PRINTER'S NO. 3834
No. 690 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY RAMALEY, DeWEESE, HARRIS, WHEATLEY, BALDWIN, BEYER, CALTAGIRONE, CRAHALLA, CRUZ, DENLINGER, GEIST, GERGELY, GODSHALL, GOODMAN, HARHART, HERSHEY, JAMES, MANN, MUSTIO, PALLONE, READSHAW, SAINATO, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, THOMAS, WOJNAROSKI AND FABRIZIO, APRIL 4, 2006
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, APRIL 4, 2006
A RESOLUTION 1 Applauding the contributions of Pennsylvania's Taiwanese- 2 American community and joining in support of the 3 participation of the Republic of China in the role of World 4 Health Organization observer. 5 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Republic of 6 China (Taiwan) have had a long history of friendship; and 7 WHEREAS, Philadelphia is home to a large Taiwanese community; 8 and 9 WHEREAS, The people of the Taiwanese-American community 10 maintain close ties with family and friends in their native land 11 and are concerned about their health, safety and quality of 12 life; and 13 WHEREAS, Good health is essential to every citizen of the 14 world, just as access to the highest standards of health 15 information and service is necessary to improve the public 16 health; and 17 WHEREAS, The World Health Organization (WHO) set forth, in
1 the first chapter of its charter, the objective of attaining the 2 highest possible level of health for all people; and 3 WHEREAS, The House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 4 Pennsylvania is justly proud to support the participation of 5 Taiwan in the role of observer in the World Health Organization 6 in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA) at its annual summit 7 to be held in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2006; and 8 WHEREAS, Taiwan's population of more than 23 million is 9 larger than that of 75% of the current WHO member states; and 10 WHEREAS, The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, 11 declared its intention to support Taiwan's participation in 12 appropriate international organizations; and 13 WHEREAS, The State Department, in its report to the Congress 14 of the United States in April 2005, reaffirmed United States 15 support of Taiwan's observer status in the WHA; and 16 WHEREAS, Fifty-three members of the United States House of 17 Representatives wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza 18 Rice on December 16, 2005, expressing their support of observer 19 status for Taiwan at the annual meeting of the WHA; and 20 WHEREAS, The United States Centers for Disease Control and 21 Prevention and its Taiwanese counterpart have enjoyed close 22 collaboration on a wide range of public health issues; and 23 WHEREAS, In recent years Taiwan has expressed a willingness 24 to assist financially and technically in international aid and 25 health activities supported by the WHO; and 26 WHEREAS, The government and the people of Taiwan have been 27 actively engaged in various activities in the fields of medical 28 assistance and humanitarian relief to countries in Africa, Asia, 29 Central America and the Caribbean in such places as Afghanistan, 30 Chad, El Salvador, Honduras and Liberia and have contributed 20060H0690R3834 - 2 -
1 financial resources to global relief efforts and to combat 2 disease around the world; and 3 WHEREAS, Taiwan's participation in international health 4 forums and programs is critical, especially with today's greater 5 potential for the cross-border spread of various infectious 6 diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 7 tuberculosis and malaria; and 8 WHEREAS, Recent outbreaks of the lethal avian flu and severe 9 acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in East Asia and Southeast 10 Asia have caused panic around the world and have accentuated the 11 importance of Taiwan's participation in international health 12 forums and the inherent danger of nonparticipation; and 13 WHEREAS, Taiwan's substantial achievements in the field of 14 health include having one of the highest life expectancy levels 15 in Asia and having low maternal and infant mortality rates, 16 eradicating such infectious diseases as cholera, smallpox and 17 plague and being the first to eradicate polio and to provide 18 children with hepatitis B vaccinations; and 19 WHEREAS, Taiwan's WHO observer status affects the health 20 rights of millions of Taiwanese people and benefits regional and 21 global public health; therefore be it 22 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 23 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pause in its deliberations to 24 applaud the contributions of Pennsylvania's Taiwanese-American 25 community and join in support of the participation of Taiwan in 26 the role of WHO observer; and be it further 27 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 28 the President of the United States, to the United States 29 Department of Health and Human Services, to each member of the 30 Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation and to the World Health 20060H0690R3834 - 3 -
1 Organization. C27L82MSP/20060H0690R3834 - 4 -