[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 5982-5983]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          TAIWAN PRESIDENT MA YING-JEOU'S SECOND INAUGURATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 27, 2012

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Taiwan 
President Ma Ying-Jeou on his second inauguration, to take place on May 
20, 2012.
  The free and fair January election continued Taiwan's long tradition 
of being a strong and stable democracy. On October 10, 2011, Taiwan 
celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. In the past century, 
Taiwan has matured into a free market, multi-party democracy that is a 
model for the world. Taiwan is an important partner in maintaining 
peace and stability in the region, and channels of communication have 
been open and smooth between Washington and Taipei.
  As a proud member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, I have had the 
privilege to travel to Taiwan last year as part of a bipartisan 
delegation. I had the pleasure of meeting President Ma Ying-Jeou and 
other government officials. I was strongly encouraged by their 
commitment to maintaining strong ties with the United States.
  As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I am also pleased to 
note Taiwan's nomination for inclusion in the U.S. Visa Waiver, VWP, 
program in December 2011. A key step towards their VWP status came when 
a U.S. Department of Homeland Security team recently visited Taiwan to 
inspect the island's anti-terrorism and immigration procedures. I 
continue to support Taiwan's inclusion in key international 
organizations, and I believe we can set a strong example at home by 
granting these privileges.

[[Page 5983]]

  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in congratulating 
President Ma on his upcoming inauguration. I look forward to 
maintaining the strong U.S.-Taiwan relations under his leadership.

                          ____________________