[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 144 (Thursday, October 23, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  VIETNAM--THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION

  (Ms. SANCHEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to draw the House of 
Representatives' attention to statements received at a Member's 
briefing I cochaired on the human rights situation in Vietnam on 
September 30, 1997.
  This briefing included testimony from experts from international, 
religious, and human rights' organizations on the social and political 
state of Vietnam. In addition to myself, the gentlewoman from 
California, Ms. Zoe Lofgren, the gentlewoman from Ohio, Ms. Marcy 
Kaptur, and the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Tom Davis, were also in 
attendance to hear the recommendations from these witnesses.
  Madam Speaker, I request the statements made at the briefing be 
submitted for the Congressional Record.
  This past June, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Vietnam 
to formally open the U.S. Embassy. The recent establishment of 
diplomatic relations reflects historic changes of the United States-
Vietnamese relations since the end of the Vietnam war in 1975 and the 
lifting of the embargo in 1994.
  I believe that with the normalization of relations between the two 
countries comes a great responsibility. Now, more than ever before, it 
is of critical importance we pay careful attention to the progression 
of developments.

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