[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23071]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




DEMOCRATIC PACIFIC UNION SPONSORS INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON DEMOCRACY 
                              AND CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 6, 2006

  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, this December 8-10, an international 
symposium on democracy and congress will be held in Taipei, Taiwan. The 
symposium is sponsored by the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU), a non-
governmental organization founded in 2005 in Taipei for the purpose of 
fostering better relations among members of parliaments from countries 
around the Pacific Rim.
  This year's symposium will feature speakers from a number of 
countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United 
States and Taiwan. Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu, the driving force 
behind this year's symposium, is to be commended for putting this 
conference together.
  I support and endorse the symposium's goal: It is time for everyone 
in the international community to respect one another, to abide by 
international norms, and to respect the common values, namely, 
democracy, peace and prosperity.
  I hope my colleagues will find the time to participate in this 
important symposium on democracy and congress.

                          ____________________