After months of consultations, the bill arrived: Rep. McGovern introduced the new Tibetan Policy and Support Act in the House of Representatives. Labeled H.R.4331, the bill promised to make it official US policy that only the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Buddhist community could decide on his eventual succession. If Chinese officials tried to name their own Dalai Lama in the future, the bill would sanction them.

The TPSA would also address climate change and water security in Tibet; prevent China from opening a new consulate in the US until it allowed a US consulate in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa; and expand the role of the special coordinator for Tibetan issues in the State Department, among other changes. Alongside McGovern, Reps. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, Tom Malinowski, D-NJ, Ben McAdams, D-Utah, Mark Meadows, R-NC, Brad Sherman, D-Calif., Chris Smith, R-NJ, and Thomas Suozzi, D-NY, cosponsored the bipartisan bill.