Full Senate Unanimously Passes Taiwan Travel Act

Today, on February 28, 2018, the Senate unanimously passed the Taiwan Travel Act (TTA – HR535) sending the binding legislation to the White House for a signature by President Trump signing the bill into law. On February 7, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had unanimously passed the Taiwan Travel Act, clearing the bill to go to the Senate floor.

The binding Taiwan Travel Act legislation states that Congress finds that: “Since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, relations between the United States and Taiwan have suffered from a lack of communication due to the self-imposed restrictions that the United States maintains on high-level visits with Taiwan.”

It concludes that: “the United States Government should encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels.”

The TTA was introduced in the Senate on May 4, 2017 as S.1051 by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Gary Peters (D-MI.) At SFRC passage it enjoyed the further co-sponsorship of Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ron Wyden (D-OR.)

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Steve Chabot (R-OH), Brad Sherman (D-CA), and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) had introduced the Taiwan Travel Act in the House on January 13, 2017. When it passed the floor of the House of Representatives unanimously on January 9, 2018, the bill enjoyed the co-sponsorship of 81 members of Congress.

FAPA President Mike Kuo states: “We are very grateful to Senator Rubio for leading the charge in the Senate on this very important issue, and to the Senators that co-introduced the bill.

Dr. Kuo concludes: “This is a great day for Taiwanese Americans and for the people of Taiwan. To become law, the bill now only needs the signature of the president. This will clear the way for the top leaders of Taiwan to come to DC – including president Tsai Ing-wen.”

2018年2月28日，美國參議院全院無異議投票通過「台灣旅行法」(HR535)，下一階段將提交至白宮交與川普總統簽署立法。 在2月7日，美國參議院外交關係委員會無異議通過台灣旅行法，讓法案順利進入全院投票階段。

「台灣旅行法」是具有國會約束力的法案，它明確指出美國國會認為「自從台灣關係法制定後，由於美國自身對於台灣高層訪美的自我設限，台灣與美國始終缺乏有效的溝通，顯著地阻礙了台美關係的發展。」因此，作為結論，「美國政策理應當促進美國與台灣之間所有層級的互訪。」

2017年的5月4日，台灣旅行法在參議院由參議員魯比奧(Marco Rubio， R-FL) ，參議員布朗(Sherrod Brown， D-OH)，參議員殷荷菲(Jim Inhofe，R-OK)，參議員梅南德茲(Bob Menendez，D-NJ)，參議員賈德納(Cory Gardner，R-CO)，與參議員彼德斯(Gary Peters，D-MI)共同提出。在通過外交委員會前，參議員克魯茲(Ted Cruz，R-TX)與懷登（Ron Wyden ，D-OR）也共同連署支持此項法案。

眾議院版本的台灣旅行法由眾議員夏波(Steve Chabot，R-OH)、薛爾曼(Brad Sherman，D-CA)，和外交委員會主席羅伊斯議員(Ed Royce，R-CA)在2017年1月13日共同提出。該法案在今年1月9日在眾院無異議通過時，享有81位眾議員的連署支持。

台灣人公共事務會會長郭正光說道：「我們特別感謝魯比奧參議員在參院領銜，會同其他連署參議員，共同提出這個重要的法案。 」

郭博士以此作結：「 今天，對所有的台美人和台灣人民來說，是一個美好的一天。 這項法案要成為法律，接下來只需總統簽署立法。這將破除台灣高層官員—包括總統蔡英文女士—前往華府訪問的障礙。」