[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H10876-H10878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SHOWING COMMITMENT OF AMERICAN PEOPLE IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY AND 
  RELIGIOUS AND ECONOMIC FREEDOM FOR PEOPLE OF SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF 
                                VIETNAM

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree 
to the resolution (H. Res. 231) urging the President to make clear to 
the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the commitment of 
the American people in support of democracy and religious and economic 
freedom for the people of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 231

       Whereas the Department of State Country Reports on Human 
     Rights Practices for 1996 notes that the Government of the 
     Socialist Republic of Vietnam ``denied citizens the right to 
     change their government and significantly restricted freedom 
     of speech, the press, assembly, association, privacy, and 
     religion'';
       Whereas, since May 1997, non-violent demonstrations against 
     corruption and abuse of power at the local level have 
     occurred in Thai Binh Province and perhaps in Thanh Hoa, Hung 
     Yen, Nghe An, and Bien Hoa provinces as well;
       Whereas the criminal law of the Socialist Republic of 
     Vietnam is used to punish individuals who are critical of the 
     government, and on April 14, 1997, an administrative decree 
     was signed into law granting enhanced judicial powers to the 
     security forces to place under house arrest or subject to 
     reeducation camps, for up to two years, any civilians 
     expected of ``endangering national security'';
       Whereas the leaders of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 
     are seeking to expand trade relations with the United States;
       Whereas there is widespread discontent within the foreign 
     business community in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with 
     some companies pulling out entirely, others freezing new 
     investments, and nearly all complaining about endemic 
     corruption, intransigent bureaucracy, and a lack of clear 
     commitment to legitimate economic reform;
       Whereas, in August 1997, the United Nations Children's Fund 
     (UNICEF) reported that child labor exploitation is on the 
     rise in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with tens of 
     thousands of children under 15 years of age being exploited 
     for labor; and
       Whereas it is in the interest of the United States to 
     promote political and economic freedom throughout the world: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) urges the Government of the Socialist Republic of 
     Vietnam to release immediately and unconditionally all 
     political prisoners, including Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Prof. Doan 
     Viet Hoat, Venerable Thich Quang Do, Reverend Pham Minh Tri, 
     and evangelist To Dinh Trung, with full restoration of their 
     civil and human rights;
       (2) requests the President to make clear to the leadership 
     of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam--
       (A) the firm commitment of the American people to political 
     and religious and economic freedom for the people of the 
     Socialist Republic of Vietnam; and
       (B) the United States fully expects equal protection under 
     the law to all Vietnamese, regardless of religious belief, 
     political philosophy, or previous association; and
       (3) urges the Government of the Socialist Republic of 
     Vietnam--
       (A) to permit all political organizations in the Socialist 
     Republic of Vietnam to function without intimidation or 
     harassment; and
       (B) to announce a framework and timetable for free and fair 
     elections that will allow the Vietnamese people to peacefully 
     choose their local and national leaders.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Rohrabacher] and the gentleman from Florida [Mr. 
Hastings] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher].


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks on H.Res. 231.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. ROHRABACHER asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, this past Tuesday, on our Veterans Day, 
Vietnamese Communist Party officials in Hanoi confirmed that in the 
southern province of Dong Nai, 40 miles from Saigon, several thousand 
people have been involved with clashes, in clashes, with police. 
Hundreds of women and children have been demonstrating for freedom and 
human rights outside of government offices, despite a heavily armed 
police presence in the area.
  By all accounts, including a report by the Human Rights Watch 
organization, the clashes started when the Communist Government 
intensified repression against the Catholic Church and the popular 
bishop of the Xuan Loc Diocese. In addition, land owned by the church 
has been confiscated and sold by corrupt Communist Party officials.
  Demonstrations against the corrupt Communist regime have also been 
occurring in other areas of the country. In north Vietnam, beginning in 
May of this year, ongoing demonstrations in the Thai Binh Province and 
a number of other historic Communist Party strongholds show growing 
public dissatisfaction with the rampant corruption of that country and 
the lack of freedom of the Vietnamese people.
  Recently, new directives and proclamations by the Communist Politburo 
have tightened State control of all other forms of media and have 
restricted access to foreign journalists and their translators. The 
Human Rights Watch/Asia report states, while

[[Page H10877]]

the Vietnamese Government pursues an open door in terms of their 
economic policy and continues to woo foreign investments, domestically 
it is strengthening Communist Party control, repressing dissent, and 
stifling any development of a civil society.
  This resolution urges the President to ``make clear to the Government 
of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam the commitment of the American 
people in support of democracy and religious and economic freedom for 
the people of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.''
  This resolution calls attention to the proliferation of human rights 
violations and new policies by the Communist regime that prohibit the 
70 million people of Vietnam from achieving a democratic government 
through free and fair elections. It expresses the strong support of the 
House of Representatives in support of the rights of all Vietnamese, as 
well as for the release of all religious and political prisoners.
  The resolution requests the release from detention of Robert F. 
Kennedy Human Rights Award recipients Dr. Win Dan Kway and Prof. Dwon 
Viet Hwat, as well as other senior religious leaders who have been 
imprisoned by the regime.
  My resolution also calls attention to the difficulties that American 
business people are experiencing in Vietnam, caused by epidemic 
corruption, and that is exactly what we must expect in a one-party 
State, as well as the intransigent bureaucracy and the absence of 
enforceable business law. Of course they are going to have corruption 
in that situation.
  It is especially important at a time when Vietnamese leaders are 
seeking expanded trade relations with the United States that the 
President and the Congress make clear that, just as our stock market 
made a strong rebound in recent days from that downturn we experienced, 
that the foundation of a strong, resilient economy is an open and 
democratic society.
  It was not too long ago, Mr. Speaker, that people all over Asia were 
saying the next big jump in productivity, the next tiger in Southeast 
Asia, is going to be Vietnam. Now when you go to Southeast Asia and 
throughout the world and you ask people about Vietnam, they say it is 
never going to work, it never materialized, and it was a big nothing.
  Why is this? Why that happened is because there is a relationship, I 
repeat again there is a relationship, between freedom and peace and 
between freedom, peace and prosperity.
  In Vietnam, there was no freedom and there is no freedom. Thus, the 
prosperity that is desired by the people, and perhaps even by the 
Communist Party bosses themselves, is unobtainable. They cannot obtain 
prosperity as long as there is a lack of freedom, because without 
freedom of the press or an opposition party, corruption will run 
rampant.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California 
[Mr. Royce].
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my support for this 
resolution for which I am an original cosponsor. I would like to 
commend the work of my colleague, the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Rohrabacher], on this resolution. This resolution has been well crafted 
by the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, and we commend its 
chairman, the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter], with us today, 
and basically this resolution enjoys the strong support of the 
Committee on International Relations.
  It asks the administration to put pressure on Vietnam to improve its 
human rights record and move toward greater democracy. This is needed 
because while the Vietnamese Government has undertaken some economic 
reforms over the last few years, unfortunately it has not matched that 
record with political and human rights reforms.
  As my colleagues have noted, too many Vietnamese suffer from 
political and religious persecution. Faced with that, the United States 
needs to take a stand. This is an important and timely resolution. It 
is all the more critical we keep the focus on human rights as the 
administration has seen fit to improve relations with Hanoi.
  I believe this resolution reflects the democratic aspirations that 
the Vietnamese people have. It is a worthy resolution that deserves the 
support of this body.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Hamilton and those of us on the Democratic side 
support this resolution, and I certainly do, and I commend my 
distinguished colleague and friend from California [Mr. Rohrabacher] 
who is its principal author. This resolution restates our commitment to 
political, religious and economic freedom in Vietnam. It urges the 
Government of Vietnam to announce a framework and timetable for free 
and fair elections. It places the Congress of the United States 
squarely in support of political pluralism and personal freedom for the 
Vietnamese people.
  I urge my colleagues to show their support for these worthy 
aspirations by voting for this resolution.
  I will take a moment of personal parochial privilege to say that when 
this resolution is passed, and when the position of Congress and the 
executive branch of government are made known, much of the message will 
be carried by a former colleague of ours, Pete Peterson, who is from 
Florida, who not only understands the dynamics of being a prisoner, not 
only political, but a prisoner of war, and as Ambassador to Vietnam, I 
am certainly glad Pete is going to be there to help state our position.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is understandably proud of 
the past performance and the current performance of our former 
colleague, the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Peterson, as our Ambassador, 
and I understand the Floridian pride in him, but I would like to also 
mention he received his elementary and high school education in Omaha, 
Nebraska.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Cunningham], a hero of the Vietnam War and a hero of 
mine, I might add.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would make one correction: There is no 
such word as ``hero.'' You do what you have to do, and try to survive.
  I rise in support of this resolution. One of the most victorious 
things I think that has ever happened to me is we sponsor an art 
contest, like many of the Members. A young lady named Foo Lee, a 
Vietnamese refugee, won that contest. I found out that her mom had 
actually had to stay back while the whole family escaped in the boat, 
in a rickety old boat, which the picture was about. If you could see 
the picture, you would actually have tears in your eyes. You could see 
the pain in that family.
  It took us 2 years to get Foo Lee's mom out of a reeducation camp in 
Vietnam. She stayed behind, knowing that if the rest of the family was 
caught, they would be put into this reeducation camp, and not many 
people survive.
  After 2 years, on Christmas Eve, Foo Lee's mom came into San Diego. 
That is the kind of treatment that you can expect in Vietnam.
  I commend Pete Peterson, who asked me to come over just a couple 
months ago and raise the American flag over Ho Chi Minh City for the 
first time in many years, in about 25 years. Pete and I and a 
delegation did so with Hal Rogers.
  I want to tell you something. They are moving forward. As a matter of 
fact, I told the President of the Philippines this, that they are 
studying English. You see people on bicycles, carrying computers, they 
are studying economics, and they are going to move. Yet they are still 
repressed. It is still a Communist regime.
  For example, there are over 39 Americans in prison there. Our State 
Department cannot even be present while they are convicted and going 
through court. I don't know how many of you recently saw Richard Gere 
in the current movie in China. That is the type of environment that 
they still have.
  So this resolution is very, very important, I think, to send a clear 
message. We must engage, just like we do with China and Russia, but we 
need to send a loud and clear message.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from

[[Page H10878]]

Nebraska [Mr. Bereuter], and thank the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Cunningham], who still remains my hero.
  (Mr. BEREUTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I do rise in strong support of H. Res. 
231. I will be brief. I want to congratulate the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Rohrabacher] for his exceptional and dogged pursuit of 
human rights and economic freedom in Vietnam, and I am pleased to help 
expedite his resolution here.
  The resolution correctly notes that several provinces in Vietnam have 
experienced anticorruption protests in recent months, a phenomenon that 
is quite remarkable for Vietnam. This Member would suggest that these 
protests should be considered to be a good sign by Americans, for it is 
clear that a great many Vietnamese people have had enough of corrupt 
local bureaucrats siphoning off the wealth of the nation.
  This Member has also been informed that the protests have been 
sufficient to force the national government to deal with some of those 
corrupt officials. Certainly it will make it easier for U.S. 
businessmen to operate in Vietnam, and that is important, for this 
Member has heard several reports of numerous horror stories from U.S. 
business leaders about corruption in that country.
  The resolution of the gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher] 
rightly reaffirms U.S. support for political, religious and economic 
freedom in Vietnam and calls upon the government to permit free and 
fair elections where competing political parties are allowed to 
participate. These are basic freedoms that we can all support and we do 
support.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H. Res. 231.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute, just to 
summarize what this is all about.
  I think if someone was paying attention to the last several 
resolutions that have come to the floor, one will note that there is a 
relationship between them, and that is, since the end of the cold war 
and during the cold war, our country had its divisions and they 
reflected themselves within the political battles that were going on 
throughout our country during the elections, various elections that 
took place. But since the end of the cold war, there has been a 
unanimity of opinion in the United States and a coming together of both 
conservatives and liberals, of Republican and Democrat, behind those 
traditional values that our Founding Fathers wanted to be the basis of 
our decisionmaking.
  We are supposed to be on the side of the good guys. I mean, it is as 
simple as that. We should be on the side of the good guys. We should be 
on the side of the oppressed and those people who want more freedom and 
democracy and to treat people honestly and decently, and against the 
tyrants and the thugs of this world.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution goes to the heart of that. Whether it is 
Saddam Hussein or the dictatorship in Vietnam, we are on the side of 
democracy and human rights.
  I would ask my colleagues to join me in support of this resolution.
  Mr. DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice my strong support 
for House Resolution 231, the sense of Congress regarding Vietnam, 
which urges the President to make clear to the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam that we are committed to economic, religious, and political 
freedom for the people of Vietnam. As you know, the United States 
continues to open diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Because of the 
growing relationship the United States has with Vietnam, we must be 
concerned with its poor human rights record.
  May 9, 1997 was the third anniversary of Vietnam Human Rights Day 
here in the United States. However, current human rights' conditions in 
Vietnam are poor. For example, religious leaders and political 
dissidents are still being arrested and jailed. Dr. Doan Viet Hoat and 
Dr. Nguyen Dan Que are two, among many political prisoners with serious 
medical conditions who are held in harsh conditions with little, if 
any, access to medical care.
  Despite prohibitions on physical abuse, there is evidence that 
security officials beat detainees as well as use threats and other 
psychological coercion to elicit false confessions. The Vietnamese 
Government denies citizens the right to change their government and 
significantly restricts freedom of speech, the press, assembly, 
association, privacy, and religion. Vietnamese citizens are generally 
prohibited from contacting international human rights organizations.
  Vietnam is currently negotiating a trade agreement with our 
Government to seek MFN status and privileges associated with Overseas 
Private Investment Corporation [OPIC]. In January 1997, the United 
States and Vietnam agreed on implementing the resettlement opportunity 
for Vietnamese returnees program allowing the United States to 
interview some of the Vietnamese returned from camps in Southeast Asia. 
However, this is not enough.
  Child labor and human rights abuses are on the rise as well as the 
suppression of freedom of thought, speech, religion, press, and 
assembly. The Vietnamese-American community in my congressional 
district supports House Resolution 231. We believe that fair and open 
democratic elections, equal protection of all Vietnamese citizens, and 
the release of all political prisoners are basic and necessary steps 
beyond normalization.
  Since this resolution is crucial to these objectives, I urge all of 
my colleagues to support House Resolution 231.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Rohrabacher for 
introducing this resolution urging the President to make it clear to 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that America is committed to 
democracy, economic and religious freedom for the people of Vietnam.
  Freedom is not bound by history or geography. Just as our forefathers 
said, people have certain inalienable rights. Democracy and basic civil 
liberties are not eastern or western--they are universal.
  Regrettably, today, the people of Vietnam are not afforded these 
basic liberties. This Nation has a moral imperative to foster freedom 
and democracy and oppose tyranny wherever it appears--this legislation 
expresses that sentiment.
  I support this resolution and call upon my colleagues to do so as 
well.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Snowbarger). All time has expired.
  The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Rohrabacher] that the House suspend the rules and agree 
to the resolution, House Resolution 231, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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