[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6102]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     IN HONOR OF STEPHEN S.F. CHEN

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Stephen S.F. 
Chen, who serves as the head of the Taipei Cultural and Economic 
Representative Office in Washington, DC.
  Ambassador Chen will be retiring from diplomatic service and 
returning to his home in Taiwan soon. I have come to know Ambassador 
Chen well since his appointment in October of 1997, as have many of my 
colleagues, and hold him in high regard for his unquestioned 
professionalism and personal integrity.
  Ambassador Chen has, for forty years, ably represented his government 
in posts throughout the world. His experience in the United States is 
extensive. During the past twenty-five years Ambassador Chen has served 
in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Over the years, 
Ambassador Chen has become a friend to numerous Americans, myself 
included. It is fitting in many ways that he closes his diplomatic 
career here in Washington, among friends.
  Mr. President, representing the people of Taiwan abroad is a 
challenge of great magnitude. The people of Taiwan live in an admirably 
democratic, free and dynamic community at home. They are significantly 
more constrained in the international community. Effectively 
communicating the interests of Taiwan abroad requires considerable 
diplomatic skill, patience and resolve. Stephen Chen embodies all these 
traits.
  The people of Taiwan could not have had a better Ambassador in 
Washington, D.C., than Stephen Chen. I will certainly miss my good 
friend when he leaves and know my colleagues will join me in extending 
to him our best wishes and great appreciation.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as if 
in morning business for 7 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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