For immediate release                                                         March 18 2004

U.S. REPRESENTATIVES SEND OPEN LETTER TO PEOPLE OF TAIWAN STRONGLY SUPPORTING REFERENDUM AND SELF-DETERMINATION ON EVE OF ELECTIONS

On March 17, 2004, 36 members of the U.S. House of Representatives led by Representatives Peter Deutsch (D-FL) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) sent an open letter (See: below for full text and signatories) to the people of Taiwan concluding: "You have earned the right to hold exclusive responsibility for determining the future of Taiwan and to exercise democratic processes. This includes holding referenda free from intimidation or threat of force from any country including communist China."

FAPA President Ming-chi Wu says: "This is the first time the United States Congress directly appeals and writes to the people of Taiwan, praising their long-fought democratic achievements. This letter is also the clearest and most powerful manifestation of the United States Congress' support for the upcoming referendum."

Wu continues: "According to Rep. Deutsch, the initiators of the letter could have gotten hundreds of signatures if they would not have been limited by the time constraints. Reps. Deutsch and Rohrabacher literally had two working days to recruit the signatures, officially starting from last Friday."

Wu concludes, "Referenda are a frequent practice in democratic countries such as the United States and/or Switzerland. The voice of the people is fundamental to a democracy and referenda are the ultimate demonstration of the free expression of the views and free will of the people. That is the reason why Members of the U.S. Congress have stood up today and have expressed their strong support for Taiwan holding referenda. To them, supporting referenda equals to supporting freedom and democracy. We hope this open letter will affect those undecided voters, encouraging them to vote and thus becoming first-hand participants in this historic event."

For the full text of the statement, please check: http://www.fapa.org/referendum/ADVERTISEMENT_STATEMENT

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【FAPA 新聞稿】                                                                     　　　　　　  【2004年3月18日】 

美國眾議院於320大選前夕，公開連署致函台灣人民，

支持台灣首次公民投票的舉行

 為了展現對台灣首次公民投票舉行的堅定支持，佛羅里達州的多義奇議員(Peter Deutsch, D-FL)與加州的羅拉巴克(Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA)議員於上週末發起一封致台灣人民的公開連署信函，在短短二個工作天的時間之內，這封信獲得了三十六位眾議員的熱烈響應。參與連署信函的議員並包括眾議院共和黨政策委員會主席考克斯(Christopher Cox, R-CA)等人。

 這封公開的連署信函，預計在台灣時間19日的各大媒體登載。

 值得一提的是，中國駐美大使館在此封信還未展開連署行動之前，就已經與多位國會議員辦公室聯絡，呼籲他們不要連署這封信函；不過，據FAPA瞭解，中國此番舉動反而引起多位國會議員及助理們的反感，對於多義奇與羅拉巴克議員的連署活動，反而是有益無害。

 協助推動此封信函的台灣人公共事務會(FAPA)會長吳明基表示：「這是美國國會首次直接針對台灣人民、公開致函台灣人民，以展現他們對台灣人民多年來堅持民主理念與實踐的讚揚；這更是美國國會就320和平公投，最清楚與最有力的支持。」吳明基繼續表示：「由於時間受限，多義奇與羅拉巴克議員辦公室們，實際上只有兩個工作天的時間來進行連署活動。如果時間不受限的話，找到近上百位議員的連署是絕對不成問題的。」吳明基最後表示：「公民投票的舉行在其他的民主國家裡，例如美國或是瑞士等等，是行之有年、再平常也不過的。民主制度強調的是主權在民，而公民投票則是民意之最高展現，這也是為什麼今天這些議員們會出來公開表態，支持台灣民主發展史上首次公民投票的舉行。對他們來說，支持台灣的公民投票，就是支持公民投票背後所代表的自由與民主制度。我們希望此封公開信函能夠鼓勵一些還未決定是否要參與公投的台灣民眾們，希望他們能在3月20日投下神聖的一票，一同成為台灣首次公民投票的歷史的見證人！」