(Note: Please make sure to verify  whether your representative is  Congressman or Congresswoman and accordingly  address the  letter. )

Dated:

Congressman or Congresswoman,

___________________________

___________________________

____________________________

Sub: An appeal to save Tibetan Language broadcast of Radio Free Asia and VOA

Hon. Congressman,

Greetings from your constituency,

First and foremost, me and my family  would like to express our utmost gratitude for your support in honoring His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Congressional Gold Medal last year. We are also grateful to you for your help in restoring the funding for Tibetan Language broadcast of Radio Free Asia and VOA from BBG proposed reduction last year. In honoring His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Congressional leaders sent a strong  message to China's communist leadership that our government stands with the non-violent struggle of people of Tibet.

In his address to Gold Medal Awarding ceremony, House minority leader proudly said that " we broadcast a message of hope across Tibet through Voice of America and Radio Free Asia."  Congressional leaders are right. The two services of Tibetan language broadcasts are the only life lines that the Tibetan people in Tibet have, connecting them to Dalai Lama.

Sadly, BBG seems to disagree with Congressional members. BBG has, once again, proposed reduction of the Tibetan language Service broadcast. I urge you to scrutinize BBG's repeated proposal to cut Tibetan Language Service and to consider the damage they would inflict to the cause of democracy and freedom in Chinese-occupied Tibet.

The Radio Free Asia and Voice of America Tibetan broadcasts provide a cherished source of non-propagandistic news about the world.  Tibetans in Tibet and those who have escaped to exile communities around the world rely on these broadcasts for news about the Dalai Lama, their peaceful leader.  They depend on the broadcasts for information not distorted by Chinese censors.

It is especially ironic that these cuts are proposed just before Beijing hosts the 2008 Olympic Games. China will use the Games to wage a propaganda war.  The Chinese will gloss over their horrendous human rights record.  They will spread lies about their ongoing occupation of Tibet.  They will give Tibetans a sanitized view of the world’s reactions to the Games and the Chinese propaganda messages.  Imagine how disheartening that will be to a people struggling for freedom. 

The United States has taken on a noble responsibility in resettling thousands of Tibetan refugees and in establishing a Tibetan language news and information service.  Please do not permit the shirking of that responsibility now.  Dalai Lama led non-violent struggle of Tibetan people need all our support now, more than ever before.  Ensuring success of Dalai Lama's non-violent campaign for Tibet is one of the best way to show to the others who chose the path of violence and terrorism, that there is other ways to seek political resolution to the cause that they seek.  Please give these budget cuts skeptical consideration and please resist the attempt to silence the sound of freedom broadcast every day.

Yours sincerely,