Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), passed nine measures, including H.R. 3320.  The legislation, introduced by Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), directs the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization. 

Upon passage of H.R. 3320, Chairman Royce said:  “For the first time since 2009, Taiwan was excluded from this year’s World Health Assembly meeting.  Infectious disease knows no borders and no one benefits when Taiwan is kept in the dark on critical matters like global health. This bill is a good way to counter the harmful and unacceptable efforts being made to undermine Taiwan’s inclusion.”

Note: This week, Chairman Royce met with Tedros Adhanom, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, to stress the importance of Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO.  Earlier this month, Chairman Royce led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan, where he was awarded the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon for his outstanding contributions to Taiwan’s development.

Additionally, the Committee passed the following measures:

  • As amended, H. Res. 422, introduced by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), which urges the adherence to the “one country, two systems” policy regarding Hong Kong;
  • As amended, H.R. 425, FTO Passport Revocation Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), which directs the State Department to refuse to issue a passport to an individual who is a member of or who has aided a foreign terrorist organization;
  • As amended, H.R. 1196, Counterterrorism Screening and Assistance Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), which improves border security and information sharing between governments at a time when terrorists are working to move across borders without detection;
  • H.R. 1660, Global Health Innovation Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ), which directs the USAID Administrator to report to Congress, annually for four years, on global health innovations in USAID programs, projects, and activities;
  • As amended, H.R. 2658, Venezuela Humanitarian Assistance and Defense of Democratic Governance Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), which directs the Department of State to work through nongovernmental organizations to provide public health commodities, basic food commodities, and related technical assistance to Venezuela;
  • As amended, H.R. 3329, Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), which increases sanctions on the terrorist organization Hezbollah;
  • H.R. 3342, Sanctioning Hizballah’s Illicit Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-MI), which sanctions Hezbollah for its use of civilians as human shields; and
  • H.R. 3445, AGOA and MCA Modernization Act, introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), which strengthens both the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Millennium Challenge Act.

A summary of the Committee action, including adopted amendments, will be available HERE.

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