From: ZHAO@HUXTAL.BITNET
Subject:      CCSA: S1216 TO WHITE HOUSE & LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Reply-To: ZHAO@HUXTAL.BITNET
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 01:14:00 GMT

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          CCSA: S1216 TO WHITE HOUSE AND LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

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          TO:       Chinese Students and Scholars Nationwide

          From:          Haiching Zhao

          Date:          Sept. 30, 1992


     S1216 is finally on its way to the White House!  It was signed
by the Congress, sealed and delivered to the President from the
Senate at 6:30p.m. today.

     The President would have ten days to sign the bill into law
with the clock starting midnight tonight.  (Even if the Congress
goes into recess, he still can sign the bill into law.)

     It is good news and certainly a relief for many of us who have
been anxiously waiting for any development of the bill.

     Today was a long day for us who were working all day on the
Capitol Hill.  A delegation of 4 student representatives from New
York drove down to D.C.  They started midnight last night and
arrived here 8:00a.m. this morning.  Together with Mr. Ji Yingquan
from Minnesota, who has been working here day and night, we had a
meeting at 10:00a.m. with Congressman Joe Barton, sponsor of the
bill in the House.  We thanked him again for his effort for our
cause.  When we asked him about S1216, he told us that he just
contacted the White House and was told by a senior White House
official that the President would sign the bill.

     At 11:00a.m., we had a meeting with an aide for Sen. D'Amato
(R-NY), thanking for his support for S1216 and urge him to help in
any way he can to make sure that the President will sign the bill.
At the same time, we asked him to support HR5318, the bill to put
human rights conditions on China's MFN status.

     At 1:00p.m., the House started debate and vote on overriding
President's veto of HR5318.  The final vote was 345 to 74.  We went
to Congresswoman Pelosi's office and met with her after the vote.
We thanked her and greatly appreciated her leadership for both
bills.  She reinterated that both S1216 and HR5318 are consistent
on one point --- promoting human rights for China.  The purpose of
HR5318 is to release political prisoners and improve human rights
conditions in China.  The purpose of S1216 is to protect Chinese
nationals in the U.S. from being forced back and face possible
persecutions.  She even put it very bluntly: "You can not argue
against HR5318 and only want S1216 since if you indicate the human
rights in China is fine and not to support conditional MFN, then
you can not argue that Chinese students in this country still need
protection."

     At the end, we asked her to help speeding up the paper work
and help to send S1216 to the President quickly.  She happily
promised that she would call Senator Mitchell immediately.

     Afterward, we went to meet with Congressman Pease who is the
primary sponsor of HR5318 in the House.  We respectfully showed our
great appreciation for his leadership in the House to promote human
rights for China.

     Then, we went to the Senate and visited several key Republican
Senator's offices, thanking for their support of S1216, asking them
to call the President to sign the bill, and urging them to support
HR5318.

     At 5:00p.m., we went to Senators Mitchell and Kennedy's
offices and pressed hard for them to look into the matter and make
sure that S1216 be sent to the President immediately.  The
responses were positive.  Later, we learned that the delay was
primarily due to the piles of paper work in the Senate.

     When I called back at 6:55p.m., I was told the bill was signed
by the Congressional leaders, sealed and on its way to the White
House 25 min. ago.

     What do we need to do about S1216?

     We should continue our cautious low key approach since we have
every indication that the President may sign it in a low key
fashion.  We certainly don't want to do anything at this point to
agonize the White House that may jeopardize the chance for the
President to sign the bill.

     Do we need massive lobbying for the White House?  Our
recommendation is NOT NOW.  We will certainly let you know when we
need to.

     However, you surely can help by making donations.  Please make
your pledge to:

     CCSA/Immigration Fund

and send to:

     CCSA
     P.O.Box 65307
     Washington, D.C. 20035-5307

Thank you.

/end
Newsgroups: talk.politics.china