[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 5 (Tuesday, February 3, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              LAOTIAN GOVERNMENT SHOULD RELEASE PRISONERS

  (Mr. HUTCHINSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. Speaker, Jerry Canfield, long-time city attorney 
in Ft. Smith, and his wife Meg have been held in custody by the Laotian 
government since last Friday. They were arrested along with one other 
American and 40 Laotians.
  What was their crime? They were helping Laotians build water systems. 
But could it also be that they were peacefully assembling to exercise 
freedom of religion, freedoms that we in a democratic Nation exercise 
routinely?
  The Americans have been released, but what about the 40 Laotians who 
are still in custody? It is my hope and prayer that these Laotians will 
be released as well and that the Laotian government recognize that 
freedom works, not just in America but throughout the world.

                          ____________________