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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 156 Introduced in House (IH)]

106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 156

      Expressing the sense of Congress supporting World Tibet Day.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 1999

   Mr. Jackson of Illinois (for himself, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Gilman, Mr. 
 DeFazio, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Rohrabacher, 
   Mr. Kucinich, Mr. King, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. Hinchey, Ms. 
  McKinney, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Payne, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. 
Baldwin, Mr. Stark, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Filner, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Davis 
  of Illinois, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Hilliard, and Ms. Lee) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
      Expressing the sense of Congress supporting World Tibet Day.

Whereas the history of the Tibetan state stretches back nearly 1,500 years with 
        unique and irreplaceable cultural and religious characteristics;
Whereas in 1949, the People's Republic of China invaded and occupied Tibet, and, 
        as a direct result, over 1.2 million Tibetans died and more than 6,000 
        monasteries were destroyed;
Whereas in August 1960, the International Commission of Jurists concluded that 
        the People's Republic of China had committed ``acts of genocide'' in 
        Tibet;
Whereas the State Department has concluded, in its Country Reports on the Human 
        Rights Practices for 1998 that the People's Republic of China continues 
        to commit systematic human rights violations in Tibet, including 
        torture, arbitrary arrest, denial of freedom of religion, and denial of 
        free speech and free press;
Whereas the movement of millions of ethnic Chinese to Tibetan lands threatens to 
        extinguish Tibetan culture and religion;
Whereas the Dalai Lama, temporal and spiritual leader of Tibet, was forced into 
        exile in 1959, where he has worked to keep alive the culture and 
        religion of his people, along with their hopes for freedom in Tibet;
Whereas the People's Republic of China should take measures to protect the 
        unique cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage of Tibet;
Whereas on July 10, six days after America's Independence Day, World Tibet Day 
        was held, to share in the same spirit of freedom that Independence Day 
        symbolizes;
Whereas many Tibetan communities also honored the July 6 birthday of the Dalai 
        Lama by affirming fundamental human freedoms;
Whereas on the weekend of World Tibet Day, houses of worship in many parts of 
        the world--churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, gurudwaras--took part 
        in an interfaith call for freedom of worship in Tibet and for universal 
        religious freedom; and
Whereas a goal of World Tibet Day is to support negotiations between the Dalai 
        Lama or his representatives and the government of the People's Republic 
        of China, without preconditions, on the future of Tibet: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress supports the goals and ideas of World Tibet Day.
                                 <all>
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