[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 11, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2761-H2765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT OF SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM TO RELEASE 
                     FATHER THADDEUS NGUYEN VAN LY

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 378) calling on the 
Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately and 
unconditionally release Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 378

       Whereas in February 2001, Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, a 
     Roman Catholic priest was formally invited to testify before 
     the United States Commission on International Religious 
     Freedom but was denied permission to leave the Socialist 
     Republic of Vietnam and thus, instead, submitted written 
     testimony critical of Vietnam which was read into the 
     Commission record on February 13, 2001;
       Whereas Father Ly's testimony before the Commission 
     documents numerous specific actions of the Government of 
     Vietnam against religious freedom which he classified as 
     collectively being ``extremely cruel'' and requiring a ``non-
     violent and persistent campaign'' to achieve full religious 
     freedom for all people in Vietnam;
       Whereas Father Ly has been detained by the Government of 
     Vietnam since February 2001, when it placed Father Ly under 
     administrative detention--as a direct response to his 
     testimony, branding him a traitor for ``slandering'' the 
     Communist party and ``distorting'' the religious policy of 
     the Government of Vietnam;
       Whereas the Government of Vietnam issued a second decree 
     suspending Father Ly's ability to ``carry on any religious 
     responsibility and functions'' and later formally removed 
     Father Ly from his church, detained him, and denied him 
     access to adequate legal counsel;
       Whereas on October 19, 2001, the Thua Thien Hue Provincial 
     People's Court convicted Father Ly of all charges after a one 
     day, closed trial, without the benefit of counsel and 
     sentenced him to two years in prison for violating the terms 
     of his administrative detention, thirteen years in prison for 
     ``damaging the Government's unity policy'', and 5 years of 
     administrative probation upon release from prison;
       Whereas after pleas from United States Government officials 
     and the world community Father Ly's sentence was reduced by 5 
     years;
       Whereas in June 2001, Father Ly's nephews Nguygen Vu Viet, 
     age 27, and Nguyen Truc Cuong, age 36, and his niece Nguyen 
     Thi Hoa, age 44, were arrested for allegedly being in contact 
     and receiving support from organizations in the United States 
     concerning the religious situation in Vietnam and 
     disseminating information concerning the detention of Father 
     Ly;
       Whereas after their cases generated much concern in 
     Congress, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Nguyen Vu Viet and Nguyen Truc 
     Cuong all have been or are expected to be released shortly;
       Whereas on November 27, 2003, the United Nations Working 
     Group on Arbitrary Detention issued Opinion No. 20/2003 
     stating ``the Group is convinced that [Father Ly] has been 
     arrested and detained only for his opinions . . . [and] the 
     deprivation of the liberty of Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly 
     is arbitrary, as being in contravention of Article 19 of the 
     Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of Article 19 of 
     the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights'';
       Whereas Father Ly has been deprived of his basic human 
     rights by being denied his ability to exercise freedom of 
     opinion and expression; and
       Whereas the arbitrary imprisonment and the violation of the 
     human rights of citizens of Vietnam are sources of 
     continuing, grave concern to Congress;
       Whereas continuing concerns regarding human rights in 
     Vietnam were recently highlighted by large demonstrations in 
     the Central Highlands on April 10 and 11, 2004, in which 
     thousands of Montagnards gathered on Easter weekend to 
     protest their treatment by the Government of Vietnam, 
     including the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing 
     restrictions on religious activities; and
       Whereas although the Government of Vietnam has attempted to 
     control information about the April 2004 protests and access 
     to the Central Highlands, reputable human rights 
     organizations have reported that the protests were met with a 
     violent response and that many demonstrators were arrested, 
     injured, or are in hiding, and that others were killed: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That--
       (1) Congress--
       (A) condemns and deplores the arbitrary detention of Father 
     Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly by the Government of the Socialist 
     Republic of Vietnam and calls for his immediate and 
     unconditional release;
       (B) condemns and deplores the violations of freedom of 
     speech, religion, movement, association, and the lack of due 
     process afforded to individuals in Vietnam;
       (C) strongly urges the Government of Vietnam to consider 
     the implications of its actions for the broader relationship 
     between the United States and the Socialist Republic of 
     Vietnam, including the impact on trade relations;
       (D) urges the Government of Vietnam to allow unfettered 
     access to the Central Highlands by foreign diplomats, the 
     international press, and nongovernmental organizations; and
       (E) condemns the extent of the violence used against 
     Montagnard protesters on April 10 and 11, 2004, and the use 
     of any violence against peaceful protests and demonstrations; 
     and
       (2) it is the sense of Congress that the United States--
       (A) should make the immediate release of Father Ly a top 
     concern;
       (B) should continue to urge the Government of Vietnam to 
     comply with internationally recognized standards for basic 
     freedoms and human rights;
       (C) should make it clear to the Government of Vietnam that 
     the detention of Father Ly and other persons and the 
     infliction of human rights violations on these individuals 
     are not in the interest of Vietnam because they create 
     obstacles to improved bilateral relations and cooperation 
     with the United States; and
       (D) should reiterate the deep concern of the United States 
     regarding the continued imprisonment of Father Ly, and other 
     persons whose human rights are being violated, and discuss 
     their legal status and immediate humanitarian needs with the 
     Government of Vietnam.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Government of Vietnam likes to say that Vietnam is a 
country, not a war. It is a catchy little self-evident phrase that some 
Members of Congress picked up during the bilateral trade agreement 
debate, as if to suggest that the debate was somehow about the Vietnam 
War, which it was not, instead of Vietnam's shameful present-day human 
rights record, which it was.
  Of course Vietnam is a country, to which I respond: behave like an 
honorable country. Live up to their word as a signatory to numerous 
human rights covenants, including the international covenant on 
political and civil rights. Stop bringing dishonor and shame to their 
government by abusing their own people.
  Mr. Speaker, according to the U.S. State Department report, the 
``Report on Human Rights Practices for 2003'': ``The Government's human 
rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit serious 
abuses.'' Rather than repress and jail, harass, intimidate, and 
torture, the government should recognize and reflect the innate 
goodness of the Vietnamese people, a kind, gentle, compassionate people 
who deserve better, much better.
  Take the case of Father Ly. In February 2001, Father Thaddeus Nguyen 
Van Ly submitted written testimony to the United States Commission on 
International Religious Freedom for a hearing at which he was invited 
to testify. He was not able to testify in person, but submitted written 
testimony which I will include in its entirety in the Record.
  Because this brave Catholic priest told the truth, spoke the truth to 
power, the Government of Vietnam persecuted and cruelly mistreated him;

[[Page H2762]]

and he is now serving a 10-year prison sentence, and he has been in 
prison for 3 of those years. Amnesty International calls Father Ly a 
prisoner of conscience, and even the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention has condemned his detention.
  I think it is worth focusing just for a moment on his testimony, 
which was incisive and compelling; and I quote it in part: ``Since 
their victory of April 30, 1975,'' Father Ly wrote, ``the Vietnamese 
Communists have extended its oppressive policy toward the different 
religions of South Vietnam. Laws and decrees have been promulgated to 
confine, restrict, or ban religious activities. The government has 
falsely accused clergy members and lay people as a pretext to detain 
and imprison those who protest its oppressive policy, or those who 
teach catechism, lead a church choir, or join a seminary. They have 
been banished to concentration camps for years. This policy has been 
ongoing,'' he writes, ``for nearly 50 years.
  ``The government has used many ruses,'' he continues to write, ``to 
divide and politicize the Cao Dai, Catholic and Protestant Churches; to 
split the Buddhist Church in two, the Unified Buddhist Church of 
Vietnam and the Buddhist Church of Vietnam; and to set up the puppet 
Hoa Hao Buddhist Committee of Representatives, which consists of mainly 
Communist cadres, to claim leadership over 5 million Hoa Hao Buddhists. 
The government has requisitioned for its arbitrary use numerous 
facilities and properties belonging to different Churches.''
  Father Ly continues to write: ``With regard to the Catholic Church, 
the Communists have severely restricted her fundamental rights,'' and 
he points out and lays out some 10 different instances, including the 
fact that the government still keeps many priests, clergy members, and 
lay people in prison or under house arrest.
  Father Ly continues to say: ``Faced with this extremely cruel policy 
of the Vietnamese Communist Government to strangle religions, the 
Churches in Vietnam have unceasingly demanded religious freedom. Their 
nonviolent and persistent campaign will continue until the Vietnamese 
people have full religious freedom, which anyone else in the civilized 
world has.''

                              {time}  1630

  This campaign has, as he points out, the following objectives. This 
is number one. This is Father Ly's testimony:
  ``Number one: the government must fully respect the right of all 
citizens to true religious freedom and the right of churches to select, 
train and appoint their own priests, clergy members and dignitaries. 
The government must stop its practice of listing the religious 
affiliation of citizens on their identity cards and personal documents 
so that no citizen be discriminated against and be able to freely 
practice his or her faith.
  ``Number two,'' Father Ly writes: ``The government must return all 
facilities and properties it has confiscated or requisitioned from the 
churches, even when the documentary evidence of ownership was lost in 
the war if local people can confirm the rightful ownership of these 
facilities.
  ``Number three: the government must abandon the ruses and schemes it 
has used to oppress and destroy religions. Its interference in church 
affairs must cease. Committees created by the government but dressed up 
as religious institutions in order to serve the government's anti-
religion policy must be disbanded.
  ``Number four: the government must unconditionally release all clergy 
members, priests, officials and dignitaries of the churches and lay 
people who are currently in prison or under administrative detention 
because of their faith.
  ``Number five: the government must fully respect every and each 
article of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of 
which the Vietnamese Communist Government became a signatory on 
September 24, 1982.''
  Finally, Father Ly writes, ``However, for as long as the Vietnamese 
Communists keep their dogmatic and totalitarian rule and disregard the 
fundamental freedoms of the people as I have presented above,'' he goes 
on to say, ``by trading with Vietnam the U.S. and other countries only 
strengthen the Communists' grips on power.''
  Again, I would like his full statement read by Members, because it is 
a very strong and compelling bit of testimony.
  These are the words of Father Ly. He is now in prison 3 years of a 
10-year prison term.
  The resolution we are considering today, Mr. Speaker, has over 100 
cosponsors and I believe, we believe, will send a strong message to the 
leaders of Hanoi to free Father Ly and that the ongoing systematic 
abuses of human rights must cease and that they will not be tolerated.
  H. Con. Res. 378 also condemns, and this amendment we are offering 
with the language today, the brutal crackdown against the Montagnard. 
Largely ignored by the American press, Vietnam crushed thousands of 
Montagnard in the Central Highlands on April 10 and 11. In classic 
dictatorship style and brutality, many Montagnard, who were protesting 
the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing restrictions on religious 
activities, were beaten and there are reports that some were killed. 
This comes on the heels of another brutal crackdown against the 
Montagnard in December of 2001 that has resulted in the closing of over 
400 churches.
  I would just point out to my colleagues that there are also attempts 
to coerce people to renounce their faith, renunciation of faith. 
According to Ambassador John Hanford, our Ambassador At Large For 
Religious Freedom, there are approximately 100,000 Montagnards who were 
pressured to renounce their faith. I am happy to say that most 
resisted, but 100,000 within the last few months and years have been 
pressured to say ``no'' to their faith in Christ.
  H. Con. Res. 378 also urges the government of Vietnam to allow 
unfettered access to the Central Highlands, where all of this is going 
on, by foreign diplomats, the international press and nongovernmental 
organizations, and condemns the extent of the violence used against, as 
I said, the Montagnard protestors.
  Mr. Speaker, finally, human rights have gotten worse, not better, 
since the Bilateral Trade Agreement with Vietnam of 2001. We must not 
remain silent while the government of Vietnam continues to persecute 
religious and political dissidents and ethnic minorities. As a matter 
of fact, I believe strongly that Vietnam should be branded a Country of 
Particular Concern, a CPC country, pursuant to the provisions of the 
International Religious Freedom Act.
  We care deeply, Democrats and Republicans, Mr. Speaker. We care 
deeply about the people of Vietnam and respect and honor their 
legitimate aspirations to be free. Why does not Hanoi?
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the written testimony of 
Reverend Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly before the U.S. Commission on 
International Religious Freedom.

                Testimony of Rev. Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly

       Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor to be perhaps the 
     first Vietnamese Roman Catholic priest living under a 
     communist regime to testify before your Commission at a 
     location that represents the ideals of democracy. I would 
     like to send my greetings of the New Millennium to you and to 
     the people of the United States.
       In the opening statement of the Declaration of Independence 
     of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945, 
     Ho Chi Minh tried to win your nation's support by solemnly 
     quoting the second paragraph of Declaration of Independence 
     of the United States: ``All men are created equal. They are 
     endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, 
     that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
     happiness.''
       In less than 250 years since her independence, your country 
     has become the shining example of freedom and independence--
     anyone who wants to know what freedom and independence are 
     only needs to visit your country and her people.
       As an eyewitness living in Communist Vietnam for more than 
     25 years, I would like to boldly and frankly present my ideas 
     on three issues as your invitation letter has suggested.


   i. the realities of the religions in vietnam in the new millennium

       In order to achieve independence, liberty and happiness for 
     the Vietnamese people, Ho Chi Minh chose Communism. This is a 
     fundamental contradiction because Communism calls for a 
     dictatorial regime that does not tolerate the concept of true 
     liberty. Freedom of religion will be absent for as long as 
     the Vietnamese government hangs on to its Communist ideology.
       Since their victory of April 30, 1975, the Vietnamese 
     Communists have extended its oppressive policy toward the 
     different religions

[[Page H2763]]

     to South Vietnam. Laws and decrees have been promulgated to 
     confine, restrict, or ban religious activities. The 
     government has falsely accused clergy members and lay people 
     as a pretext to detain and imprison those who protest its 
     oppressive policy, or those who teach catechism, lead a 
     church choir, or join a seminary. They are banished to 
     concentration camps for years. This policy has been on-going 
     for nearly 50 years (from 1954 to 2001).
       The government has used many ruses to divide and politicize 
     the Cao Dai, Catholic and Protestant Churches; to split the 
     Buddhist Church in two--the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam 
     (UBCV) and the Buddhist Church of Vietnam (BCV); and to set 
     up the puppet Hoa Hao Buddhist Committee of Representatives, 
     which consists of mainly Communist cadres, to claim 
     leadership over five million Hoa Hoa Buddhists. The 
     government has requisitioned for its arbitrary use numerous 
     facilities and properties belonging to the different 
     Churches.
       With regard to the Catholic Church, the communists have 
     severely restricted her fundamental rights. The many 
     petitions issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of 
     Vietnam (CBCV) since 1980 have unmasked the Government's 
     policy. This I have analyzed in my Ten-Point Proclamation 
     released on November 24, 1994 and the follow-up proclamation 
     dated November 24, 2000, which I have sent to your 
     Commission. Following is the summary of the points made in 
     those two statements.
       1. The Vietnamese Communists have brutally interfered with 
     CBCV's authority to organize its annual Pastoral Assembly: 
     the Bishops must apply for permission to organize and the 
     Assembly's agenda must be pre-examined by the Government. 
     After the Assembly, the minutes must be submitted to the 
     Government. All reports from the Assembly must be vetted by 
     the Government before they can be released to the Catholic 
     community and the public.
       2. The Vietnamese communists have brutally interfered with 
     CBCV's authority to appoint bishops and ordain of priests. 
     The Holy See had to negotiate with the Vietnamese Government 
     for years on each bishop appointment. The Government often 
     rejects candidates selected by the Church and only accepts 
     those they are pleased with. The Government counts on The 
     Vatican having to yield eventually so as to prevent excessive 
     harm to dioceses facing extended absence of a bishop. The 
     dioceses of Hung Hoa, Hai Phong, and Bui Chu . . . have not 
     had a bishop for more than eight years and The Vatican is not 
     allowed to appoint any.
       Anyone intending to join a seminary of any candidate for 
     priesthood elected by the Church must have the approval of 
     and their background examined by the Public Security Police. 
     These candidates must prove their docility and show no sign 
     of resisting the regime. The police give special preference 
     to those agreeing to serve as informants for the Government 
     within the seminary. An applicant's chance would increase if 
     he can afford to bribe the authorities. Applicants having 
     family members who worked for defunct Republic of Vietnam or 
     holding nonconformist views stand no chance of being approved 
     for admission into a seminary or priesthood regardless of 
     their qualifications and moral virtues and regardless of the 
     Church's support. I know many young men who have repeatedly 
     passed the Church-administered entrance exam with top scores 
     but have not been approved for admission into any seminary. 
     Any bishop intending to ordain a seminarian into priesthood 
     or to assign a priest to a mission must ask for permission 
     and negotiate with the Government in a protracted process, 
     which in some cases has taken nearly 20 years without 
     results. The approval criteria imposed by the Government has 
     nothing to do with the moral quality that the Church requires 
     of candidates for priesthood. As a result, the number of 
     newly ordained priests has drastically decreased and is 
     currently insufficient to meet the Church's pastoral needs. 
     Aging priests die or retire without successors. Many priests 
     in rural regions have to minister more than ten parishes, all 
     distant from each other. There is hardly normal religious 
     life in these parishes. It is very difficult for priests to 
     change their residence for new assignments.
       3. Groups of faithful in new economic zones or in remote 
     areas are anxious to have mass for Christmas and Easter each 
     year but their most basic spiritual need is rarely met. The 
     atheist Government wants these people not to think of 
     religion, which it considers harmful and dangerous.
       4. A Mass that brings together the faithful from different 
     places and priests desiring to say mass in places other than 
     their usual assigned location must have prior government 
     permission.
       5. The Government still keeps many priests, clergy members, 
     and lay people in prison or under house arrest. (Committee 
     for Religious Freedom in Vietnam has made this list available 
     to your Commission.)
       6. The Government brutally violates the Church's freedom of 
     the press. No local or national publication of the Church is 
     allowed. As a result, The Church cannot fulfill 
     its evangelical duties. Before 1975, there were more than 
     a dozen Catholic newspapers and magazines in South 
     Vietnam. Today there are only two weekly magazines, Cong 
     Giao & Dan Toc (The Catholics & The People) and Nguoi Cong 
     Giao Viet Nam (The Vietnamese Catholics), which are 
     created and financed by the Government. CBCV's only 
     publication is the newsletter Ban Tin Hiep Thong (The 
     Communion News), of which the first six issues were 
     ``illegal.'' The Government gave the Church temporary 
     permission to publish issues 7-9 from February to 
     September 2000. In October 2000, the government rescinded 
     its permission and discontinued this only publication of 
     The Church. There is no freedom of speech in my country. 
     Churches of course have none. This kind of statement that 
     I am presenting to you cannot be circulated in Vietnam 
     because no photocopying store or printing shop would dare 
     to reproduce it. Nobody dares to keep it, fearing for his 
     own life and the safety of his family. Those who dare must 
     be prepared for martyrdom. In fact, on February 7 the 
     public security police searched two of my assistants and 
     found a floppy disk containing a draft of this statement. 
     These two brave young men were detained overnight at the 
     police station for extensive questioning.
       7. The Government forces all students from all grades and 
     in college to study and love Socialism while in fact nobody 
     likes to teach or study it. Only the three million communist 
     party members and the five million members of the Communist 
     League of Youth should study this ideology if they still 
     believe in it. Forcing the entire Vietnamese nation to study 
     a bankrupt ideology that has caused them so much suffering is 
     outright unconscionable.
       8. The Communist Government has, since 1954 in North 
     Vietnam and since 1975 in South Vietnam, seized or 
     requisitioned thousands upon thousands of Church facilities 
     used for education, charity, and medical service. 
     Consequently the Church has no means to train seminarians, 
     providing education and human services to the poor, the sick, 
     the handicapped and the orphans, and it is extremely 
     difficult for Church members to deliver service in a 
     government facility. For example, the Pius X Papal Institute 
     in Da Lat, run by the Jesuits, had been an outstanding 
     college for priesthood formation until its confiscation in 
     1976 by the Government, which turned it into a training 
     school for Communist cadres. The Hoan Thien Minor Seminary at 
     11 Dong Da, Hue, offering high school-level training to 
     seminarians, was taken by force by the Government in December 
     1979; all three priests teaching at the seminary and more 
     than 80 seminarians were evicted. These are but a few 
     examples.
       Faced with this extremely cruel policy of the Vietnamese 
     Communist Government to strangle religions, the Churches in 
     Vietnam have unceasingly demanded religious freedom. Their 
     non-violent and persistent campaign will continue until the 
     Vietnamese people have full religious freedom, which anyone 
     else in the civilized world has. This campaign has the 
     following objectives.
       1. The Government must fully respect the right of all 
     citizens to true religious freedom and the right of Churches 
     to select, train, and appoint their own priests, clergy 
     members and dignitaries. The Government must stop its 
     practice of listing the religious affiliation of citizens on 
     their identity cards and personal documents so that no 
     citizen will be discriminated against and be able to freely 
     practice his or her faith.
       2. The Government must return all facilities and properties 
     it has confiscated or requisitioned from the Churches, even 
     when documentary evidence of ownership was lost in the war if 
     local people can confirm the rightful owner of these 
     facilities and properties.
       3. The Government must abandon the ruses and schemes it has 
     used to oppress and destroy religions. Its interference in 
     Church affairs must cease. Committees created by the 
     government but dressed up as religious institutions in order 
     to serve the Government's antireligion policy must be 
     disbanded.
       4. The Government must unconditionally release all clergy 
     members, priests, officials and dignitaries of the Churches 
     and lay people who are currently in prison or under 
     administrative detention because of their faith.
       5. The Government must fully respect every and each article 
     of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 
     of which the Vietnamese Communist Government became a 
     signatory on September 24, 1982.


   ii. effects of the bilateral trade agreement on human rights and 
                      religious freedom in vietnam

       I am only a priest, not a specialist in economics and 
     politics. I speak as a Vietnamese citizen with a deep love 
     for my country and my people.
       Vietnam needs the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) for her 
     economic development. In principle I dearly want my country 
     to have the trust of other countries, among them the United 
     States, so that my country may achieve prosperity and my 
     people may have a better life and fully realize their 
     potentials.
       However, for as long as the Vietnamese Communists keep 
     their dogmatic and totalitarian rule and disregard the 
     fundamental freedoms of the people as I have presented above, 
     by trading with Vietnam the United States and other countries 
     would only strengthen the Communists' grips on power; the BTA 
     may end up benefiting only the governing minority while 
     prolonging the suffering of the entire people; the vast 
     majority of the common people like us may at best receive 
     small crumbs trickling down from the top but in return must 
     endure our fate of the exploited and disenfranchised for so 
     much longer.
       In regard to the ratification of the BTA, I urgently warn 
     the US Congress not to trust

[[Page H2764]]

     the Vietnamese Communists' promise of good faith. The United 
     States and many other countries have had bitter experiences 
     dealing with their broken promises in the past.
       The Vietnamese Communists have signed many international 
     accords and agreements on human rights but have never 
     intended to respect them. Their intention is to deceive the 
     international community. For example, Vietnam became 
     signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and 
     Political Rights in 1982 but does not abide by Articles 18 
     and 19 of this covenant which call for the respect for the 
     freedoms of thought, speech, and religion. If international 
     human rights institutions allow themselves to fall victim to 
     such deception, they will contribute to the following dire 
     consequences: (1) the Vietnamese Government will exploit 
     their signing the document to falsely claim that there are 
     human rights in Vietnam; (2) these international 
     institutions will lose their credibility as they prove to 
     be so easily deceived; and (3) these institutions 
     unknowingly prolong the Communist oppression of the 
     Vietnamese people--this in fact constitutes a major crime 
     against my people.
       Therefore, if the United States and other countries truly 
     sympathize with my ill-fated people and truly care about 
     human rights, especially the right to religious freedom, of 
     the Vietnamese people, you must not help the Communist 
     Government prolong its totalitarian rule. Instead, the United 
     States and other countries should suspend all agreements 
     harmful to the Vietnamese people and do everything in your 
     capacity to put pressure on the Vietnamese Government to 
     allow freedom and democracy to dawn on our country.


iii. what can be done to help improve freedom of religion in Vietnam in 
                  the near term, and in the long term?

       The Vietnamese Communists have idolized Ho Chi Minh, 
     turning him into a ``god'' and creating a new religion 
     revolving around him. The Communist Government wants to 
     suppress all other religions and replace them with this new 
     religion in order to unify the Vietnamese people behind it. 
     In fact, Ho Chi Minh had made significant contributions to 
     our national struggle for independence but at the same time 
     had committed serious crimes against the Vietnamese people. 
     One basic endeavor that the international community needs to 
     undertake is to unravel the harmful myths woven by the 
     Communists around this historical figure.
       In the short term, the United States and other countries 
     should help the Churches in Vietnam achieve greater 
     independence from the government, should show by example how 
     freedom of religion is respected in the free world, and 
     should expose the oppression that the Vietnamese Government 
     has imposed on the Churches. At first, the Vietnamese 
     Communists may feel that such independence would clash with 
     its totalitarian power but with time it may realize that the 
     power to control and interfere with Church affairs, such as 
     the appointment of priests, should have never been theirs to 
     start with.
       The Vietnamese people will not enjoy religious freedom for 
     as long as the Communist regime remains in place. Therefore 
     if the United States and other countries truly desire to see 
     the return of religious freedom to the Vietnamese people, 
     they will need to create favorable conditions for the early 
     demise of the Communist regime.
       Ladies and gentlemen,
       This is a precious opportunity to speak on behalf of my 
     people, of the different Churches, and of the Catholic Church 
     in particular. I would like to extend my gratitude to you, to 
     the U.S. Congress, and the American people, including some 
     two million Vietnamese-Americans, for having given me such an 
     opportunity.
       May God bless you, your families, your colleagues, the 
     American people, and your beautiful country. Thank you.

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, first I want to commend my good friend, the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), for his leadership on Vietnam human rights 
issues and, indeed, on being the most indefatigable and passionate 
advocate of human rights in this body.
  As the political security and economic relationship between the 
United States and Vietnam become increasingly complex, we must never 
forget the continued absence of internationally recognized human rights 
in Vietnam.
  Mr. Speaker, Father Ly, the subject of this resolution, is a 
Vietnamese Catholic priest. Three years ago, he was invited by the 
International Religious Freedom Commission to give testimony related to 
religious freedom in Vietnam. Since the Vietnamese Government denied 
Father Ly permission to leave his country, he submitted written 
testimony for the record. In this testimony, Father Ly outlined the 
lack of religious freedom in Vietnam and urged his fellow Vietnamese 
citizens to continue to struggle, nonviolently, for their rights.
  He was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison after a 1-day 
closed trial in which he was denied adequate legal counsel. Father Ly 
was convicted of slandering the Communist Party and distorting the 
religious policy of the government of Vietnam.
  Subsequently, Mr. Speaker, the United Nations Working Group stated 
that Father Ly was arrested and detained only for his opinions, and the 
deprivation of the liberty of Father Ly is arbitrary and contravenes 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
  Mr. Speaker, as we meet here today, Father Ly continues to remain in 
prison because he had the courage of his convictions and he refused to 
whitewash the continued lack of religious freedom in Vietnam. Our 
resolution urges his immediate release from prison, a call for justice 
long overdue.
  It is my strong hope that the Vietnamese Government will receive this 
wake-up call through the passage of our resolution. While large numbers 
of Vietnamese Catholics continue to attend services each Sunday, the 
Vietnamese Government prohibits the church from training enough priests 
to meet the growing demand for clerics. The Vietnamese Government has 
also refused to compensate the church fully for expropriated church 
property, and it prohibits the church from expanding its activities to 
help the poor in Vietnam.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to show their concern about 
the continued unjust imprisonment of Father Ly and the lack of 
religious freedom in Vietnam by supporting strongly our resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Cox), the 
chairman of the Select Committee on Homeland Security.
  Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, we are here on the floor to demand of the communist 
government of Vietnam that Father Ly immediately be released, 
unconditionally. Father Ly's only offense is that he is a Catholic 
priest who sought to minister to the spiritual needs of his countrymen 
and countrywomen in Vietnam. For this offense, he has been in prison 
for the last 3 years, and the communist government of Vietnam expects 
that he will serve the full decade of his sentence.
  This is, of course, an affront to human rights. It is also an affront 
to the United States, because it was the U.S. Commission on 
International Religious Freedom that solicited Father Ly's testimony. 
They asked that Father Ly testify in person. He was willing to do so; 
but, of course, the communist government of Vietnam forbade him from 
doing so. So Father Ly then submitted written testimony, and it is on 
the basis of that written testimony that he was convicted. That is why 
he is now in jail.
  Never has there been a clearer path from freedom to imprisonment than 
in this case. We can read the entirety of his offense. What he said, in 
response to questions from the United States, is that there is not 
religious freedom in Vietnam. He said that the government of Vietnam 
had stripped all churches of their independence and freedom. For 
speaking this truth, Father Ly is now expected to spend a decade in a 
communist prison.
  It was 1 month after he wrote this testimony and sent it to the 
United States that he was arrested. Indeed, he was arrested while he 
was saying mass. He was on the alter before a congregation. Six hundred 
policemen of the Vietnamese communist government surrounded the church, 
stormed it, and dragged him off. Of course, the Vietnamese Government 
provided him no legal representation, no consultation whatsoever; and 
not surprisingly, on October 19 of that same year, Father Thaddeus 
Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced to this seemingly indefinite time in 
prison, 15 years originally. He has already spent 3 years. Now he is 
going to get a 10-year sentence.
  Father Ly is no stranger to repression at the hands of the Vietnamese

[[Page H2765]]

dictatorship. Since 1977, the government has repeatedly harassed him, 
repeatedly arrested him, and repeatedly jailed him for his advocacy of 
religious freedom.
  So the Congress today calls for the immediate and unconditional 
release of Father Ly. But we also recognize that he is not alone. He 
represents the struggle of all of those citizens of Vietnam who are 
fighting for freedom and for democracy.
  Another piece of legislation to address that struggle is the Vietnam 
Human Rights Act, H.R. 1587, which I hope the House will soon consider. 
This legislation will prohibit nonhumanitarian assistance to the 
government of Vietnam, it will support the efforts of human rights and 
democracy advocates there, and it will help us work to overcome the 
government's jamming of Radio Free Asia and their Vietnamese broadcast. 
It will help resettle refugees and require an annual State Department 
report on the progress towards freedom and democracy in Vietnam, or the 
lack of it.
  This resolution that is before us today, of which I am an initial 
cosponsor, is, therefore, a call to action. It is a call, of course, 
upon the Vietnamese Government to act; but it is also our call to 
action. The Vietnamese Government and other dictatorships around the 
globe must come to realize that oppression does not go unnoticed, that 
the Congress and the President will continue to fight for those like 
Father Ly who seek meaningful change in their country.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very, very proud to join the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Chairman Smith) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) 
in supporting this resolution, and I am very proud of the stands for 
human rights that this Congress will soon take.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to my 
good friend and distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez), a champion of human rights.
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
strong support of H. Con. Res. 378, a resolution which calls for the 
immediate and unconditional release of Catholic Father and human rights 
champion Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly. I thank my colleague, the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), for bringing this resolution to the floor. 
I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the bill, and I am proud to 
work with him on the bipartisan Vietnam Caucus.
  On this day, the 10th anniversary of Vietnam Human Rights Day and the 
14th anniversary of the Vietnamese Manifesto of Nonviolent Movement For 
Human Rights, there can be nothing more appropriate action for this 
Congress than to pass this resolution about Father Ly. Why would that 
be? Well, we as Members of the United States Congress have a special 
responsibility, for, you see, it was testimony to this Congress, to 
this Nation, that Father Ly gave us that put him behind bars.

                              {time}  1645

  In fact, we brought forward that testimony in a human rights caucus 
hearing on religious freedoms in Vietnam, or, should I say, the lack of 
religious freedom in Vietnam. So we have a particular responsibility to 
let the world know and to put pressure on the Vietnamese Government 
with respect to Father Ly's incarceration.
  In reaction to Father Ly's defense of human rights and his 
pronouncements on the need for religious freedom and nonviolent 
resistance, the Government of Vietnam branded him a traitor, a traitor, 
and prohibited him from carrying out his religious duties as a priest 
and sentenced him to 10 years of prison for ``damaging the government's 
unit policy.''
  The imprisonment of Father Ly is not only a violation of the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights, it is a direct attack on each and every 
one of us who value human rights.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, and I thank the 
gentleman from California for being such a strong supporter of human 
rights in the world, and I urge my colleagues to support this important 
resolution.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Akin), and I thank him for 
his support on human rights in general and human rights in Vietnam in 
particular.
  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be able to join my 
colleagues today and to add my support for House Concurrent Resolution 
378 calling for the immediate and unconditional release of father 
Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly.
  Father Ly has peacefully campaigned for more than 30 years for 
religious freedom in his country, and he has called on the officials of 
that nation of Vietnam to allow churches to appoint their own 
leadership and to stop listing people's religious affiliation on their 
I.D. card, and to return property that was confiscated from the 
churches to those particular denominations and faiths.
  Now, recently, Father Ly, as we have heard, has been sentenced to 15 
years of solitary confinement, a very serious sentence, for merely 
advocating people having the right for free religious expression. That 
sentence has been mitigated by 5 years, still a 10-year sentence. In 
the brief time that he had to speak to his own family, he made the 
following statement: ``My duty and my conscience required me to fight 
for the freedom of our church. If I had realized those terrifying 
situations for our church and had not done anything, I would have been 
guilty before God. Now I think I have accomplished my duty, I do not 
feel sorry for myself.''
  Father Ly, though he lives on the other side of the world, is in a 
sense a brother of each of ours. This is a personal affront that the 
Government of Vietnam has stood against those people who have the 
courage to allow people to express their own personal consciences.
  It is particularly appropriate in this Chamber and at this time for 
us to recall the words of Madison on the subject of property. When 
property was discussed by our founders, they did not think so much of a 
piece of land or even of possession, but they thought of the property 
first and foremost and closest to the heart of all true lovers of 
freedom: It was the property of our own convictions, the property of 
our own soul, the property to be able to express our opinion and our 
devotion to whichever God it is that we would worship. And it is this 
fundamental, fundamental, heartfelt core of American belief which binds 
us to freedom-fighters all over the world and which calls us to strong 
condemnation of the Government of Vietnam, that they would trample 
people's right to worship and freedom under their feet with total 
disregard, and would lock a champion of freedom like this away for 10 
years, away from his family, and harassing his family.
  So I strongly add my support to the gentleman and his resolution, H. 
Con. Res. 378.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, we have no additional requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of our time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hayes). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
378, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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