[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6047 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6047

To encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 15, 2016

Mr. Chabot (for himself, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. Poe of Texas) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Taiwan Travel Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), 
        enacted in 1979, has continued for 37 years to be the 
        cornerstone of relations between the United States and Taiwan 
        and has served as an anchor for peace and security in the 
        Western Pacific area.
            (2) The Taiwan Relations Act declares that peace and 
        stability in the Western Pacific area are in the political, 
        security, and economic interests of the United States and are 
        matters of international concern.
            (3) The United States considers any effort to determine the 
        future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including by 
        boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security of 
        the Western Pacific and of grave concern to the United States.
            (4) Taiwan has succeeded in a momentous transition to 
        democracy beginning in the late 1980s and has been a beacon of 
        democratic practices in Asia, and Taiwan's democratic 
        achievements inspire many countries and people in the region.
            (5) Through the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States 
        treats Taiwan as a sovereign, independent country.
            (6) Visits to a country by United States cabinet members 
        and other high-ranking officials are an indicator of the 
        breadth and depth of ties between the United States and such 
        country.
            (7) Since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, 
        relations between the United States and Taiwan have suffered 
        from a lack of communication due to the self-imposed 
        restrictions that the United States maintains on high-level 
        visits with Taiwan.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS; STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at 
all levels.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--It should be the policy of the United 
States--
            (1) to allow high-level officials of Taiwan to enter the 
        United States, under conditions which demonstrate appropriate 
        respect for the dignity of such officials, and to meet with 
        officials of the United States, including officials from the 
        Department of State and the Department of Defense; and
            (2) to permit the Taipei Economic and Cultural 
        Representative Office, and any other instrumentality 
        established by Taiwan, to conduct official business in the 
        United States, including activities which involve participation 
        by Members of Congress, officials of Federal, State, or local 
        governments of the United States, or any high-level official of 
        Taiwan.
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