Santa Clara County is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The 15 cities in the county cover most of the world-famous Silicon Valley high-tech area. On the afternoon of January 9, 2001, the Santa Clara government passed a resolution proclaiming January 15 - 21 Santa Clara County Falun Dafa Week, in support of Falun Dafa practitioners' peaceful efforts to strive for the freedom to practice cultivation in China. Following this proclamation, an honorary award was given to the representatives of local Falun Gong practitioners by one of the county supervisors, Mr. Pete McHugh. A local practitioner, in a speech [given that afternoon], praised the county government for speaking out from its sense of justice for millions of people's freedom to practice Falun Gong on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and he expressed appreciation on behalf of millions of Falun Gong practitioners who are under terror and suppression for no reason. There was warm applause from the audience of two hundred.

Last year, several cities in Santa Clara County such as San Jose, Sunnyvale, Gilroy and Saratoga each officially commended Falun Dafa.

Silicon Valley is regarded as being at the forefront of modern science and technology. Here there are many talented people. Here you can find brilliant, capable and gifted people of insight, many of whom are among the young and successful Chinese elite. Falun Dafa was first introduced to the Silicon Valley area in 1995. At present, there are more than 10 practice sites and study groups. Every week Falun Gong workshops are voluntarily given by practitioners at nearby Stanford University. Many of the Falun Gong practitioners are highly educated young people with remarkable skills. Besides being energetic and successful, they have one thing in common: they all think deeply about the meaning of life, and conduct sincere explorations into the mystery of life, matter and the universe. The width and depth of the law and principles of Falun Gong convinced them [of the truth of Dafa], and they are more and more involved and solid in their cultivation. They have actively spread Dafa to different areas for the benefit of others.

The Chinese consulate in San Francisco tried in many ways to stop California's local governments from supporting and commending Falun Gong. But their efforts only added weight to the support and praise, and made it possible for many local government officials to have a deeper understanding of Falun Gong and Falun Gong practitioners. Since July 1999, there have been over 30 proclamations from counties and cities in the state of California. Among them, the mayor of Saratoga, under the harassment from officials at the Chinese consulate, reaffirmed his support of Falun Dafa and refused to withdraw his praise.

Practitioners in the Bay area

January 12, 2001