Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2012

Mr. Speaker, as a Vietnam veteran, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1410.

In 1967, I was deployed to Vietnam and served my country in Nha Trang. My brother also served, and has since passed away.

On the matter of human rights, the U.S. cannot assume the moral high ground when it comes to Vietnam. From 1961 to 1971, the U.S. sprayed more than 11 million gallons of Agent Orange in Vietnam, subjecting millions of innocent civilians to dioxin--a toxic known to be one of the deadliest chemicals made by man. Despite the suffering that has occurred ever since, there seems to be no real interest on the part of the U.S. to clean up the mess we left behind.

Instead, we spend our time offering up language like this which fails to make anything right. While I appreciate that more than 1 million Vietnamese-Americans still have strong feelings about the Vietnam War, the fact is it is time for us to rebuild our relationship with Vietnam just like we did with Germany and Japan after WWII.

Regrettably, H.R. 1410 has an adverse impact on our efforts. H.R. 1410 purports to promote the development of freedom and democracy in Vietnam but fails in its purpose. As noted by the Congressional Research Service, ``the bill could chill the recent warming of bilateral political and security ties and could weaken economic reformers in ongoing domestic political battles inside Vietnam.''

Put another way, H.R. 1410 is not in the best interest of the United States or the Vietnamese-American community. H.R. 1410 is shortsighted in its approach, and contrary to the efforts of the Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations which have sought to strengthen our partnership with Vietnam.

Long after the Vietnam War, the U.S. is now about the business of coordinating a multi-country diplomatic push back against Chinese encroachment in the oil-rich and strategically important South China Sea. H.R. 1410 is not helpful to our cause.

In conversations with the Department of State, they share my concerns that measures in H.R. 1410 could adversely affect our security relationship with Vietnam as well as our ability to work with Vietnam on trafficking in persons. H.R. 1410 could also greatly reduce our chances of negotiating a roadmap on human rights.

Moreover, Section 3(a)(2)(G) significantly alters the standard by which the Government of Vietnam's efforts to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) are measured, and restricts non-humanitarian assistance to FY2011 levels pending certification in an annual report by the President of the United States.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) created a set of minimum standards to assess a government's efforts to combat trafficking in persons (TIP). These standards are based on agreed upon international protocols. H.R. 1410 goes beyond the protocols and holds the Government of Vietnam to a higher standard.

By holding the Government of Vietnam to a higher standard that is not applicable to any other foreign government, or to the U.S. government's own efforts, the Act would have an adverse impact on our ability to conduct diplomacy with the Government of Vietnam on improving its anti- TIP efforts.

So while Vietnam may have work to do on improving its human rights record, we also have work to do. First and foremost, we need to work on being fair. We need to work on treating Vietnam the same as we treat other foreign governments. Simply put, it is wrong to hold Vietnam to a higher standard than the rest of the world.

Also, let us be clear about the sincere and measurable progress Vietnam has made. Let us not cherry-pick bits of truth and put forward old data. H.R. 1410 is based on old data--the same data that has been put forward over and over again by those who have never served in Vietnam or visited Vietnam or met with Vietnam's leaders. After serving in Vietnam in 1967, I returned some 40 years later after becoming Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. All I can say is the Vietnam I fought against is not the Vietnam I know today.

So, I encourage my colleagues to re-think Vietnam and pursue a path of cooperation that does not undermine the progress we are making. I also ask that the Embassy of Vietnam's statement and the following excerpts from the State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2010 be made part of the record.

The Report notes, ``respect for religious freedom and practice improved in some regards,'' and that ``the government took further steps to implement its 2004 Ordinance on Religion and Belief and supplemental decrees on religious policy issued in 2005.'' The report also recognizes that the Vietnamese ``government also facilitated construction of new churches, prayer houses, pagodas, and training facilities for furthering the education of thousands of monks, priests, nuns, and pastors'' permitting ``the expansion of religious organizations'' charitable activities.''

The Report also made note of the meeting between President Nguyen Minh Triet and Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. ``Vietnam and the Holy See agreed to a Vatican appointment of a non-resident Representative for Vietnam as a first step toward the establishment of full diplomatic relations.'' The report also states that ``new congregations were registered in many of the 64 provinces, and one new religious group and two Protestant denominations received national registration or recognition.''

``The Catholic Church, Protestant congregations, and other smaller religious groups reported that their ability to gather and worship generally improved and that the government allowed registered religious groups to assign new clergy with limited restrictions. The government also permitted the Buddhist, Catholic, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, and Protestant faiths to hold several historic large-scale religious services throughout the country, some with over 100,000 participants.''

The State Department also confirmed the Vietnam's Government assertion that ``some ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands were operating a self-styled ``Dega Church,'' which reportedly mixed religious practice with political activism and called for ``ethnic minority separatism.'' Regarding the Con Dau incident, the report notes that the arrested six Catholic parishioners ``reportedly started a physical altercation with police.''

In light of these facts and many more, it is my hope that the U.S. Senate will disregard H.R. 1410 and put forward an approach that allows us to strengthen our economic and security ties with Vietnam while negotiating a roadmap on human rights that is based on accurate information--not on misinformation intended to topple Vietnam's current government.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, I hope that the advocates of H.R. 1410--if they are truly sincere about human rights--will apply their efforts to assisting Vietnam with Agent Orange clean-up because the mess we left behind is a serious violation of human rights that needs to be corrected once and for all.

Embassy of Vietnam to the United States

On religious freedom in Viet Nam

Viet Nam is a country of many faiths, with the presence of major world religions including Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam. It has the second largest Catholic community in Southeast Asia. Approximately 80 percent of the population are religious or spiritual believers. Of these, 22.3 million are followers of one religion or another, constituting one fifth of the population. There are 25,000 places of worship in Vietnam.

The government of Viet Nam pursues a consistent policy of respecting religious freedom and facilitating the practice of religion and faith by all citizens. Viet Nam attaches importance to the policy of religious solidarity and concord, ensuring equality and non- discrimination for all religions. Religious activities are protected by law but the abuse of religion to provoke hatred, division and conflict which threatens national security and stability is strictly prohibited.

Religious freedom and protection of religious freedom are provided for in Viet Nam's laws including the 1992 Constitution (Article 70), the Civil Code (Article 47), the 1999 Penal Code (Article 129), the Ordinance on Religion and Belief (``the Ordinance'') and Decree 22/ 2005/ND-CP dated 1st March, 2005 providing for implementation of the Ordinance.

Since the issuance of the Ordinance, religious freedom has been reinforced throughout the country. Religious life in Viet Nam has seen strong vitality in recent years, thus contributing significantly to national development. There are now 4 Buddhist institutes, 32 intermediate Buddhist schools, hundreds of elementary Buddhist courses, 6 Catholic Seminaries and one Protestant Institute of Bible and Theology in Viet Nam. Thousands of religious dignitaries are trained in those schools each year, of which 1,177 are engaging in governance, working as delegates in the National Assembly or People's Councils. The Evangelical Church of Viet Nam has organized theological courses. A series of religious websites are being operated by the Viet Nam Bishops' Council and the Spiritual Council of the Baha'i Community of Viet Nam. Places of worship have been built throughout the country with the government's sponsorship. These include the construction of the Khmer Theravada Buddhist University in Can Tho province and the expansion of the La Vang Parish in Quang Tri province.

Religious activities in Viet Nam are in full swing now. The 2,555th Buddhist Vesak Day was observed in many provinces. In May, 2011, a Vietnamese delegation participated in the United Nations' Vesak Day in Thailand. The Catholic Church's Jubilee Year in 2011 was prominently celebrated and its closing ceremony was attended by 1,000 priests, 2,000 clergies and 500,000 parishioners. The celebration was honoured by the presence of Cardinal Ivan Dias, Head of the Vatican's Missionary Department, Special Envoy of Pope Benedict XVI.

The year 2011 also marked the 100th anniversary of Protestantism in Viet Nam. Big celebrations were held in Ha Noi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, attended by Protestants from all provinces and cities.

Local authorities have made important contributions to these achievements of Vietnamese religious communities. However, progress has been slower in certain more distant areas of Vietnam due to poverty, low level of socio-economic development and geographical disadvantages. This is particularly true in mountainous and border provinces. In addition, the educational level and training of some local officials have been limited, making it more difficult for them to full realize our policy.

Recognition and registration of religious organisations

The registration of religious activities and the recognition of the legal entity of new religious organisations are the basis for religious organisations and congregations to be protected by law, rather than an administrative measure to hinder religious freedom and belief. Eligibility for legal recognition of a religious organization or congregation is clearly stipulated in the 2004 Ordinance on Religion and Belief.

To date, the State has recognized 18 religious organisations representing 9 religions, of which 6 are new ones. These include Baha'i, Tu An Hieu Nghia (Four Debts of Gratitude), Buu Son Ky Huong, The Pure Land Buddhist Home-Practice Association, Minh Su and Minh Ly. Seven other Protestant denominations also achieved recognition, bringing the total number of recognized religious organisations in Viet Nam up to 34. Prior to the introduction of the Ordinance, only 16 organisations representing 6 religions were recognized by our government.

Registration of Protestant groups has shown a particular increase: Upon the issuance and implementation of the Ordinance on Religion (2004) and Directive No. 01 on Protestantism, Protestantism has grown exponentially in Viet Nam in terms of the number of followers, congregations as well as the diversity of worship practices. In 2011, the number of Protestants in Viet Nam was roughly 1.17 million people, of which 110 thousand lived in the northwest region of Viet Nam, 360 thousand in the Central Highlands, and the remaining 700 thousand throughout the country. The number of registered places of worship has increased to over 1,700 groups and congregations (in the northwest: 258 groups, in the Central Highlands: 1,284 groups and 189 congregations). The government has organized 8 conferences to do outreach about our policies and laws concerning Protestantism to 1,600 participants who are the leaders of places of worship.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished gentlelady, our good chairwoman, for her leadership on this important issue and so many human rights issues around the globe. Thank you, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for again bringing to the floor a very important bill and series of bills, many of which are directed at human rights.

And to Mr. Berman, thank you for your kind comments and your strong support for this effort to try to bring freedom and hope to the people of Vietnam--who, while as you pointed out so rightly, have enjoyed some economic progress, regrettably, political rights, human rights, fundamental rights have gone in the opposite direction--and so thank you for that.

I want to thank the original cosponsors of the bill--Mr. Royce, Mr. Wolf, Ms. Zoe Lofgren, and Ms. Loretta Sanchez--for being original cosponsors of this legislation, and I hope the membership will roundly and soundly back its enactment or its passage today.

Mr. Speaker, many of us on both sides of the aisle have been trying for decades to help the Vietnamese people secure their fundamental human rights and their democratic institutions. From assisting the boat people in the 1970s and all of the human rights work that was done to help so many Vietnamese, individuals who were in reeducation camps and who were dealt with so severely by the dictatorship in Hanoi, Congress and the Presidents over the years have tried nobly to assist them, as have other human rights activists around the world.

As far back as 1996 I sponsored the Human Rights Restoration Act, PL 104-319, which included an important

provision directing the U.S. Information Agency to take steps to provide opportunities for human rights and democracy leaders of Vietnam to come here for educational and cultural exchange programs. We found that so often it was the communist leaders and their families and friends who were benefiting from these trips to the United States, not the people who were the best and the bravest and the brightest of Vietnam.

I visited Vietnam on several occasions, met with dissidents throughout the country in Quay, Ho Chi Minh City, as well as Hanoi; met with pastors--Catholic, Protestant, Evangelicals--and have met with, as some of my other colleagues have as well, the venerable Thich Quang Do, who's done a magnificent job speaking up for the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, which has been outlawed by the dictatorship in Hanoi.

Regrettably, our efforts, and especially, those heroic efforts by the women and men in Vietnam itself, have not resulted in respect for fundamental human rights.

I would note, parenthetically, that Bloc 8406, a great group of individuals who signed on to this charter of human rights, one by one have been singled out after signing that charter, believing that an easing was taking place, signed on. It was just like Vaclav Havel's Charter 77 and many other great statements made by the East Bloc countries during the dictatorships of that era. Bloc 8406, that is to say, April 8, 2006, one by one those individuals have been hunted down, and many of them have found themselves in prison.

The Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights Subcommittee, which I chair, heard from witnesses at a hearing earlier this year that the Vietnamese Government remains an egregious violator of a broad array of human rights. Their testimony confirmed that religious, political, and ethnic persecution continue and in many cases is actually increasing, and that the Vietnamese officials are still laying out the welcome mat for forced labor and sex traffickers.

For example, we heard from Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, the executive director of Boat People SOS who had recently traveled to Thailand to investigate human rights trafficking violations and other violations in Vietnam. Dr. Thang testified that the Government of Vietnam has not investigated, let alone prosecuted, a single human trafficking violation by Vietnamese labor export companies, many of which are state owned. Instead, police have interrogated and threatened victims who have spoken out against this modern-day slavery.

Almost routinely, according to Dr. Thang--and his information comports with other information our subcommittee has received--the Vietnamese Government has sent its officials from Hanoi to trouble spots, including American Samoa, Jordan, and Malaysia, in order to silence the victims, take sides with the traffickers, or to impede justice.

The subcommittee also heard testimony of a Vietnamese woman who courageously fought for her own rights and those of her coworkers when they were trafficked to Jordan with the complicity of the Vietnamese Government officials. In addition, our witnesses provided deeply disturbing photographs, evidence of torture, and showed a video of the Vietnamese military destroying an entire village of Hmong Christians.

It is imperative that the U.S. Government send an unequivocal message to the Vietnamese regime that it must end its human rights abuses against its own citizens.

I would note, Mr. Speaker, that negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which includes Vietnam, are currently meeting in nearby Leesburg, Virginia. Within the next 2 years, or a year or 2, Congress will likely be asked to approve a free trade agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam as part of this initiative. I hope the administration is using those negotiations to strongly encourage the Vietnamese Government to finally, at long last, respect human rights.

I thank my colleague.

H.R. 1410 would institute effective measures toward improving human rights in Vietnam. As reported by our committee, the bill prohibits any increase in nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government of Vietnam above fiscal 2011 levels unless the government makes substantial progress in establishing freedom of religion, releasing political prisoners, respecting the rights of journalists, and the bill lays out a whole series of mutually reinforcing steps it must take and the people it must protect.

The bill does not prevent increased funding for the Vietnamese Government for certain humanitarian assistance--and I want to underscore that--such as food, medicine, agent orange remediation, and activities to combat human trafficking. The freeze on foreign assistance at 2010 levels can be waived if the President determines that increased nonhumanitarian aid to Vietnam would promote democracy and freedom or would otherwise be in the national interest.

Mr. Speaker, we've passed this bill twice in various forms before by huge majorities. It is time to pass it, and hopefully the Senate will take it up and get it to President Obama.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1410) to promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous materials into the Record on this measure.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1410, the Vietnam Human Rights Act. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam remains a gross human rights violator even as its trade with the U.S. grows. The people of Vietnam continue to be oppressed by their Communist jailers, unable to change their government or enjoy any semblance of the rule of law. Indeed, the most recent elections of May 2011 were neither free nor fair. Much like those living under the ruthless Castro regime in my native Cuba, Vietnamese citizens are subject to brutal treatment from police, inhumane prison conditions, and denial of the right to a fair and speedy trial.

The judicial system is plagued by endemic corruption and inefficiency, and the Communist government has increasingly limited privacy rights and freedoms of the press, speech, assembly, movement, and association. Freedom of religion is subject to interpretation by Communist authorities, with significant problems occurring at provincial and village levels.

Violence and discrimination against women, as well as trafficking in persons, continue to torment the population. The sexual exploitation of children, as well as hate crimes and discrimination based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, and HIV/AIDS status, all persist. As is the case with all Communist regimes, police often act with impunity. Cowardly hiding this egregious brutality from the civilized world, the Communist government prohibits independent human rights organizations from operating within its borders. All of this occurs while the U.S. continues to broaden trade with the Vietnamese dictators, completing a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, or TIFA, in 2007.

We have increased our trade with Vietnam every year and have held a trade deficit with Vietnam every year since 1997. Mr. Speaker, that is not the message that we should send to these thugs. We should not reward this Communist dictatorship until the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress respecting political freedoms, media freedoms, and religion freedoms.

Vietnam must also protect its minorities, give access to U.S. refugee programs, act to end trafficking in persons, and release its approximately 4,000 political prisoners.

I urge my colleagues to join me in showing our solidarity and support for the people of Vietnam by passing this important bill today.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I'm so pleased to yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, who is the author of this important bill.

I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of our Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade of our Committee on Foreign Affairs.

I would like to ask Mr. Berman if he has any other requests for time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, our Nation has always served as a beacon of hope for all who are oppressed and suffer under regimes such as the one in Vietnam, which has shown a blatant disregard for fundamental human rights and universal freedoms. We must continue to serve as such a beacon. We must not waver in our commitment to standing with the oppressed and not with their oppressors. This bill serves as an important guidepost in doing that.

The Vietnam regime continues its oppression. On August 5, they arrested about 30 peaceful demonstrators who were protesting China's activities in the South China Sea. It included the arrest of an 81- year-old activist. Also, the threatened trial of three well-known human rights bloggers has been further postponed, thus extending their unjust legal limbo.

This human rights legislation is long overdue. It contains a provision prohibiting an increase in nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government of Vietnam unless certain human rights benchmarks are met. Of course, it has a Presidential waiver, but it authorizes the President to provide assistance through appropriate nongovernmental organizations and the Human Rights Defenders Fund for the support of individuals and organizations that are promoting internationally recognized human rights in Vietnam. This is an American principle. This should be a universal principle of human rights and respect for minority rights.

I hope that our colleagues will join us in passing Mr. Smith's bill. The time for it is long overdue. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I chaired a hearing to examine the ongoing human rights situation in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese Government continues to be an egregious violator of a broad array of human rights. Our distinguished witnesses who testified before me yesterday provided detailed accounts; I would like to highlight just a few areas of grave concern.

Despite the State Department's decision in 2006 to remove Vietnam from the list of Countries of Particular Concern as designated pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act, Vietnam, in fact, continues to be among the worst violators of religious freedom in the world. According to the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom's 2011 Annual Report, ``[t]he government of Vietnam continues to control religious communities, severely restrict and penalize independent religious practice, and brutally repress individuals and groups viewed as challenging its authority.'' I agree with USCIRF's conclusion that Vietnam should be designated a CPC country.

The State Department's designation of Vietnam as a Tier 2 Watch List country with respect to the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking also needs to be critically examined. The Department's 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report states not only that Vietnamese women and children are being sexually exploited, but that there are severe labor abuses occurring as well--with the government's complicity. The Report acknowledges that state-affiliated and state- licensed labor export companies engage in numerous trafficking-related violations, including fraud and the charging of illegal commissions for overseas employment. There also are documented cases of recruitment companies ignoring pleas for help from workers in exploitative situations.

As the sponsor of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, I am deeply disturbed that the Tier Rankings are not being better utilized by our State Department to pressure Vietnam to correct the trafficking abuses occurring within its government, not to mention those in the private sector.

We were particularly privileged to have Ms. Phong-Anh Vu with us to testify about the horrific suffering she endured when she was trafficked from Vietnam to Jordan. It is also troubling to hear about the abuse that she and others have continued to endure at the hands of the Vietnamese Government even after their escape from their traffickers. I greatly admire her courage and the Subcommittee is most appreciative the testimony she presented yesterday.

I met other courageous individuals during my last trip to Vietnam who were struggling for fundamental human rights in their country. Unfortunately, many of them continue to be persecuted by the government. Father Ly is in prison and is suffering from very poor health, and Attorney Nguyen Van Dai remains under house arrest.

Despite this dismal status for human rights in Vietnam, there are new opportunities for the United States to exert pressure on the government to cease these abuses.

H.R. 1410, the Vietnam Human Rights Act which I introduced last year--and which passed the House previously in 2007--would provide significant motivation to the government of Vietnam to respect its international human rights obligations. It would prohibit any annual increase in the amount of non-humanitarian assistance that the United States provides to Vietnam unless there is an equal or greater increase in the amount of assistance for human rights and democracy promotion programming in Vietnam.

An increase in non-humanitarian assistance would also be prohibited unless Vietnam satisfies certain requirements, including substantial progress toward respect for the freedom of religion and freedom of expression and assembly, respect for ethnic and minority rights, and allowing Vietnamese nationals free and open access to United States refugee programs. The government would also have to end its complicity in severe forms of human trafficking.

In addition, this legislation would reaffirm the United States' commitments: to overcoming the jamming of Radio Free Asia by the Vietnamese Government; to engaging in cultural exchanges in a manner that promotes freedom and democracy in Vietnam; and to offer refugee resettlement to Vietnamese nationals who have been deemed ineligible solely due to administrative errors or for other reasons beyond their control.

I thank all of our witnesses for appearing before the Subcommittee yesterday.

Mr. Speaker, I'm an original cosponsor of this bill, H.R. 1410. This is the Vietnam Human Rights Act. And I guess it's no surprise to a lot of us that have followed what has happened in Vietnam, it denies its citizens basic human rights.

But here's the problem: The conditions there with respect to abuse of rule of law are getting worse and worse.

It used to be that we would watch show trials in terms of the abridgement of rights of the citizens of Vietnam; now they don't even have the show trials. Now the government just places those dissidents in police detention, and they do it without alerting the family, without alerting anyone. And at that point, you just have to say the rule of law has become nonexistent.

We received a really stark reminder recently. Human rights dissident Nguyen Quoc Quan was arrested by Vietnamese officials. He had attempted to enter the country at Ho Chi Minh City's airport, and the charge that he was held on was terrorism. Terrorism was the original charge.

He didn't come to Vietnam equipped with guns or explosives. What's the terrorism charge? Well, he came to Vietnam to meet with other grassroots organizations committed to peaceful discussions on human rights inside the country. To the Vietnamese Communist Government, that's terrorism. That really says it all.

The case of Nguyen Quoc Quan is not an isolated case. His treatment there has become the rule, not the exception for those who are trying to push for some modicum of free speech or religious freedom, and so you have a whole slew of dissidents who are treated like this or even worse. When I say ``worse,'' I want to give you another example.

It is that of Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, a pastor of an outlawed Mennonite church. He was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison during a 1-day trial for ``sowing division between the Communist government and its citizens.'' Now, this treatment is nothing new for this particular pastor. To date, he has been aggressively interrogated over 300 times. He has suffered dozens of beatings, and some of us have seen the photographs of the aftermath of some of those brutal beatings. He has been forcefully removed from his residence many times and has been thrown in jail.

That is why it is imperative, my friends, that we pass the Vietnam Human Rights Act. I think the important point here is that this kind of action can be an inspiration to the brave dissidents inside Vietnam who continue to be brutally repressed. Part of this is to provide for information from Radio Free Asia to better be able to broadcast into the country, to better be able to shed light on this kind of activity, to leverage for change, and to

bring objective news--to bring the truth--to be a surrogate-free radio station for the Vietnamese people. The spread of democratic values in Asia, frankly, is critical to our security interests as well.

I, myself, have met with some of the Vietnamese dissidents discussed here today, and I've been denounced by the Vietnamese Government for simply meeting with those whose only wish is the freedom to speak their minds. That tells me that the Vietnamese Government is sensitive to international criticism and that the United States must continue to speak out about this issue. I don't think silence is an option for us in the U.S.

In closing, I want to thank Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen for her focus on human rights. I want to thank the author here, Chris Smith, for his efforts, and Howard Berman, Congressman from California, for his work on behalf of the Vietnamese people.