Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4331, the bipartisan Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019.

By voting for this legislation, we are standing with the Tibetans and their religious and cultural way of life that the Chinese Government is seeking to eliminate.

Since President Nixon went to China in 1971, most Americans have believed that with increased exposure to our economic system and to our system of democracy, the Chinese Government would become more like us. That simply hasn't happened.

Whether it is the Hong Kong students, Uighur Muslims, Christians, or Tibetan Buddhists, China does not support our way of life. It does not support religious liberty.

Freedom of religion is a fundamental freedom. We must raise our voices loud and clear for all that are harassed, imprisoned, tortured, persecuted, or killed seeking to live out their faith. An attack on religious freedom anywhere is an attack on religious freedom everywhere.

Chinese officials in Tibet continue to severely restrict religious freedom, speech, movement, and assembly. They continue to restrict access to the unique cultural environment of Tibet.

In July 2018, authorities displaced over 200 under-18-year-old monks from at least two monasteries in Tibet and forced them to attend government-run schools.

In October 2018, Chinese Communist Party officials opened a new political education camp to train Tibetans in Chinese Communist Party ideology, particularly grassroots party-building and antiseparatism.

International journalists have said that the isolation of Tibet is worse than that of North Korea, allowing the Chinese Government to conceal human rights abuses.

The aspirations of the Tibetan people for dignity and freedom are viewed by the Chinese Government as a direct threat to their existence as an authoritarian state.

Reeducation and surveillance methods pioneered in Tibet are being used to target the Uighurs in Xinjiang, where the Chinese Government has created a surveillance state unlike anything the world has ever seen.

The Chinese Communist Party's repugnant campaign to destroy the cultural and religious identities of Tibetans and Uighurs requires more than just words of condemnation. We must stand up to any country that restricts individual liberty and religious freedom.

This legislation would urge the administration to place economic or visa sanctions against Chinese officials who interfere with the process of recognizing the next Dalai Lama.

Chairman McGovern and I hosted a townhall in Queens, New York, this past summer with the largest Tibetan diaspora community, and we learned of their inability to visit their families in Tibet.

This legislation will also direct the Department of State to establish a United States consulate in Lhasa, Tibet, to enable U.S. citizens better access to Tibet.

I am proud to be part of a legislative body that continues to advocate for Tibetans, for Uighurs, and for human rights and the rule of law in China.

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Mr. SUOZZI. To quote the Dalai Lama: ``Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose hope, that's our real disaster.''

The United States' strength is in our values, and our policies should not be separated from them. We must not lose hope.

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