FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11 May 2020
Contact:
Pema Doma | +1-617-792-3606 | pemadoma@studentsforafreetibet.org (English)
Dorjee Tseten | +1-646-753-3889 | dorjee@studentsforafreetibet.org (Tibetan)
10K PEOPLE VIEWED THIS DISCUSSION TO LEARN HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR TPSA
On May 11th, 2020 at 12:00 PM EDT, Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) hosted the 17th episode of SFT Live on Facebook to discuss the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 (TPSA) with Congressman Jim McGovern. SFT’s Campaigns Director, Pema Doma, hosted the discussion along with five SFT youth activists: Justin Marks (Georgia), Tenzin Chokyi (Wisconsin), Tenzin Rabjam (Connecticut), Kyla Sherap (Colorado), and Tsering Lhamo (Indiana).
Congressman Jim McGovern, Co-Chair of the CECC and Chair of the House Rules Committee, introduced TPSA in the House of Representatives and helped pass the bill in the House in January 2020. The Congressman answered questions from the youth leaders about TPSA and what Congress can do to support Tibet. Congressman McGovern highlighted grassroots advocacy as a key action Americans can take to support TPSA, saying:
“Your advocacy to individual Senators is very important. A lot of Senators aren’t as lucky as I am to have been educated by the Tibetan community. They don’t know a lot about human rights in Tibet. So you must reach out to your Senator and educate them yourself!”
The SFT youth leaders also had some helpful suggestions about what people can do to advocate for TPSA. Tenzin Chokyi of Wisconsin said:
“I want to encourage Tibetans and non-Tibetan college students to be more aware of TPSA and to get their friends to sign the letter. We can also work with our local Tibetan associations to get them to promote the TPSA on their social media pages.”
You can watch more of the live discussion here!
SFT’s grassroots youth-led advocacy effort for TPSA targets Tibet and human rights supports from the states with Senators sitting on the Senate Foregin Relations Committee. TPSA is on the agenda for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s meeting this Thursday, May 14 at 9:30 AM EDT. SFT has created a letter for US citizens to send to their Senators on the Committee to lobby in favor of TPSA. Within the first day since the letter’s launch, nearly 100 people have already used the SFT website to write to their Senator. SFT will continue the grassroots letter writing initiative until the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved TPSA. If the bill reaches the Senate floor, SFT will continue to campaign tenaciously to ensure it’s passage.
TAKE ACTION FOR TPSA NOW! SEND A LETTER TO YOUR SENATOR NOW: https://bit.ly/SupportTPSA