McGovern and his fellow Congressional-Executive Commission on China member, Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-NY, traveled to a town hall hosted by the Tibetan Community of New York & New Jersey. There, they hinted at the legislation that was to come.

As recounted by the Office of Tibet, McGovern told the crowd of about 300 Tibetans that the commission planned to update the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 with new provisions focused on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and the status of the Central Tibetan Administration, which provides democratic governance for Tibetans in exile. Representative Ngodup Tsering of the Office of Tibet and ICT President Matteo Mecacci also took part in the meeting, which McGovern later tweeted about.