[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 9, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H57-H59]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TAIWAN TRAVEL ACT
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 535) to encourage visits between the United States
and Taiwan at all levels, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 535
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Taiwan Travel Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.),
enacted in 1979, has continued for 37 years to be a
cornerstone of relations between the United States and Taiwan
and has served as an anchor for peace and security in the
Western Pacific area.
(2) The Taiwan Relations Act declares that peace and
stability in the Western Pacific area are in the political,
security, and economic interests of the United States and are
matters of international concern.
(3) The United States considers any effort to determine the
future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by
boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security of
the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United
States.
(4) Taiwan has succeeded in a momentous transition to
democracy beginning in the late 1980s and has been a beacon
of democracy in Asia, and Taiwan's democratic achievements
inspire many countries and people in the region.
(5) Visits to a country by United States cabinet members
and other high-ranking officials are an indicator of the
breadth and depth of ties between the United States and such
country.
(6) Since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act,
relations between the United States and Taiwan have suffered
from insufficient high-level communication due to the self-
imposed restrictions that the United States maintains on
high-level visits with Taiwan.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS; STATEMENT OF POLICY.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States Government should encourage visits between
officials from the United States and Taiwan at all levels.
(b) Statement of Policy.--It should be the policy of the
United States to--
(1) allow officials at all levels of the United States
Government, including cabinet-level national security
officials, general officers, and other executive branch
officials, to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese
counterparts;
(2) allow high-level officials of Taiwan to enter the
United States, under conditions which demonstrate appropriate
respect for the dignity of such officials, and to meet with
officials of the United States, including officials from the
Department of State and the Department of Defense and other
cabinet agencies; and
(3) encourage the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Representative Office, and any other instrumentality
established by Taiwan, to conduct business in the United
States, including activities which involve participation by
Members of Congress, officials of Federal, State, or local
governments of the United States, or any high-level official
of Taiwan.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their
remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel
Act, and I recognize Mr. Chabot for his longstanding dedication and
support to the people of Taiwan.
Mr. Speaker, Taiwan succeeded in a momentous transition, a transition
which took them to democracy. They did this decades ago, and since, it
has become a beacon of democracy across the Asia-Pacific.
Taiwan is a strong friend and critical partner to the United States.
Congress has been central to this longstanding bond, championing a
strong relationship with Taiwan through a number of landmark measures,
like the Taiwan Relations Act, impressing successive administrations to
fulfill their obligation to sell defensive arms to Taiwan. Today,
Congress continues this legacy with this Taiwan Travel Act, which has
gained strong, bipartisan support.
We should encourage our officials to visit Taipei, to meet with their
democratically elected counterparts on the many issues, the many
programs, that we work on together, such as global health, commercial
ties, global cooperation and training, the framework that we have in
place. We should also welcome Taiwanese officials here.
Mr. Speaker, there are, in fact, no laws that bar our executive
branch officials at any level from visiting Taiwan. The EPA
Administrator in 2014 was the last executive branch official to visit
Taiwan. A total of six Cabinet-level officials have visited Taiwan
since 1979.
As our 10th largest trading partner, Taiwan deserves more attention.
U.S. interests in the region deserve more respect. This bill encourages
officials, at all levels of the U.S. Government, including Cabinet-
level officials, to travel to Taiwan to meet their counterparts and
vice versa.
{time} 1515
Mr. Speaker, we must build stronger ties in our relationship with
Taiwan.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, H.R. 535, the
Taiwan Travel Act. I am pleased to have joined with Congressman Chabot
in introducing this bill, the Taiwan Travel Act.
Taiwan is not just an important trading partner, our 14th largest
market. It is not just a land of 23 million people. It is a democratic
ally of the United States, a place where our values are displayed in
the Asia-Pacific region. Yet it would be surprising for most Americans
to know that leaders from Taiwan are not allowed to visit the United
States under any reasonable format. Instead, the President of Taiwan
cannot visit Washington, D.C., but can visit Los Angeles for a
refueling stop on the way to Costa Rica.
What an absurd fiction that the President of Taiwan would fly across
the Pacific again and again to visit their friends in Costa Rica or
other
[[Page H58]]
Central American countries and that the refueling stop in the United
States is just a 2-day effort to put fuel on a jet plane.
Now, my district actually benefits from this, because when the
President and several different officials of Taiwan come to America,
they refuel at Los Angeles Airport and they come to the Sheraton
Universal Hotel in the 30th Congressional District. But in spite of the
benefit both in terms of image and the economy that the current
situation provides for the 30th District, it is time for us to grow up
and it is time for us to realize that Taiwan is a vital ally and that
its most important leaders should be visiting Washington, D.C., and
talking not only to the legislative branch, but talking to the
executive branch as well.
We should no longer be in a circumstance where, when Members of
Congress from other parts of the country want to visit with the
President of Taiwan, they have to fly to Universal City and stay at the
Sheraton in my district and visit there.
We could communicate far better if the President of Taiwan was able
to land at Dulles and be in the halls of Congress.
This bill simply says that it is time to encourage travel of the
high-ranking officials of each country to the other and meetings at the
highest levels. These are important steps in ending this effort to
isolate Taiwan, because by encouraging a greater level of high-level
visits and dialogue, we would ease Taiwan's international isolation and
reaffirm that the U.S. has a political and security commitment to the
freedom of Taiwan.
Mr. Speaker, I commend Mr. Chabot for introducing this legislation,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), the chairman emeritus of
the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank our esteemed chairman for his
years of service to our country.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act,
authored by my good friend and colleague, Chairman Steve Chabot. Over
the years, Steve and I have worked closely together on our Foreign
Affairs Committee, and his commitment and leadership on strengthening
U.S.-Taiwan relations has been second to none.
We have worked to shift U.S. policy on Taiwan to a more favorable
position for our friend and ally, Taiwan, rather than an acquiescent
policy that U.S. administration after U.S. administration continued to
implement out of fear from a Chinese economic retaliation or diplomatic
retaliation or military retaliation.
Frankly, Mr. Speaker, it is a shame that we continue to allow China
to dictate our foreign policy when it comes to Taiwan. The Taiwanese
have been great partners for the United States, whereas China seeks to
undermine everything we do, yet administration after administration
have gone so far as to self-impose restrictions and self-impose
limitations in our dealings with Taiwan, and that includes a self-
imposed restriction on allowing the Taiwanese President and other high-
ranking government officials from Taipei from coming to Washington,
D.C., to meet with Congress, to meet with administration officials, to
meet with other policymakers. This is unconscionable, and this farce
needs to end.
We should have direct dialogue with the democratically elected
leadership of our ally, Taiwan, and we should not allow China or the
fear of Chinese reprisal to dictate this.
Without this, we are putting ourselves at a disadvantage. We are
harming and insulting an ally. Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, we are
damaging our national security interests and giving China, in effect, a
veto over our foreign policy decisions.
That is why Mr. Chabot's bill is so important, Mr. Speaker. The
Taiwan Travel Act states that it should be U.S. policy to not only
allow visits from Taiwanese officials at all levels of the government,
but to encourage these visits, to facilitate these visits.
It also states that our own policymakers, including at the highest
levels of our government, should visit Taiwan for face-to-face meetings
with their counterparts.
Mr. Speaker, the United States is a global leader. We are a sovereign
nation. Who we choose to meet with and who we choose to recognize is
our sovereign right. We should not allow China or anyone else to impact
our decision. For far too long, America has allowed China to prevent us
from taking full advantage of our partnership with Taiwan.
The Taiwan Travel Act is an important step toward doing the right
thing for our friend and ally, and I hope that the administration will
reverse these damaging policies.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, the chairman of our esteemed
committee, for the time. I urge all of our colleagues to support Mr.
Chabot's bill.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), who is the author of
this bill.
Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on
this.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of all three of these
overwhelmingly bipartisan bills.
First, I would like to speak on H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act, a
bill which I introduced this Congress along with my colleague,
Congressman Sherman. We appreciate his support on this and a lot of
other issues in this Congress, Chairman Royce and other Members as
well.
For close to 4 decades now, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act has served
as a cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations, and together, with President
Reagan's six assurances, we have maintained peace and stability and
security in the Asia-Pacific region. However, there are still major
steps that we can take to further strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan
relationship.
I believe one of the most important improvements that we can make is
to allow the President of Taiwan and other high-ranking officials, like
Taiwan's foreign and defense ministers, to visit Washington, our
Nation's Capital, something that is currently prohibited. This is our
own self-imposed policy and it is outrageous. These restrictions are
only carried out because of potential diplomatic retaliation from the
PRC, from China.
Personally, I think restricting high-level visits by senior Taiwanese
officials is not only insulting, but it is counterproductive.
We should be encouraging more direct dialogue with the democratically
elected President of Taiwan and other highest elected officials.
We let the leaders of China, the PRC, come to Washington on a regular
basis and we give them the highest honors, yet we shun the
democratically elected leaders of our longtime ally, Taiwan.
We need to send a strong signal that the current approach to
bilateral contacts and communications between the U.S. and Taiwan is
outdated and it is time for it to go and be changed, and that is what
this bill is all about.
If we seriously want to promote greater democracy in the region, we
should be as supportive as possible to the countries that are actually
practicing democracy, and that is what Taiwan does. It is a longtime
ally of ours.
That is exactly why I introduced the Taiwan Travel Act along, again,
with Congressman Sherman and Chairman Royce a year ago--January 13,
2017, to be exact.
This bill, which has broad, bipartisan support from a long list of
cosponsors, states that our government should encourage visits between
the U.S. and Taiwan at all levels.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to quickly voice my support for H.R.
3320, a bill championed by my friend and colleague, Chairman Ted Yoho.
This bill directs the Department of State to assist Taiwan in regaining
observer status in the World Health Organization, WHO. Unfortunately,
Taiwan has been excluded from participating in most of the really
important international organizations, including the WHO, for almost 50
years now.
Many of my colleagues and I have advocated for years for Taiwan's
meaningful participation in the WHO, much to the dismay of China, which
has consistently thwarted these efforts.
Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO creates a dangerous and unnecessary
gap in global health, especially considering the stellar health
research and medical resources Taiwan has to offer.
[[Page H59]]
That is why H.R. 3320 is so important. WHO membership for Taiwan is not
only in the best interests of Taiwan, it is in the best interests of
the rest of the world, including the United States.
Mr. Speaker, lastly, I want to voice my support for H. Res. 676,
Chairman Royce's and Ranking Member Engel's resolution supporting the
rights of the people of Iran and condemning the Iranian regime for its
crackdown on legitimate protesters. This is a commonsense measure.
The current regime in Iran has never respected human rights or the
rule of law. The recent situation in Iran only underscores this
reality.
I am pleased to see my colleagues quickly condemning the atrocities
by that government this very day; however, I want to take this
opportunity to stress the importance of remembering the big picture in
Iran. It is a country, let's face it, that is being run by thugs. Not
only do they perpetrate violence and marginalize their own people, they
harbor, promote, and finance terrorism throughout the region. They
threaten America and its allies. They continue to develop ballistic
missiles, which we know that one day they would like to have tipped
with nuclear devices. That could be a threat not just to our allies in
the region, but the United States.
This most recent outbreak of civil unrest in the country should not
be a surprise, considering the Iranian regime's ruthless tactics.
Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues join me in support of this measure
also and take further steps to hold Iran accountable for both its
domestic and international violations. I urge my colleagues to support
all three of these measures.
Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank the gentlemen from California,
Chairman Royce and Mr. Sherman, for their support on these and other
measures.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, every year, China threatens Taiwan, attempts to strangle
that democracy, bases missiles just over the Taiwan Straits, conducts
military exercises designed to simulate an invasion, hurts the economy
of Taiwan, and hurts the people of Taiwan.
{time} 1530
What is the mildest possible response that the United States could
make to these provocative and hostile actions? It is the adoption of
the Taiwan Travel Act, H.R. 535, to simply have meetings with Taiwanese
officials and simply allow them to land, even at those airports in the
United States inconvenient for refueling on the way to Costa Rica.
We should welcome the leaders of Taiwan as we welcome the leaders of
other allies of the United States, and this is the mildest answer we
could make to the saber-rattling from Beijing.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the bill, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am a decades-long supporter of Taiwan; and as chairman
of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have made supporting stronger U.S.-
Taiwan economic and security ties a priority for our committee. I have
traveled to Taiwan many times, as have members of the committee.
I really want to thank Chairman Chabot for introducing this important
measure, and I want to thank him for being a long-time champion for
Taiwan, especially when he was chairman of the Asia and the Pacific
Subcommittee.
The U.S. and Taiwan share a common commitment, and that commitment is
to democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Taiwan's successes
serve as an example of what can be built on these important principles.
We should be supporting countries that have achieved democracy to serve
as an inspiration for those values across the world.
The Taiwan Travel Act is important because it will encourage more
interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan. This is long overdue. It is
needed, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 535.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 535.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________