[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 29, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H6514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ADOPT-A-VOICE OF CONSCIENCE IN VIETNAM

  (Ms. SANCHEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, a new struggle has started. It is the war 
against poverty, backwardness, and arbitrariness. In this new struggle, 
there can be only one winner, the nation and the people of Vietnam, and 
only one loser, the forces of dogmatism, arbitrariness, and 
backwardness. So wrote Professor Doan Viet Hoat in his essay entitled 
``The True Nature of Contemporary Vietnam.''
  After the article was circulated, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 
years in jail for attempting to overthrow the government. Professor 
Hoat's case is but one of the many similar instances of government 
persecution in Vietnam.
  For these reasons, the founding members of the Congressional Dialogue 
on Vietnam have established a campaign to bring attention to the human 
rights violations in Vietnam. We need to generate pressure for the 
release of all these prisoners from prison or house arrest.
  We need to focus public attention on Vietnam's repression against 
freedom of expression so that it becomes a part of the U.S. policy 
towards Communist Vietnam.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to participate in this 
campaign.

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