WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today introduced a resolution to honor the contributions of Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari as Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and in promoting the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Tibetan people. Senators Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Mark Udall (D-N.M.), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), John McCain (R-AZ), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Caif.) joined Kerry as original cosponsors.
“Lodi Gyari committed himself at a very young age to tear down the walls of the oppression in Tibet, and went on to be an effective leader and spokesperson for the Tibetan people and a loyal envoy for His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” said Sen. Kerry. “We honor all of the work he has done to advance the cause of the Tibetan people, and their struggle for genuine autonomy, human rights, and dignity, and for the preservation of Tibetan linguistic, cultural and religious traditions once and for all.”
The full text of the Resolution is below:
112TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
S. RES.557
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Honoring the contributions of Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari as Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and in promoting the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Tibetan people.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2012
Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. KIRK and Mrs. BOXER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
RESOLUTION
Honoring the contributions of Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari as Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and in promoting the legitimate rights and aspirations of the Tibetan people.
Whereas Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, who was born in Nyarong, Kham in 1949, was recognized according to Tibetan Buddhist tradition as a reincarnate lama and began his monastic studies at 4 years of age in Lhumorhab Monastery, which was located in what is now Kardze Prefecture,
Sichuan Province;
Whereas, in 1958, 9-year-old Lodi Gyari fled Nyarong with his family to avoid pursuit by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and was said to have led his group to safety in India through prayer and divinations;
Whereas Lodi Gyari, as a young man in India, began a career-long commitment to the Tibetan struggle against Chinese oppression in Tibet, becoming editor for the Tibetan Freedom Press, founder of the Tibetan Review, the first English language journal published by Tibetans in exile, and a founding member of the Tibetan Youth Congress;
Whereas Lodi Gyari served as a civil servant in the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as Chairman of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, and as a Deputy Cabinet Minister for the Departments of Religious Affairs and Health and Cabinet Minister for the Department of Information and International Relations;
Whereas, in 1991, Lodi Gyari moved to the United States in the capacity of Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and was soon after selected to be President of the International Campaign for Tibet;
Whereas, for 3 decades Lodi Gyari has met with leaders and diplomats of governments around the world and with Members of the United States Congress and parliaments of other nations—
(1) to explain the Tibetan position with regard to engagement with China;
(2) to urge supportive strategies and policies from governments;
(3) to explain the Dalai Lama’s ‘‘Middle Way’’ philosophy of seeking genuine autonomy for Tibet within the People’s Republic of China that contributes to harmony between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples; and
(4) to promote Tibetan statecraft as the Dalai Lama’s senior ambassador-at-large;
Whereas, during his time as Special Envoy based in Washington, D.C., Congress approved many policy and programmatic measures on Tibet, which served to institutionalize the Tibet issue within the Government of the United States, most notably the establishment of a Special Coordinator on Tibetan Issues within the Department of State and support for Tibetan refugees;
Whereas, in 1999, Lodi Gyari became a United States citizen;
Whereas in May 1998, His Holiness the Dalai Lama authorized Special Envoy Lodi Gyari to be the principal person to reestablish contact with the Chinese government on the Tibetan issue;
Whereas, between September 2002 and January 2010, Lodi Gyari led the Dalai Lama’s negotiating team in 9 formal rounds of meetings with Chinese officials with tireless drive and immense skill, winning the respect of the international community;
Whereas Lodi Gyari presented the Chinese government with the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People and its accompanying Note, thus detailing the Tibetan side’s vision for a political solution for Tibet consistent within the framework of the Chinese constitutional and laws on autonomy;
Whereas Lodi Gyari, in service to the Dalai Lama, came to represent in national capitals around the world, the great hope and conviction that the rights of Tibetans could be protected and their repression could be ended.
Whereas, in the personally and professionally difficult task of representing Tibetan interests in dialogue with the People’s Republic of China, Lodi Gyari demonstrated spirit, intelligence, and extraordinary tact, and brought civility, reason and a measure of mutual understanding to the Tibetan- Chinese relationship;
Whereas Lodi Gyari has credited the far-sighted wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in empowering the Tibetan people by his devolution of his political authority to an elected Tibetan leadership; and
Whereas, Lodi Gyari resigned his position, effective June 1, 2012, in the context of the deteriorating situation inside Tibet, including increasing incidents of Tibetan self-immolations, and expressing deep frustration over the lack of positive response from the Chinese side in their nearly 10-year dialogue, and in respect for the process of the devolution of political power to the elected Tibetan leaders.
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) honors the service of Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari as Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama;
(2) commends the achievements of Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari in building an international coalition of support for Tibet that recognizes—
(A) the imperative to preserve the distinct culture and religious traditions of Tibet; and (B) that the Tibetan people are entitled under international law to their own identity and dignity and genuine autonomy within the People’s Republic of China that fully preserves the rights and dignity of the Tibetan people;
(3) acknowledges the role of Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, as a naturalized United States citizen, to promoting understanding in the United States of the Tibetan people, their culture and religion, and their struggle for genuine autonomy, human rights, dignity, and the preservation of unique linguistic, cultural, and religious traditions; and
(4) strongly supports a political solution for Tibet within the People’s Republic of China that satisfies the legitimate grievances and aspirations of the Tibetan people.
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