[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3000 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3000

To postpone the extension of normal trade relations to the products of 
                                 Laos.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 18, 2004

  Mr. Coleman (for himself and Mr. Feingold) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To postpone the extension of normal trade relations to the products of 
                                 Laos.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Laotian Democracy Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Lao People's Democratic Republic is an 
        authoritarian, Communist, one-party state.
            (2) The Government of Laos has a poor human rights record, 
        particularly with regard to its treatment of minorities.
            (3) The United States Central Intelligence Agency trained 
        and armed approximately 60,000 Hmong guerrillas to disrupt Viet 
        Cong supply lines and rescue downed pilots during the Vietnam 
        war.
            (4) In 1975, the Kingdom of Laos was overthrown by the 
        Communist Pathet Lao regime, and tens of thousands of Laotians, 
        including the Hmong, were killed or died at the hands of 
        Communist forces while attempting to flee the Lao Communist 
        regime, and many others perished in reeducation and labor 
        camps.
            (5) Tens of thousands of Hmong became refugees, eventually 
        resettling in the United States, where they now reside as 
        American citizens and lead constructive lives as members of our 
        communities.
            (6) Remnants of former Hmong insurgent groups and their 
        families who once fought with the Central Intelligence Agency 
        and the Royal Lao Government still remain in remote areas of 
        Laos, including Xaisomboun Special Zone and the Luang Prabang 
        Province.
            (7) In August 2003 the United Nations Committee to 
        Eliminate Racial Discrimination strongly criticized the Lao 
        People's Democratic Republic for failing to honor its 
        obligations, expressed its grave concerns regarding reports of 
        human rights violations, including brutalities inflicted on the 
        Hmong, and deplored the measures taken by the Lao authorities 
        to prevent any reporting of the situation of the Hmong.
            (8) In October 2003, Amnesty International issued a 
        statement detailing its concern about the use of starvation by 
        the Lao Government as a ``weapon of war against civilians'' in 
        Laos and the deteriorating situation facing thousands of family 
        members of ethnic minority groups.
            (9) The Department of State reported in its most recent 
        Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Laos that the 
        ``Government's human rights record remained poor,'' and 
        highlighted press reports that one group of Hmong in Xaisomboun 
        Special Zone, mostly women and children, was being 
        systematically hunted down and attacked by government air and 
        ground forces and that it was at the point of starvation.
            (10) International organizations, the Department of State, 
        and Members of Congress have received reports of mistreatment 
        over the past 6 months of Hmong in Laos emerging from remote 
        areas of Laos, including the Xaisomboun Special Zone, the Luang 
        Prabang-Xieng Khouang border area.
            (11) The Lao Government has not allowed independent 
        organizations to monitor the treatment of the Hmong emerging 
        from remote areas of Laos.
            (12) In September 2004, Amnesty International issued a 
        statement expressing its horror at recent reports that Lao 
        soldiers murdered 5 Hmong children, raping 4 girls, who were 
        foraging for food close to their camp, and called it a war 
        crime.
            (13) The United States has an obligation to defend human 
        rights of all people, including in particular those whose daily 
        lives are endangered as a result of their support for the 
        United States.
            (14) The Lao People's Democratic Republic has failed to 
        substantially improve the status of human rights for its 
        citizens.

SEC. 3. POSTPONEMENT OF EXTENSION OF NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS TO LAOS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the United States Trade 
Representative may not enter into a trade agreement obligating 
reciprocal most-favored-nation treatment between the Lao People's 
Democratic Republic and the United States.
                                 <all>