their law 
enforcement and peacekeeping efforts in combatting local and global 
crimes, including the contemporary crime of violent extremism.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this measure, 
which would direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to 
obtain observer status for Taiwan in the International Criminal Police 
Organization, also known as INTERPOL.
  As a co-chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, I support the 
dynamic U.S.-Taiwan relationship based on our shared values, deep 
economic ties, and a history of close collaboration.
  Gaining observer status for Taiwan in INTERPOL would further enhance 
U.S.-Taiwan relations and provide for a pragmatic integration of Taiwan 
into an international compact.
  Taiwan's contributions to INTERPOL will strengthen law enforcement 
initiatives to fight human trafficking, arms smuggling, terrorism, and 
other criminal threats.
  Integrating Taiwan into an international law enforcement body like 
INTERPOL increases communication and information sharing to the benefit 
of the people of Taiwan and INTERPOL member countries.
  This is a practical step that serves the interests of the U.S., 
Taiwan, and INTERPOL, and I would urge my colleagues to support this 
measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 2426.

[[Page H1320]]

  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. 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, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________