(TibetanReview.net, Jun29, 2017) – A reception was held in the US Capitol Building on Jun 27 to celebrate the 82nd birthday of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The 1989 Noble Peace laureate will turn 82 on Jul 6, although he does not celebrate his birthday.
Those who addressed the reception included House Democratic (and Minority) Leader Nancy Pelosi, Republican Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, Democratic Representative Jim McGovern, Republican Representative Ros Lehtinen and Richard Gere.
More than a dozen other members of Congress from both the parties also joined in the celebrations, along with some 300 other invited guests, said the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website Jun 28.
The reception was jointly hosted by the Office of Tibet, the de facto exile Tibetan mission in Washington, DC, and the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT, Washington).
* * *
Earlier in the day a delegation led by Richard Gere, Chairman of ICT, called on six members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. His delegation included the Office of Tibet Representative Penpa Tsering, ICT President Matteo Mecacci, Vice President Buchung Tsering, and ICT Programs Officer and staff Tenchoe Gyatso and Tsering Tashi.
The delegation also met with Congressman Harold Rogers, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee; Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Ranking member of House Appropriations Committee; and Congresswoman Betty McCollum, member of the House Appropriations Committee.
The Appropriations Committee members were stated to have assured that they would support putting the Tibet support programs back on track to the 2017 level. The Trump Administration has proposed zero allocation in its maiden budget for any Tibetan-specific program.
Tibet.net said Richard Gere and his delegates were to meet with more congress members on Jun 28.
