[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 18, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E771-E772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DENY VISA TO HUN SEN'S HENCHMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 18, 2007

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my grave 
concerns about a visit tomorrow by Cambodia's national Chief of Police, 
Hok Lundy, to the FBI's headquarters here in Washington. It is not an 
overstatement to say that Hok Lundy's involvement in human rights 
abuses, human and narcotics trafficking, and political violence should 
place him at the top of our list of people to keep out of the U.S., not 
at the top of our list of people with whom to try to cooperate.
  Indeed, it was the FBI itself that labelled the March 1997 grenade 
attack on an opposition rally in Phnom Penh, which killed more than a 
dozen and wounded many others, including an American, as a terrorist 
attack. In the days after the July 1997 coup d'etat, Hok Lundy led 
forces loyal to Prime Minister Hun Sen--forces who were implicated in 
the extrajudicial killings. Credible evidence suggests that Hok

[[Page E772]]

Lundy himself ordered the killing of a senior Ministry of Interior 
official shortly after the coup. Lundy was never investigated for the 
killing.
  Hok Lundy has been deeply implicated in those events and many other 
abuses, including drug trafficking allegations confirmed by our own 
DEA. But last year the FBI gave him an award for cooperating in 
counterterrorism efforts, the U.S. Ambassador praised him, and the FBI 
has now invited him here for discussions on bilateral cooperation.
  In a 2004 Proclamation, the President unambiguously stated that 
foreign officials suspected of involvement in corrupt activities should 
be barred from entry. This clearly should apply to Hok Lundy. In 
addition, in 2006, the Trafficking in Persons office of the State 
Department overruled other offices and agencies and denied Hok Lundy a 
visa based on credible allegations that he had helped free human 
traffickers.
  Madam Speaker, we are well aware that the war on terrorism entails 
dealing with some questionable characters. But it is my hope that 
should those characters prove to be guilty of abuses and crimes they at 
a minimum be barred from coming to the United States, and at a maximum 
be investigated by the FBI and other relevant agencies. But we should 
not be giving recognition to a man who has arguably done more to 
undermine American aspirations for Cambodia--to bring that battered 
country peace, justice, and a rights respecting government--than almost 
anyone else. It is counterproductive, hypocritical, and downright dumb 
to pursue such cooperation with someone with a demonstrated track 
record of terrorism, not someone who fights it.
  Neither the State Department nor the FBI has articulated why they 
think Hok Lundy is a credible, reliable partner. To fall back, as the 
State Department's spokesperson did yesterday, on lame procedural 
rhetoric--that there is ``no legal bar to denying him a visa''--or on 
some spurious administrative need--an unexplained ``policy need'' to 
attend ``some meetings''--is a gross insult not only to the people of 
Cambodia but also the people of America. I believe the State Department 
and FBI must explain themselves--and that the visa should be revoked 
immediately.

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