108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4019

AN ACT

To address the participation of Taiwan in the

World Health Organization.

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4019

AN ACT

To address the participation of Taiwan in the World Health

Organization.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. CONCERNING THE PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN

2 IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION.

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find4 ings:

5 (1) Good health is important to every citizen of

6 the world and access to the highest standards of

7 health information and services is necessary to im8 prove the public health.

9 (2) Direct and unobstructed participation in

10 international health cooperation forums and pro11 grams is beneficial for all parts of the world, espe12 cially today with the great potential for the cross13 border spread of various infectious diseases such as

14 the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuber15 culosis, and malaria.

16 (3) Taiwan’s population of 23,500,000 people is

greater than that of 3 17 ⁄4 of the member states already

18 in the World Health Organization (WHO).

19 (4) Taiwan’s achievements in the field of health

20 are substantial, including—

21 (A) attaining—

22 (i) 1 of the highest life expectancy lev23 els in Asia; and

24 (ii) maternal and infant mortality

25 rates comparable to those of western coun26 tries;
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1 (B) eradicating such infectious diseases as

2 cholera, smallpox, the plague, and polio; and

3 (C) providing children with hepatitis B

4 vaccinations.

5 (5) The United States Centers for Disease Con6 trol and Prevention and its counterpart agencies in

7 Taiwan have enjoyed close collaboration on a wide

8 range of public health issues.

9 (6) In recent years Taiwan has expressed a will10 ingness to assist financially and technically in inter11 national aid and health activities supported by the

12 WHO.

13 (7) On January 14, 2001, an earthquake, reg14 istering between 7.6 and 7.9 on the Richter scale,

15 struck El Salvador. In response, the Taiwanese Gov16 ernment sent 2 rescue teams, consisting of 90 indi17 viduals specializing in firefighting, medicine, and

18 civil engineering. The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign

19 Affairs also donated $200,000 in relief aid to the

20 Salvadoran Government.

21 (8) The World Health Assembly has allowed ob22 servers to participate in the activities of the organi23 zation, including the Palestine Liberation Organiza24 tion in 1974, the Order of Malta, and the Holy See

25 in the early 1950’s.
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1 (9) The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Pol2 icy Review, declared its intention to support Tai3 wan’s participation in appropriate international or4 ganizations.

5 (10) Public Law 106–137 required the Sec6 retary of State to submit a report to Congress on ef7 forts by the executive branch to support Taiwan’s

8 participation in international organizations, in par9 ticular the WHO.

10 (11) In light of all benefits that Taiwan’s par11 ticipation in the WHO can bring to the state of

12 health not only in Taiwan, but also regionally and

13 globally, Taiwan and its 23,500,000 people should

14 have appropriate and meaningful participation in the

15 WHO.

16 (12) On May 11, 2001, President Bush stated

17 in a letter to Senator Murkowski that the United

18 States ‘‘should find opportunities for Taiwan’s voice

19 to be heard in international organizations in order to

20 make a contribution, even if membership is not pos21 sible’’, further stating that the administration ‘‘has

22 focused on finding concrete ways for Taiwan to ben23 efit and contribute to the WHO’’.

24 (13) In his speech made in the World Medical

25 Association on May 14, 2002, Secretary of Health
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1 and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced

2 ‘‘America’s work for a healthy world cuts across po3 litical lines. That is why my government supports

4 Taiwan’s efforts to gain observership status at the

5 World Health Assembly. We know this is a con6 troversial issue, but we do not shrink from taking a

7 public stance on it. The people of Taiwan deserve

8 the same level of public health as citizens of every

9 nation on earth, and we support them in their ef10 forts to achieve it’’.

11 (14) The Government of the Republic of China

12 on Taiwan, in response to an appeal from the

13 United Nations and the United States for resources

14 to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, donated

15 $1,000,000 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tu16 berculosis, and Malaria in December 2002.

17 (15) In 2003, the outbreak of Severe Acute

18 Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused 84 deaths in

19 Taiwan.

20 (16) Avian influenza, commonly known as bird

21 flu, has reemerged in Asia, with strains of the influ22 enza reported by the People’s Republic of China,

23 Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, South

24 Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.
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1 (17) The SARS and avian influenza outbreaks

2 illustrate that disease knows no boundaries and em3 phasize the importance of allowing all people access

4 to the WHO.

5 (18) As the pace of globalization quickens and

6 the spread of infectious disease accelerates, it is cru7 cial that all people, including the people of Taiwan,

8 be given the opportunity to participate in inter9 national health organizations such as the WHO.

10 (19) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv11 ices acknowledged during the 2003 World Health

12 Assembly meeting that ‘‘[t]he need for effective pub13 lic health exists among all peoples’’.

14 (b) PLAN.—The Secretary of State is authorized to—

15 (1) initiate a United States plan to endorse and

16 obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual

17 week-long summit of the World Health Assembly

18 each year in Geneva, Switzerland;

19 (2) instruct the United States delegation to the

20 World Health Assembly in Geneva to implement that

21 plan; and

22 (3) introduce a resolution in support of observer

23 status for Taiwan at the summit of the World

24 Health Assembly.
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1 (c) REPORT CONCERNING OBSERVER STATUS FOR

2 TAIWAN AT THE SUMMIT OF THE WORLD HEALTH AS3 SEMBLY.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the

4 enactment of this Act, and not later than April 1 of each

5 year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit a re6 port to the Congress, in unclassified form, describing the

7 United States plan to endorse and obtain observer status

8 for Taiwan at the annual week-long summit of the World

9 Health Assembly (WHA) held by the World Health Orga10 nization (WHO) in May of each year in Geneva, Switzer11 land. Each report shall include the following:

12 (1) An account of the efforts the Secretary of

13 State has made, following the last meeting of the

14 World Health Assembly, to encourage WHO member

15 states to promote Taiwan’s bid to obtain observer

16 status.

17 (2) The steps the Secretary of State will take

18 to endorse and obtain observer status at the next

19 annual meeting of the World Health Assembly in

20 Geneva, Switzerland.

Passed the House of Representatives April 21, 2004.

Attest:

Clerk.