Washington, D.C. – The Boards of the International Campaign for Tibet have decided to bestow Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi with the Light of Truth Award in consideration of her nearly four decades of putting a spotlight on Tibet.
The presentation of the award, a traditional Tibetan butter lamp, symbolizing the light the recipient has shed on the cause of Tibet, will take place, appropriately, in the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Caucus Room (Cannon House Office Building) on Capitol Hill on December 9, 2024.
Speaker Pelosi’s involvement in support of Tibet began just a few months after her first election to the House of Representatives in June 1987, when she was among a select group of members invited by Congressman Tom Lantos to meet with the Dalai Lama, who was then on a visit to Washington, D.C.
That first meeting made an indelible mark on her and she has never turned back since then, using her place in Congress, she has worked tirelessly to alleviate the plight of the Tibetan people. Her actions have contributed greatly to the institutionalization of the American support for Tibet through leading and encouraging bipartisan initiatives in the Congress. She has taken the time to lead a delegation to Tibet to see the reality of the situation on the ground and has visited Dharamsala three times to date to meet with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan leadership as the community in exile.
In all her initiatives on Tibet, Speaker Pelosi has taken a firm stand on the morality of the issue. In 2007, when speaking at the event to bestow the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama, Pelosi concluded her remarks by saying that the Dalai Lama brought “a challenge to the conscience of the world.”
When the pan-Tibet demonstrations in Tibet in 2008 were being violently suppressed by the Chinese security forces, she spoke in the Congress in support of a resolution on the issue saying she hoped it will send “a clear message that we are hearing the call to the conscience of the world.” Then in January 2020, while speaking in support of the Tibetan Policy & Support Act, one of the key legislations on Tibet, she said, “If we don’t speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, then we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights in any other place in the world.”
Through her action and speech, she has become a role model for championing the just cause of Tibet, in the United States Congress as well as internationally.
“It is my great pleasure as Chairman of the Board of the International Campaign for Tibet that we will be honoring our old friend Nancy Pelosi,” Richard Gere, Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet stated. “Having worked closely with her for many decades, it is clear to me that she has a genuine reverence for His Holiness the Dalai Lama as well as a deep and vast commitment to the just cause of Tibet and the Tibetan people. She is fearless.”
“We are so very lucky to have such steadfast partners in our work on behalf of the Tibetan people. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi has been a tenacious voice for the movement since joining Congress,” said Tencho Gyatso, President of ICT. “This is a well-deserved recognition of her many years of partnership with the people of Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She has never failed to put her seat at the table to work for good. For all her work, we thank her.”
The Light of Truth award was first presented in 1995 and is bestowed upon individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the public understanding of Tibet and the plight of the Tibetan people. Previous recipients include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr. Christian Schwarz-Schilling, A.M. Rosenthal, Vaclav Havel, Lowell Thomas, Jr., Elie Wiesel, Irmtraut Wäger, Danielle Mitterrand, Petray Kelly, Hugh Richardson, Carl Gershman, Congressman Benjamin Gilman, people of India, Chinese scholars in China who took courageous stand in support of the Tibetan people, the Swiss Red Cross, the International Commission of Jurists. The full list of recipients can be found here.
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