WASHINGTON DC: A Tibet advocacy delegation led by Richard Gere, Chairman of ICT board lobbied at the Capitol Hill on 27 and 28 June 2017 to request the US senators and representatives particularly to reinstate the budget cut proposed by the US administration for Tibetan programs in Tibet and in exile; appoint at the earliest the Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues at the State Department and co-sponsor/support Reciprocal Access to Tibet Bill which has been introduced in both the House and the Senate.
Representative Penpa Tsering, ICT President Matteo Mecacci, Vice President Buchung Tsering, Programs Officer Tenchoe Gyatso and Tsering Tashi were part of the delegation.
The delegation has met with 15 senators and congressmen in the last two days. On June 27th morning the delegation had an hour long meeting with House Foreign Affairs Committee member Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Ted Yoho (R-FL), Ted Duetsch (D-FL), Steve Chabot (R-OH), and Brad Sherman (D-CA).
Later the delegation met with House Appropriations Committee Chairman Congressman Harold Rogers(R-Kentucky); congresswoman Nita Lowey(D-NY), Ranking member, House Appropriations Committee and congresswoman Betty McCollum(D-MN), member of the House Appropriations Committee.
On the same day late evening, His Holiness birthday celebration was attended by among others ten bipartisan members of congress who reiterated their continue support for the Tibet cause. The congressmen are Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Luise M. Slaughter(D-NY), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Judy Chu(D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee(D-Texas), Betty Mcollum(D-MN), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen(R-FL) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington),
On June 28th morning the delegation met with Senator Patrick Leahy(D-Vermont), Ranking member, Senate Appropriation committee; Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont); and congresswoman Judy Chu(D-CA)at the Capitol Hill.
The house and senate Appropriations Committee members assured their full support to put the Tibet support programs back on track to the 2017 level, Reciprocal Access to Tibet Bill and appointing the Special Coordinator for Tibet in the State Department and exhibited their highest regards for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
– Report filed by Office of Tibet, Washington DC –