[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD 
                                VIETNAM

                                 ______


                               speech of

                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 4, 1994

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House 
Concurrent Resolution 278, a resolution expressing the sense of 
Congress regarding United States policy toward Vietnam.
  House Concurrent Resolution 278 expresses the sense of Congress that 
progress toward the fullest possible accounting for American POW's and 
MIA's should remain central to our policy toward Vietnam; that the 
fullest possible accounting remain the index by which progress on 
future relations be judged; and that the United States Government 
liaison office in Vietnam should facilitate efforts to achieve the 
fullest possible accounting as well as assist families and friends of 
those missing to ascertain the status of their loved ones. The 
resolution also states that the United States should support the 
process of nonviolent democratic reform in Vietnam and that the United 
States should increase its support for Voice of America programming in 
Vietnam.
  When the President lifted the embargo on Vietnam last February, I 
urged the administration to move immediately to ensure that Hanoi did 
not interpret that action to mean it was off the hook on providing a 
full accounting of our missing Vietnam war heroes.
  I continue to press the administration in the strongest possible 
terms to remind the Vietnamese at every opportunity that we expect a 
full accounting of our POW's and MIA's. Indeed, we will be satisfied 
with nothing less.
  Let me also reassure the families and friends of those who are 
missing that they should not for one moment think that the Congress has 
written them off or forgotten about them or their loved ones. To the 
contrary, we must use our expanded presence in Vietnam to pursue this 
issue with renewed vigor.
  That is why, Mr. Speaker, I was dismayed to learn that the 
administration does not intend to dedicate a section of the future U.S. 
Government liaison office to assisting POW-MIA families and friends. I 
continue to believe that staff from this office should be dedicated to 
assisting the friends and families of POW's and MIA's and I urge the 
administration to reconsider their decision.
  Mr. Speaker, we must have continued progress on the POW/MIA issue 
before we move to normalization, we must firmly express our human 
rights concerns to the Vietnamese, and we must support nonviolent 
democratic reforms. I believe House Concurrent Resolution 278 sends 
this message to the Vietnamese and I ask my colleagues to support the 
resolution.

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