Malliotakis meets the Dalai Lama 

U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis was one of several U.S. lawmakers who met the Dalai Lama at his home in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India, on June 20 to discuss the Resolve Tibet Act.

According to Reuters, the bill seeks to push Beijing to hold talks with Tibetan leaders – stalled since 2010 – to secure a negotiated agreement on Tibet and spur China to address the Tibetan people’s aspirations on their historical, cultural, religious and linguistic identity.

Congress passed the bipartisan bill two weeks ago and sent it to the White House for President Joe Biden’s signature.

Malliotakis said the act “would enact an official change in U.S. policy toward Tibet, promote human rights, self-determination and democracy for the Tibetan people and combat Communist China’s misinformation about Tibet’s history.”

During a conference outside the Dalai Lama’s home, Malliotakis said she told him that her mother fled communist Cuba in 1959 – the same year he fled Tibet.

“We share many similarities and I have a lot of compassion and empathy for those who are here today, want to return to their homeland, want to visit and have their children and grandchildren who have never visited Tibet the opportunity to do so,” Malliotakis said. “We are all working together with you to see that day come. We believe that everyone in the world, including the seven million people in Tibet right now, deserve to live where they have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as we so proudly say in the United States of America.”

Malliotakis gave the Dalai Lama gifts, including a framed photograph from the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art on Staten Island, which he visited in 1991.