[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1240]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



        TAIWAN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

 Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, Senator Murkowski and I have 
submitted a resolution that is critical to the future health and well-
being of the people of Taiwan and the rest of the world. I rise today 
to express my support for the resolution regarding the Republic of 
China on Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization (WHO). 
Improving health care in Asia, and around the world, is one of the most 
important issues facing the international community as we move into the 
21st century. Despite the fact that many people are better off today 
than their parents and grandparents were years ago, we still face 
tremendous obstacles to establishing basic health care in a number of 
regions around the world. To this date, children are still not 
vaccinated, clean water and sanitation are still not available to 
hundreds of millions of people, curative drugs and treatments are still 
inaccessible, and over 500,000 mothers die unnecessarily each year in 
childbirth.
  The WHO has been instrumental in helping to draw attention to these 
issues, and to bring needed relief to some of the most underprivileged 
people in the world. As we all know, sickness and disease span across 
borders and can affect anyone, regardless of where he or she lives. 
Here in the United States, we have been lucky enough to enjoy 
relatively easy access to the newest advances in medical technology and 
knowledge. However, the people of Taiwan have not been so fortunate. 
The 21 million citizens of Taiwan are currently barred from accessing 
the same technologies and techniques through the WHO that many other 
nations benefit from.
  In addition, Taiwan has been frustrated in its attempts to share its 
own medical knowledge with the rest of the world. Until Taiwan gains 
membership in the WHO, it cannot contribute its substantial expertise 
in health care to furthering the organization's goals. We can all 
benefit from the advances Taiwan has made on its own, and Taiwan can, 
in turn, improve its own situation by accessing the resources amassed 
by the WHO. The resolution that Senator Murkowski and I have submitted 
addresses an issue of basic human decency, and I urge my colleagues to 
support our efforts to help Taiwan become a member of the WHO.

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