identified as the 11th Panchen Lama, and pur-
porting to install its own candidate as the Panchen 
Lama. 
(9) During his confirmation hearings to be Sec-
retary of State, Michael Pompeo testified to the Sen-
ate Foreign Relations Committee that ‘‘If confirmed, 
I will press the Chinese government to respect the 
legitimacy of Tibetan Buddhists’ religious practices. 
This includes the decisions of Tibetan Buddhists in 
selecting, educating, and venerating the lamas who 
lead the faith, such as the Dalai Lama.’’. 
(10) The Department of State’s Report on 
International Religious Freedom for 2017 reported 
on policies and efforts of the Government of the 
People’s Republic of China to exert control over the 
selection of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders, in-
cluding reincarnate lamas, and stated that ‘‘U.S. of-
ficials underscored that decisions on the reincarna-
tion of the Dalai Lama should be made solely by 
faith leaders.’’. 
(11) In July 2015, Under Secretary of State 
for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human 
Rights, Sarah Sewall, serving concurrently as United 
States Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, testi-
fied to Congress that ‘‘the basic and universally rec-
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ognized right of religious freedom demands that any 
decision on the next Dalai Lama be reserved to the 
current Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist leaders, and 
the Tibetan people’’. 
(12) On June 8, 2015, the United States 
House of Representatives unanimously approved 
House Resolution 337 which calls on the United 
States Government to ‘‘underscore that government 
interference in the Tibetan reincarnation process is 
a violation of the internationally recognized right to 
religious freedom, and that matters related to rein-
carnations in Tibetan Buddhism are of keen interest 
to Tibetan Buddhist populations worldwide’’. 
(13) On April 25, 2018, the United States Sen-
ate unanimously approved Senate Resolution 429 
which ‘‘expresses its sense that the identification 
and installation of Tibetan Buddhist religious lead-
ers, including a future 15th Dalai Lama, is a matter 
that should be determined solely within the Tibetan 
Buddhist faith community, in accordance with the 
inalienable right to religious freedom’’. 
(b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 
United States that— 
(1) decisions regarding the identification and 
installation of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders, in-
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cluding a future 15th Dalai Lama, are exclusively 
spiritual matters that should be made by the appro-
priate religious authorities within the Tibetan Bud-
dhist tradition and in the context of the will of reli-
gious practitioners and the instructions of the 14th 
Dalai Lama; and 
(2) interference by the Government of the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China or any other government in 
the process of recognizing a successor or reincarna-
tion of the Dalai Lama would represent a clear vio-
lation of the fundamental religious freedoms of Ti-
betan Buddhists and the Tibetan people. 
(c) AMENDMENTS TO FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHOR-
IZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 1990 AND 1991.—Section 
901(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 
Years 1990 and 1991 (Public Law 101–246; 104 Stat. 
80) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), and 
(9) as paragraphs (8), (9), and (10), respectively; 
and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(7) protecting the internationally recognized 
right to the freedom of religion and belief, including 
ensuring that the identification and installation of 
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Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders, including a fu-
ture 15th Dalai Lama, is a matter determined solely 
within the Tibetan Buddhist faith community, based 
on instructions of the 14th Dalai Lama, without in-
terference by the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China;’’. 
(d) HOLDING CHINESE OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE 
FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ABUSES TARGETING TIBETAN 
BUDDHISTS.—It is the policy of the United States— 
(1) to consider any effort by the Government of 
the People’s Republic of China to identify or install 
its own candidate as the future 15th Dalai Lama of 
Tibetan Buddhism to be— 
(A) a serious human rights abuse as such 
term is used in Executive Order 13818 (2017); 
and 
(B) a particularly severe violation of reli-
gious freedom for purposes of applying section 
212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G)); and 
(2) to consider any official of the Government 
of the People’s Republic of China determined to be 
complicit in identifying or installing a government- 
approved candidate as the future 15th Dalai Lama, 
contrary to the instructions provided by the 14th 
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Dalai Lama, and one not recognized by the faith 
community of Tibetan Buddhists globally to be sub-
ject to sanctions described in Executive Order 13818 
(2017) and to inadmissibility into the United States 
under section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)). 
(e) DEPARTMENT OF STATE PROGRAMMING TO PRO-
MOTE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOR TIBETAN BUDDHISTS.— 
Consistent with section 401 of the Frank R. Wolf Inter-
national Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114–281; 
130 Stat. 1436), of the funds available to the Department 
of State for international religious freedom programs, the 
Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom 
should provide funding to vigorously protect and promote 
international religious freedom in China and for programs 
to protect Tibetan Buddhism in China and elsewhere. 
SEC. 4. REPORTING ON TIBET UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL 
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT OF 1998. 
Section 102(b)(1) of the International Religious 
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)(1)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘, includ-
ing policies’’ and inserting ‘‘, including interference 
in the right of religious communities to choose their 
leaders, policies’’; and 
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