PRINTER'S NO. 577
No. 99 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY WHEATLEY, DeWEESE, RAMALEY, THOMAS, HARRIS,
DONATUCCI, GOODMAN, HARPER, HERSHEY, JAMES, KIRKLAND,
MAHONEY, MURT, PALLONE, READSHAW, SCAVELLO, SHAPIRO,
SIPTROTH, WATERS AND PARKER, MARCH 6, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
MARCH 6, 2007
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
6 Organization's World Health Assembly (WHA); and
7 WHEREAS, Taiwan's population of more than 23 million is
8 larger than that of 75% of the current WHO member states; and
9 WHEREAS, The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review,
10 declared its intention to support Taiwan's participation in
11 appropriate international organizations; and
12 WHEREAS, The State Department, in its report to the Congress
13 of the United States in April 2005, reaffirmed United States
14 support of Taiwan's observer status in the WHA; and
15 WHEREAS, Fifty-three members of the United States House of
16 Representatives wrote a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza
17 Rice on December 16, 2005, expressing their support of observer
18 status for Taiwan at the annual meeting of the WHA; and
19 WHEREAS, The United States Centers for Disease Control and
20 Prevention and its Taiwanese counterpart have enjoyed close
21 collaboration on a wide range of public health issues; and
22 WHEREAS, In recent years Taiwan has expressed a willingness
23 to assist financially and technically in international aid and
24 health activities supported by the WHO; and
25 WHEREAS, The government and the people of Taiwan have been
26 actively engaged in various activities in the fields of medical
27 assistance and humanitarian relief to countries in Africa, Asia,
28 Central America and the Caribbean in such places as Afghanistan,
29 Chad, El Salvador, Honduras and Liberia and have contributed
30 financial resources to global relief efforts and to combat
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1 disease around the world; and
2 WHEREAS, Taiwan's participation in international health
3 forums and programs is critical, especially with today's greater
4 potential for the cross-border spread of various infectious
5 diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),
6 tuberculosis and malaria; and
7 WHEREAS, Recent outbreaks of the lethal avian flu and severe
8 acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in East Asia and Southeast
9 Asia have caused panic around the world and have accentuated the
10 importance of Taiwan's participation in international health
11 forums and the inherent danger of nonparticipation; and
12 WHEREAS, Taiwan's substantial achievements in the field of
13 health include having one of the highest life expectancy levels
14 in Asia and having low maternal and infant mortality rates,
15 eradicating such infectious diseases as cholera, smallpox and
16 plague and being the first to eradicate polio and to provide
17 children with hepatitis B vaccinations; and
18 WHEREAS, Taiwan's WHO observer status affects the health
19 rights of millions of Taiwanese people and benefits regional and
20 global public health; therefore be it
21 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
22 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pause in its deliberations to
23 applaud the contributions of Pennsylvania's Taiwanese-American
24 community and join in support of the participation of Taiwan in
25 the role of WHO observer; and be it further
26 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
27 the President of the United States, to the United States
28 Department of Health and Human Services, to each member of the
29 Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation and to the World Health
30 Organization.
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