Tibet Lobby Day 2022

Tibet Lobby Day 2022

A record number of over 150 Tibetan Americans and Tibet supporters are expected to meet with their members of Congress and Congressional staff at Tibet Lobby Day in Washington, DC on March 27-28, 2023.

The annual event, organized by the International Campaign for Tibet, will feature about 100 meetings with Senators, Representatives and staffers at the US Capitol.

“We are delighted that an unprecedented number of Tibetan Americans and Tibet supporters from across the United States are joining us in Washington, DC for this year’s 15th annual Tibet Lobby Day,” said Tencho Gyatso, ICT’s Interim Vice President. “This record sign-up shows not only the urgency to resolve China’s illegal occupation of Tibet, but the incredible enthusiasm around Congress’ growing efforts to support the Tibetan people.

“Tibet Lobby Day 2023 will help set the stage for Congress to pass vital legislation that will advance the Tibetan people’s pursuit toward a just solution for Tibet. ICT thanks all of this year’s participants, as well as the members of Congress and Congressional staff they’ll be meeting with, for making this important event possible.”

Tibet events on Capitol Hill

Tibet Lobby Day will be one of several events on Capitol Hill early next week that will shine a spotlight on Tibet.

On March 28, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China will hold a hearing on “Preserving Tibet: Cultural Erasure, Forced Assimilation, and Coercion of Tibetans in the United States.” Witnesses will include Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration, which provides democratic governance for Tibetans in exile; and Richard Gere, Chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet; as well as Lhadon Tethong and Tenzin Dorjee of Tibet Action Institute.

Gere will also take part in a press event later that day with Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the two main House sponsors of the recently reintroduced Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Conflict Act, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act.

Resolve Tibet Act

Tibet Lobby Day will focus on building support for the Resolve Tibet Act, which Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Todd Young, R-Ind., and Reps. McGovern and McCaul introduced in the Senate and House, respectively.

The bipartisan bill aims to pressure China’s government to resume negotiations with the Dalai Lama’s envoys to peacefully resolve China’s decades-long, illegal occupation of Tibet.

The Resolve Tibet Act recognizes that Tibetans have the right to self-determination, and that Tibet’s legal status remains to be determined under international law.

About Tibet Lobby Day

Other priorities at Tibet Lobby Day will include maintaining US funding that benefits the Tibetan people, pressing for the full implementation of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act and the Tibetan Policy and Support Act, and calling for the release of Tibetan political prisoners.

An annual event since 2009, Tibet Lobby Day has played a concrete role in successfully advancing legislation like the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act and the Tibetan Policy and Support Act.

This year’s event will play an important part in putting the spotlight on Tibet and garnering support for the Resolve Tibet Act.