From: ZHAO@HUXTAL.BITNET
Subject:      CCSA: MEETING WITH THE WHITE HOUSE ON S1216
Reply-To: ZHAO@HUXTAL.BITNET
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 13:56:00 GMT

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          CCSA: MEETING WITH THE WHITE HOUSE ON S1216

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          TO:       Chinese Students and Scholars Nationwide

          From:          Haiching Zhao

          Date:          October 4, 1992

     In response to our request, the White House has called me back
on Friday to arrange a meeting on Monday afternoon at 1:00 PM.
After we received the phone call, we contacted the Headquarters to
coordinate the meeting with the White House.  It is critical at
this moment for us to work together to give the bill a final push.
We will convey the concerns that we, the Chinese students and
scholars have.  We will urge the President to sign the bill as soon
as possible.  We will also express our appreciations over
President's Executive Order protecting Chinese students and
scholars until 1994 and emphasize that S1216 is a natural extension
of the President's executive order.

     When a bill passes the Congress, it goes through a routine
review process by various departments in the Administration.  As of
Friday, S1216, has cleared through several departments including
the Justice (INS) and the State.  So far every agency has responded
with a favorable recommendation.  We do not know when the President
will sign the bill.  However, as Congressman Joe Barton put it: "We
are finding all information there is in the White House on the
bill.  So far they have all indicated the President will sign the
bill.  We will let you know as soon as we have new information."

     We have been continuing to focus on Republican Senators to
call the President.  We have visited almost all Republican Senate
offices in coordination with lobbying delegations from New York and
Minnesota.  The objectives of these visits are two: 1) to find out
what White House's intention is on the bill; and 2) to urge these
Senators and their staff to call the White House asking the
President to sign the bill and continue to support the Chinese
students in this country.

     So far the results have been significant.  At least 4 Senate
offices and some other sources have independently confirmed the
positive responses from the White House regarding S1216.

     The President has until 12th of October to sign the bill.  The
ten day period the President has to sign the bill starts at
midnight after the bill is delivered to the White House with
Sundays excluded.

     The Congress will adjourn on Tuesday.  We need to continue to
call the Republican Senators, thanking them for their support of
S1216 and their support for human rights in China, asking them to
call the President to sign the Bill as soon as possible.

     Another matter in the Congress is the veto-overriding effort
on conditional MFN bill.  Last week, both Houses voted to override
the President's veto on HR 5318.  The House succeeded with a vote
of 345 to 74.  However, the Senate vote on Thursday was 59 (60
including Senator Gore) to 40.  Even though it was not enough to
override the veto,  it certainly exerted enough pressure to the
Chinese government on its behavior regarding human rights.  It has
raised widespread public attention in the U.S. on human rights
conditions in China.  It also gave the President and many
Republican Senators a great deal of pressure to stand strong on the
issue of human rights for China.  This demonstrated a need for
human rights improvement in China and a need for protection of
Chinese students in this country.  This certainly helps our effort
on S1216 if, and only if, we can cautiously strategize and
coordinate our efforts on the two bills.

     We have worked hard to push the human rights conditions for
China's MFN status.  We also pushed this issue very hard to keep it
in the public (including sending packages to more than 50
newspapers nationwide as well as news release to national media).
While we are raising the public consciousness on the issue of human
rights regarding MFN, we have also worked hard to keep S1216
separate from the MFN issue in the public.  If S1216 becomes a
political issue mixed with MFN in the public arena, President Bush
would have to stand on his China policy which may mean veto for
both bills.  That is the logic of keeping it low profile in our
effort for S1216.

     Please stay tuned for further information after we meet with
the White House.

     Thank you for your interest and cooperation.

/end
Newsgroups: talk.politics.china