Encouraging the Prioritization of the Most Vulnerable Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3320) to direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), the author of this important bill which counters the harmful and unacceptable efforts being made to undermine Taiwan's inclusion at the World Health Organization.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), our chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it was 20 years ago that we here in Congress spoke with one voice. We passed a law to support Taiwan's inclusion in the World Health Organization. It took a decade of advocacy; it took pressure before Taiwan was finally invited to participate in that assembly for the first time in 2009. So you can imagine it is with great disappointment that we learned that Taiwan was excluded from the meetings last year for the first time after 8 years of consecutive participation in Geneva.

Mr. Speaker, Taiwan's participation at the World Health Organization is a matter of public health, as our friend, Mr. Sherman, and as the chairman of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee, Mr. Yoho, have both reminded us. This is a matter of public health.

Taiwan has contributed greatly, so greatly to the international efforts to prevent epidemics. It has provided critical humanitarian aid and medical training around the world; financial assistance, investing $6 billion in international medical and humanitarian aid efforts since 1996, all over this globe, 80 countries.

During the 2014 Ebola crisis, it was Taiwan that was there, providing also 100,000 sets of protective gear for health workers. Through the global cooperation and training framework, the U.S. and Taiwan have jointly conducted training programs for experts to combat diseases from Dengue fever to Zika.

Mr. Speaker, yes, as Mr. Yoho reminded us, and Mr. Sherman, we know

from this experience that infectious diseases know no borders. They so quickly spread, and the global health community does not benefit when Taiwan is kept in the dark on these critical matters. We are all safer when Taiwan has meaningful, unobstructed participation in international health cooperation forums.

All of us recall that Taiwan had an awful experience during the SARS epidemic that was 15 years ago when the World Health Organization directed Taiwan officials not to approach them, but to approach Beijing for information-sharing instead.

It is clear that Taiwan's exclusion from last year's World Health Assembly will only hurt. The health and safety of the people of Taiwan should not be needlessly held hostage by politics, and world health should not be put at risk. Taiwanese doctors have so much to offer, given their experience providing this humanitarian assistance around this world.

Last fall, I met with the Director-General of the World Health Organization.

I pressed him for Taiwan's participation. Unfortunately, this meeting did not relieve my concerns about Taiwan's future outlook. And it is for this reason, Mr. Speaker, that it is all the more important that the U.S. use all of its diplomatic leverage to support Taiwan's efforts to regain observer status to the WHO.

I applaud the administration for sending our Health Secretary to meet with the delegation Taiwan sent to Geneva for bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the assembly meeting last year, and I think, by doing so, the U.S. demonstrated leadership by putting international cooperation ahead of politics. Passage of this bill demonstrates our support for Taiwan's inclusion.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), chairman emeritus of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

In closing, I would like to share with the body that I led a delegation to Taipei this last summer, and I was there when Taiwan pledged to donate $800,000 in disaster relief to Houston. That was in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. It is generous actions like this that I can think of, 80 occasions, that remind us again and again that Taiwan is a positive actor in the international community, and that is why we must continue to support Taiwan's international standing and well-being.

So I would like to say in closing that I thank my colleagues for being original cosponsors on this bill. In addition to Mr. Yoho and myself, I want to thank Mr. Engel. And I want to thank Mr. Sherman. I want to thank the gentleman for his leadership on this issue, and Mr. Connolly as well.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman, Mr. Royce, for offering this bill, or the opportunity to offer this bill. I would also like to say I, too, support H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3320, a bill that directs the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization. I would like to give particular thanks to Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and Ranking Member Sherman for supporting this bill and working with me to advance it through the committee process.

Mr. Speaker, over the last few years, the People's Republic of China has stepped up its campaign to marginalize Taiwan. Last year, Beijing poached one of Taiwan's few remaining diplomatic partners, the Republic of Panama. Beijing also successfully blocked Taiwan from participating in a number of international organizations, including the World Health Organization.

Taiwan's exclusion from the World Health Organization's annual summit, the World Health Assembly, serves no purpose other than to placate Beijing. The WHO exists to address shared transnational health challenges, and Taiwan has proven, time and time again, that it is a model contributor to world health.

Since 1996, Taiwan has invested over $6 billion in international medical and humanitarian aid efforts impacting over 80 countries. It has made significant financial contributions to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. And as this bill finds, in 2014, Taiwan responded to the Ebola crisis by donating $1 million and providing over 100,000 sets of personal protective equipment.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman again for yielding more time. I also recognize Congressmen Chabot and Connolly for being cosponsors of this bill.

While Taiwan's contributions to global health deserves praise, its isolation from international organizations and exclusion from the WHO has proven dangerous, if not hazardous. During the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, official WHO notifications and technical assistance were either blocked or delayed, all while patients in Taiwan died and the virus continued to spread. These diseases know no boundaries and, with extensive transit and trade links, Taiwan's participation at the WHO is essential.

Congress has long supported Taiwan's participation in international organizations that do not require statehood, and this legislation will continue this important work. My bill will ensure that the U.S. diplomatic strategy to advocate for Taiwan's presence at the WHA, the World Health Assembly, adapts to Beijing's increased efforts to box out Taiwan.

Mr. Speaker, Taiwan is a benevolent actor on the international stage. It deserves to keep that place it has earned. The next World Health Assembly meeting will take place in May of this year. Passage of my bill will be a timely opportunity for the House to recommit to longstanding U.S. policies and to take a firm stand in the face of Beijing's increasingly oppressive tactics.

I urge my colleagues to support Taiwan's participation in the WHO as an observer by supporting this legislation. Again, I thank Chairman Royce for the opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 3320. Clearly, Taiwan should be a full member of the World Health Organization. All nations should be full members of the World Health Organization, especially one with an advanced health system that can help us stop pandemics from spreading from one country to another. That is why it makes sense for us to advocate Taiwanese participation in all international bodies, but particularly the U.N.'s World Health Organization.

I am pleased to cosponsor this legislation that is critical to preparing to prevent pandemics. Look at the nonsense that is being foisted on the world by Beijing. For political reasons, in an effort to say that Taiwan doesn't exist except as a province, they are endangering the health of the world because pathogens have not been told that they are not to go to Taiwan. The epidemics have not been told to spare humankind from the inefficiencies and glaring omissions that occur when an important country is excluded from the World Health Organization.

Taiwan's exclusion, even from observer status, from the World Health Organization is a terrible symbol, an attempt to deny self- determination to 23 million people. But it is worse than a terrible symbol. It is a practical impediment to stopping epidemics. It is a practical impediment to world health, and it is time for the United States to have a strategy to reach out to the world and say Taiwan needs to be part of health planning. Taiwan needs to be part of the lifesaving initiatives of the World Health Organization.

So I look forward to working with our colleagues to pass this legislation and working with the State Department to implement it. I look forward to the day when we do not put the world at risk of an epidemic that could have been contained but for the malicious symbolism being foisted on us by Beijing.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

This legislation has support from just about everyone, bipartisan. It is obviously necessary for Taiwan to be part of the World Health Organization. To exclude it is to put the health of anyone who might be affected by a pandemic, to put that interest below Beijing's interest in strangling Taiwan diplomatically and economically.

I urge the adoption of this legislation, and I look forward to working with the State Department until we achieve our objective, which is, at a minimum, Taiwan's return to observer status at the World Health Organization.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of two critical pieces of legislation, H.R. 535 and H.R. 3320. These bills are important to U.S. national security because the spread of pandemics do not respect borders. These bills are also important because they will enhance the position of Taiwan, a true and vibrant democracy, with which we have had longstanding ties.

I commend my good friend and colleague, Mr. Steve Chabot, for introducing the Taiwan Travel Act. Currently, the President of Taiwan, Vice President, Premier, Defense Minister and Foreign Minister of Taiwan are not allowed to come to Washington, D.C. for consultations. These are U.S. self-imposed restrictions that are practiced due to fear of potential Chinese diplomatic retaliation. Restricting high-level visits by senior Taiwanese officials is both insulting and counterproductive. This policy should be changed.

Mr. Speaker, China will never be happy with U.S.-Taiwan policy or the Taiwan Relations Act. Communist China will never be placated by our self-imposed restrictions on travel and consultations. We should not try.

Mr. Speaker, I also stand today in support of H.R. 3320, introduced by my good friend and chairman of the subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Ted Yoho.

H.R. 3320 would designate that the Secretary of State devise a plan to include Taiwan in the World Health Organization. Taiwan has been excluded from participating in the WHO due to Chinese pressure, and sadly, the international community has acquiesced.

We here in Congress have been advocating for many years that the U.S. should take action to ensure Taiwan's meaningful participation in the WHO. As a major transport and shipping hub in the Asia Pacific region, with enormous volumes of people and goods passing through on a daily basis, Taiwan's exclusion creates a dangerous gap in the global health and safety information network.

Mr. Speaker, the full participation of Taiwan in the WHO and other multilateral bodies cannot be overstated as a U.S. national security interest.

China's efforts to exclude Taiwan from international bodies like WHO creates needless blind spots in the international system where terrorism and disease can spread undetected.

Mr. Speaker, Taiwan must join the WHO as a full member. Regaining observer status is

only a first step. Full WHO membership for Taiwan is not only in the interest of Taiwan, it is in the interest of the rest of the world.

I urge my colleagues to pass these critical measures to strengthen the bond between the U.S. and our democratic ally, Taiwan.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our esteemed chairman for this time, and I want to thank my Florida colleague, Ted Yoho, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, for offering this important bill as well as for his constant friendship and assistance to our strong and indispensable ally, Taiwan.

His bill, H.R. 3320, directing the Secretary of State to develop a strategy for increasing Taiwan's participation at the World Health Organization, is an important first step, an important piece of our foreign policy toward our ally, Taiwan.

Congress has, for years, been pushing for Taiwan to have greater access, to have equal representation at so many institutions. Unfortunately, as with so many other international organizations, Taiwan's lack of observer status at the World Health Organization, or WHO, is caused by an orchestrated and dangerous campaign by China to constrain Taiwan's participation in global affairs.

In the case of the WHO, China is depriving the international community from access to a wealth of Taiwan's high-level healthcare information. Due to its superb talent, due to its data collection, due to its quarantine and treatment facilities, Taiwan has excellent infectious disease control capabilities. Fourteen years ago, Taiwan's cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control was crucial in stemming the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, known as