Dear John,

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of a huge triumph we celebrated together one year ago. Today, I have another breakthrough to tell you about.

The Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA)—a landmark piece of legislation that will dramatically upgrade US support for Tibet—was approved unanimously by the House Foreign Affairs Committee this morning on Capitol Hill. The next step is for the bill to get a vote on the House floor, and you can help us get TPSA passed once it gets there by signing our petition today.

This is a big deal. Our last major bill, the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act (RATA), sat in Congress for more than four years before it finally got approved at a committee hearing in the fall of 2018. After that, RATA quickly passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law on December 19th of last year.

As we look ahead to tomorrow’s anniversary of RATA’s triumph, I want to thank you, once again, for being the driving force behind the bill’s success. Getting Congress to vote for RATA—which pressures China to end its isolation of Tibet—was no easy task, but you were up to the challenge.

Our new bill, the TPSA, will go even further in aiding the Tibetan people. And once more, you can be the difference maker in getting it passed.

The TPSA will significantly enhance America’s support for Tibetans. Among other things, it will:

• Establish an official US policy that the selection of Tibetan Buddhist leaders—including a future Dalai Lama—is something only Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhists can decide on, without the Chinese government’s interference
• Sanction any senior Chinese officials who attempt to name a fake Dalai Lama in the future
• Make it mandatory for China to allow the opening of a US consulate in Lhasa before a new Chinese consulate is allowed in the US
• Update the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002, strengthen the office of the Special Coordinator for Tibet, address water security and climate change in Tibet, and praise the Dalai Lama and Tibetan people for establishing a democratic system of governance in exile

It took RATA four and a half years to make it through Congress. The TPSA, on the other hand, was just introduced a few months ago, and now it’s already on its way to the House floor.

That means we have momentum on our side. Please, take action now, so that we can have another triumph to celebrate soon.

Once again, thank you for your support of ICT.

In solidarity,

Matteo Mecacci
President

P.S. Your donations to ICT helped get RATA signed into law. Right now, you can have twice as much of an impact in support of the TPSA. Make a gift by December 31st, and our Chairman Richard Gere and friends will match it up to $250,000.