82R22350 BPG-D
By: Vo H.R. No. 1483
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Taiwan and the United States enjoy a friendly and
mutually beneficial relationship, and solid commercial,
educational, and cultural ties can be further strengthened by the
inclusion of Taiwan in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program; and
WHEREAS, A full-fledged, stable democracy, Taiwan shares
with the United States a commitment to democracy, human rights, the
rule of law, and a market-based economy; moreover, Taiwan is our
ninth-largest trading partner and a key export market in almost
every major sector; trade in commercial goods between Taiwan and
the United States totaled nearly $62 billion in 2010; and
WHEREAS, The two nations have long maintained close and
productive cooperation in science and technology, and since 1979,
they have signed more than 190 science and technology agreements
under the framework of the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Representative Office and the American Institute in Taiwan; Taiwan
has worked very closely with the United States in the field of
education, and in 2010, more than 26,000 Taiwanese studied in our
colleges and universities; and
WHEREAS, These important relationships generate significant
interpersonal contact and travel, and in 2009, people from Taiwan
paid more than 500,000 visits to the United States; if admitted to
the Visa Waiver Program, holders of Taiwan passports could travel
to the United States without the expense and time-consuming process
of obtaining a visa, which is expected to boost the number of visits
for both sightseeing and business purposes; Taiwanese travel to the
United Kingdom and New Zealand spiked by 35 to 40 percent after
those countries waived visa obligations, and it is estimated that
waiving visa requirements for Taiwanese travels in the United
States could increase tourism revenue by as much as $1.8 billion;
and
WHEREAS, In order to gain entry into the Visa Waiver Program,
a country must have a visa refusal rate below 3 percent, and only
2.2 percent of Taiwanese visa applications were rejected by the
United States in fiscal year 2010; about 100 countries, including
Japan and members of the European Union, offer Taiwan visa
exemptions on the basis of reciprocity and out of confidence that
citizens of Taiwan are law-abiding and unlikely to overstay; and
WHEREAS, Taiwan has already exempted U.S. passport holders
from visa requirements for visits up to 30 days; by extending
similar privileges, the United States can facilitate
people-to-people contacts, enhance cultural links, and expand
business opportunities and tourism; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby endorse the inclusion of Taiwan in the United
States Visa Waiver Program; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the chief clerk forward official copies of
this resolution to the president of the United States, to the
president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.