[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 64 (Thursday, April 30, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF THE VIETNAM WAR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDWARD R. ROYCE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 30, 2015

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, today, April 30th, marks the 40th anniversary 
of the end of the Vietnam War. As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs 
Committee, I would like to take this opportunity to honor more than 
58,000 American service men and women who lost their lives in the war, 
to honor the Vietnam veterans, and to honor the Vietnamese armed forces 
who fought alongside us to defend freedom, liberty, and democracy.
  Their sacrifices will never be forgotten.
  However, just as we remember those brave men and women, we should 
also recognize the millions of Vietnamese refugees that arrived in the 
United States following the fall of South Vietnam. Uprooted in a 
refugee crisis of enormous proportions, these Vietnamese have become an 
integral part of our society.
  I take great pride in representing a part of Orange County's thriving 
Vietnamese-American community, and I have witnessed the community's 
growth over the years. Having represented ``Little Saigon,'' I saw much 
of this growth up close.
  I have seen the community grow not only economically but politically 
as well. Janet Nguyen--who as a five year old left Vietnam by boat--has 
risen to California State Senate in 2014. Her story of success 
exemplifies this generation of Vietnamese Americans.
  I am sorry to say, however, that in the 40 years since the end of the 
Vietnam War, much work remains to be done. Political, religious and 
economic freedoms have been systematically squashed. This is a 
government that continues to deny citizens of Vietnam the right to 
change their government.
  When I visited Vietnam, I saw firsthand the Communist Party's 
harassment of those Vietnamese citizens who decided to peacefully set 
forth dissenting political and religious views. When I met with the 
venerable Thich Quang Do and Le Quang Liem, I was immediately denounced 
by that Communist government.
  The Vietnamese-American community has not lost sight of the struggle 
in their original homeland for freedom, for religious freedom, for 
freedom of speech, even for the right of young people to sit down in an 
Internet cafe and have a dialogue without censorship.
  They are a part of this effort to make certain that those ideals stay 
alive so that in the same way that eastern Europe came to evolve into a 
democratic, market-oriented, tolerant society, that there will be that 
opportunity in the future for Vietnam.

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