Thanks to overwhelming support in Congress, the US House of Representatives on September 13 voted to award His Holiness the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor.

The award is in recognition of the Dalai Lama's advocacy of religious harmony, non-violence, and human rights throughout the world and for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Tibet issue though dialogue with the Chinese leadership.

The bill enjoyed broad bipartisan support, with 387 cosponsors drawn from both political parties in the House and Senate, representing more than two-thirds of Congress.

The Bill was sponsored in the House by Congressman Tom Lantos and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and in the Senate by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Craig Thomas.

For more information on the Congressional Gold Medal , including a list of Congressional Co-Sponsors, click here .

To read the Bill awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to His Holiness the Dalai Lama click here .

His Holiness The Dalai Lama

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the leader of the Tibetan nation and people, fled Tibet from Chinese aggression into exile in 1959. In the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, he has become one of the world's great exponents of non-violence. For this, he has won the admiration of the world and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The Dalai Lama has developed his Middle Way initiative to resolve the Tibetan issue in consideration of the interest of both the Tibetans and the Chinese people. Facing the threat of religious and cultural extinction and the rising economic power of China, the Dalai Lama relinquished the goal of independence of Tibet in favor of genuine autonomy - a proposal that is not inconsistent with the Chinese Constitution. This approach also takes into consideration the People's Republic of China's security and stability concerns.

The Dalai Lama is the only person with the moral authority to ensure that such a solution could be implemented in Tibet.

In 2002, dialogue began again between the Dalai Lama's representatives and Beijing after more than a decade of diplomatic stalemate. This represents a historic opportunity to find a solution for the Tibetan people in the Dalai Lama's lifetime.

More than ever before, the Dalai Lama needs the weight of international support to press the Chinese leadership to peacefully resolve the Tibet issue in a mutually acceptable way. Source

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An Open Heart, by the Dalai Lama