Assuring the Future of Tibet Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8982 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8982

  To direct the Secretary of State to advocate for the inclusion and
   recognition of the Central Tibetan Administration, and for other
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2026

  Mr. McGovern (for himself and Mr. McCaul) introduced the following
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To direct the Secretary of State to advocate for the inclusion and
   recognition of the Central Tibetan Administration, and for other
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Assuring the Future of Tibet Act of
2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The relationship between the United States Government
        and Tibet began in 1908, when United States diplomat William
        Rockhill met the 13th Dalai Lama to discuss Tibet's relations
        with China and Great Britain and facilitate an exchange of
        gifts between the Dalai Lama and United States President
        Theodore Roosevelt.
            (2) The relationship of the United States Government with
        His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama began in 1942 when President
        Franklin Delano Roosevelt wrote him to state, ``There are in
        the United States of America, many persons, among them myself,
        who [are] long and greatly interested in your land and people
        ...''.
            (3) The relationship of the United States Congress with the
        14th Dalai Lama began in 1979 when he first visited Capitol
        Hill and strengthened in 1987 when he presented his Five Point
        Peace Plan to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in the
        United States Capitol building.
            (4) The first face-to-face meeting between Presidents of
        the United States and the Dalai Lama began in 1991 when
        President George H.W. Bush hosted him at the White House.
            (5) Engagement between the United States Government and the
        Central Tibetan Administration and members of Tibetan
        communities has grown and deepened in recent decades to include
        diverse programming to support health, education, humanitarian
        aid, governance, people-to-people exchanges, as authorized in
        the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 (22 U.S.C. 6901
        note), and dialogue on global matters of mutual interest.
            (6) The Dalai Lama in 1950 assumed the role of head of
        state of Tibet.
            (7) The Dalai Lama continued to serve as the formal head of
        the Tibetan government-in-exile, later known as the Central
        Tibetan Administration, after 1959.
            (8) In 2011, the Dalai Lama transferred his political
        authority to the Tibetan government-in-exile, whose executive
        and legislative officials are chosen by democratic election, a
        decision that was codified by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile
        through an amendment to the Tibetan Charter vesting executive
        power of the Central Tibetan Administration in the Sikyong, the
        chief executive.
            (9) In 2011, and reaffirmed in 2025, the Dalai Lama
        announced that the determination of his successor will be made
        by the Gaden Phodrang Trust, the Office of His Holiness the
        Dalai Lama, which has ``sole authority to recognize the future
        reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere
        in this matter''.
            (10) The next Dalai Lama, who will be selected according to
        the process set by the 14th Dalai Lama, will not come of
        majority age for many years after being selected.
            (11) It has been the long-standing policy of the United
        States to promote the human rights and distinct religious,
        cultural, linguistic, and historical identity of the Tibetan
        people, as acknowledged and codified by the Tibetan Policy and
        Support Act of 2020 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note).
            (12) The Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute
        Act (Public Law 118-70) characterizes the dispute between Tibet
        and the People's Republic of China as unresolved, states the
        sense of Congress that ``claims made by the People's Republic
        of China that Tibet has been a part of China since ancient
        times are historically inaccurate'', and states that it is
        United States policy to resolve the dispute ``in accordance
        with international law, including the United Nations Charter,
        by peaceful means, through dialogue without preconditions''.
            (13) Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and
        Political Rights and Article 1 of the International Covenant on
        Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide, ``All peoples
        have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right
        they freely determine their political status and freely pursue
        their economic, social and cultural development''.
            (14) The People's Republic of China's constitution and the
        People's Republic of China's Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law of
        1984 provide for a right of regional autonomy for Tibetans and
        other non-Han Chinese populations, including ``the freedom to
        use and develop their own spoken and written languages'' and
        maintain or change their own cultural practices.
            (15) The People's Republic of China's Law on Promoting
        Ethnic Unity and Progress approved by the National People's
        Congress in March 2026 contradicts previous statutory and
        constitutional guarantees of meaningful autonomy for Tibetans
        and other non-Han Chinese populations by statutorily mandating
        that education be conducted in Mandarin, requiring that written
        Chinese be given prominence over alternative scripts in public
        settings, and legally prioritizing national identity over
        distinct ethnic identity.
            (16) The Government of the People's Republic of China has
        provided no verifiable evidence that the Tibetan people were
        consulted, much less approved, the diminution of their right to
        autonomy under the People's Republic of China's Law on
        Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Government of the People's Republic of China has
        reneged on its legal commitment under the Constitution of the
        People's Republic of China, the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law,
        and relevant international law to provide a high degree of
        regional autonomy to the Tibetan people, including the right to
        use and develop their own spoken and written languages, through
        the enactment in 2026 of the People's Republic of China's Law
        on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which instead
        facilitates the assimilation of Tibetans and erosion of the
        right of the Tibetan people to exercise their own religious,
        cultural and language rights;
            (2) the People's Republic of China has denied the Tibetan
        people the ability to exercise their right to self-
        determination as provided by international law;
            (3) the United States has expressed support for the Dalai
        Lama's vision of a negotiated agreement through dialogue
        without preconditions between the Government of the People's
        Republic of China and the Dalai Lama or his representatives or
        democratically elected leaders of the Tibetan community as one
        means of allowing the Tibetan people to exercise their right to
        self-determination;
            (4) the Government of the People's Republic of China has
        not demonstrated sincerity or seriousness in its approach to
        engaging in meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his
        representatives or to reach a negotiated resolution that
        includes the aspirations of the Tibetan people;
            (5) the Gaden Phodrang Trust serves as the legitimate and
        sole authority to identify and recognize Dalai Lamas; and
            (6) the Central Tibetan Administration is the legitimate
        representative of the Tibetan people.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to affirm the commitment of the United States to a
        resolution of the dispute between Tibet and the People's
        Republic of China as a matter of strategic interest to the
        United States;
            (2) to support the Tibetan people's free exercise of their
        fundamental and universal human rights under international law,
        including the right to self-determination as provided by
        Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
        Rights and Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic,
        Social and Cultural Rights;
            (3) to maintain engagement with the Tibetan people directly
        and through their democratically elected leadership and through
        their religious and cultural leaders in order to promote their
        aspirations with regard to their distinct historical, cultural,
        religious, and linguistic identity;
            (4) that the Central Tibetan Administration represents
        continuity of governance of the Tibetan people as established
        by the Dalai Lama; and
            (5) to support the Central Tibetan Administration in its
        effort to carry out the responsibilities for which it has been
        empowered by the Dalai Lama and legitimized by the Tibetan
        people through their exercise of a genuine democratic process.

SEC. 5. ADVOCACY.

    In order to carry out the policy under section 4--
            (1) the President shall direct the United States Permanent
        Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote,
        and influence of the United States at the United Nations to
        advocate for the Central Tibetan Administration's observer
        status within the United Nations General Assembly and relevant
        agencies of the United Nations; and
            (2) the Secretary of State shall--
                    (A) advocate for the inclusion of the Central
                Tibetan Administration in relevant international bodies
                and groupings; and
                    (B) organize like-minded partners to support
                greater international recognition of the Central
                Tibetan Administration within bodies of the United
                Nations and other multilateral fora.

SEC. 6. HIGH-LEVEL ENGAGEMENT AND DIPLOMATIC PROTOCOL.

    In order to carry out the policy under section 4, Secretary of
State shall--
            (1) lead interagency efforts to directly engage at the most
        senior levels with Central Tibetan Administration officials,
        including the Sikyong and the designated representatives of the
        Sikyong;
            (2) take steps to ensure the Sikyong of the Central Tibetan
        Administration is extended appropriate diplomatic courtesies,
        including the provision of appropriate security details during
        visits to the United States consistent with a head of
        government;
            (3) consider the applicability of diplomatic privileges and
        immunities to officials of the Central Tibetan Administration;
        and
            (4) urge partners and allies of the United States to engage
        with and support the Central Tibetan Administration at
        similarly senior levels.

SEC. 7. REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act and
annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that describes
the status of the implementation of section 5 and section 6.
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