Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 20:02:44 -0500

From: John Ackerly

Subject: Congressional Action Needed

To: Multiple recipients of list TSG-L

To: Tibet Support Groups

Fr: Mary Beth Markey, John Ackerly

Re: Is Your Member of Congress Sponsoring H. Con. Res. 283?

Date: June 6, 1998,

President Clinton arrives in China on June 24, the first American President to visit there in over 20 years. ICT supports the President's visit to China as long as he publicly and privately makes known his commitment to secure an agreement to begin negotiations over Tibet. We believe the President should not visit Tiananmen Square, but if he does, he should publicly recognize the students who were killed in the massacre there nine years ago.

ICT will be tracking the President's visit extremely closely and will be issuing regular updates on and the TSG-L listserve.

One of the best ways Tibet supporters can send the President a strong message about Tibet is through H. Con. Res. 283, calling on him to secure an agreement with China's Premier Jiang Zemin to begin negotiations with the Dalai Lama. This legislation, introduced by Congressman Howard Berman of California, also calls for the release of the Panchen Lama and supports many of the important findings of the International Commission of Jurist report.

Currently, 14 Members of Congress are official co-sponsors of the resolution. These include: Representatives Porter (R-IL), Lowey (D-NY), Payne (D-NJ), Maloney (D-NY), Wolf (R-VA), Gilman (R-NY), Kennedy (D-MA), Lofgren (D-CA), Smith (R-NJ), Cox (R-CA), Lantos (D-CA), Abercrombie (D-HI), Rohrbacher (R-CA), and Pelosi (D-CA). A similar bill will be introduced in the Senate soon by Senator Moynihan (D-NY).

ICT is asking members of Congress to join as co-sponsors but hearing from constituents is what often makes the difference. Ask your member of the House of Representatives to co-sponsor and vote for this resolution. There is no time to delay. The President arrives in China on June 24. We need dozens of co-sponsors by then to send him a strong message.

We have a two page outline of the resolution's function which has been sent to Tibet Support Groups and can be distributed to your group's members and others interested in helping Tibet at this crucial time.

Even if you can't join us in Washington, all Tibet supporters should take action on the National Day of Action for Tibet. On June 15 take action on-line , or by phone (Congressional switchboard is 202-225-3121).

For the full text of the resolution, you can visit . To track the resolution's progress, visit or .

Thank you for your participation in the National Day of Action for Tibet! We look forward to seeing your member of Congress on the list of co-sponsors!