Rep. Malliotakis Meets With Dalai Lama In India, Presents Gifts From Staten Island’s Tibetan Museum, Discusses Resolve Tibet Act
Malliotakis Meets Dalai Lama As Part of Bipartisan Congressional Delegation In India
Presented gifts from Staten Island’s Tibetan Museum His Holiness Visited in 1991
(WASHINGTON, DC) – This week while traveling on a bipartisan congressional delegation, Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis met with the Dalai Lama at his residence in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India. During the visit, Malliotakis presented His Holiness with gifts including a framed photograph from The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art on Staten Island that he previously visited in 1991, and an assortment of teas from the museum’s label.
“It was an incredible honor to meet with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama to discuss the Resolve Tibet Act recently passed by both the House and Senate and awaiting President Biden’s signature that 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,” Malliotakis said.
“New York City is home to the largest Tibetan population outside of Asia and I’ve been proud to work with the Tibetan community and a bipartisan group in speaking out against China’s human rights abuses and illegal occupation of Tibet, and it’s my hope that our advocacy brings the Tibetan people one step closer to being able to peacefully return to their homeland and determine their future.”
While in India, the delegation also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the US-India Business Council to discuss issues of national security, trade, and increasing the strategic partnership between the two nations to reduce both nations’ supply chain dependency on Communist China.
Transcript of Rep. Malliotakis’ speech to the people of Tibet, courtesy of Alphabet:
My name is Nicole Malliotakis. I am very proud to bring greetings from my district of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City. It is home to the Jacques Marchais Tibetan Museum, which His Holiness visited in 1995, and many of the members that you have representing in government have also visited it. But when His Holiness came in 1995 he said the words that it was the closest to Tibet that you could find in the west, and I’m very proud to represent that beautiful cultural gem when we were honored with the meeting earlier today with His Holiness
I shared with him that when he fled Tibet in 1959, my mother also fled to escape communism in 1959, but in her homeland of Cuba, and so we share many similarities, and I have a lot of compassion and empathy for the people who are here today who want to return to their homelands, who want to visit and have their children and grandchild who have never visited Tibet the opportunity to do so.
We are all working together together with you to see that day come, and we believe that everyone in the world, including the 7 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: Thank you all for having us with you today and Long Live a free Tibet
Banner Image: Rep. Malliotakis meets with the His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Image Credit – Rep. Malliotakis
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis was sworn in on January 3, 2021 to represent Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn. Prior to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis was elected to the New York State Assembly on November 2, 2010, defeating a two-term incumbent. In the Assembly, she served as Minority Whip and the ranking minority member of the Assembly Committee on Governmental Employees. For five terms, Congresswoman Malliotakis fought to restore ethics in Albany, expand transit service in her district, improve programs for senior citizens, reform education and improve New York’s economic climate by reducing the tax burden on small businesses and residents. A cornerstone of her tenure was helping her community recover and rebuild following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In addition to advocating for these same issues in Washington, Congresswoman Malliotakis is acutely focused on securing New York’s fair share of federal mass transit funding, which would go towards expanding transportation services and easing traffic congestion, while also championing public safety by supporting our nation’s law enforcement officers. Congresswoman Malliotakis is the daughter of immigrants, her father from Greece and her mother a Cuban exile of the Castro dictatorship. She is currently the only Republican member representing New York City in Congress, representing a district spanning the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island. She is a passionate advocate for animal rights and the strengthening of animal cruelty laws, and in her spare time, enjoys spending time with her chihuahua, Peanut.
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