[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 18, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CALLING ATTENTION TO THE OPPRESSION OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS BY THE 
                         VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Steel) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. STEEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 
Vietnamese Government's oppression of political opponents.
  Last week, the Communist Party Government of Vietnam sentenced Nguyen 
Lan Thang to 6 years in prison for documenting protests and human 
rights abuses in Vietnam. Thang is a well-known advocate for freedom 
and democracy. He is a renowned blogger and contributor to Radio Free 
Asia. He should not be punished for criticizing communism.
  This violation of the basic human rights of free expression is 
unacceptable and shows a worsening human rights situation in Vietnam.
  According to Human Rights Watch, Vietnamese authorities have 
convicted at least 163 people since 2018 for exercising their rights to 
freedom of association or freedom of expression against Vietnam's 
Communist Party Government.
  I have and will continue to call out the Communist Party of Vietnam 
for imprisoning journalists, human rights defenders, religious figures, 
and dissidents in Vietnam. The Chinese Communist Party has expertly 
influenced their neighbors, like Vietnam, hoping we will be silent in 
the face of these heinous acts.
  I urge all my colleagues to join me in condemning Vietnam's continued 
horrific targeting of anyone who dissents from the oppressive Communist 
regime, and I urge Vietnam to release its political prisoners, 
including Mr. Thang and journalists like Pham Doan Trang.
  We must come together, proclaim Communism as the evil that it is, and 
show the world that we will defend freedom.


                                Tax Day

  Mrs. STEEL. Mr. Speaker, today is tax day, the deadline for over 200 
million Americans to file their taxes.
  Over the past year, responsible, hardworking families across the 
Nation created a budget, sacrificed to stick to that budget, and paid 
what they must by law to the government.
  Meanwhile, their government spent taxpayer dollars recklessly, 
resulting in a national deficit that is over $31 trillion. That is 
approximately $250,000 per taxpayer.
  My friends on the other side of the aisle claimed that they would 
close the gap by raising taxes and hiring an army of 87,000 new IRS 
agents to increase audits, especially on hardworking families making 
less than $100,000 a year.
  Collecting more taxes from hardworking Americans will not fix the 
Federal Government's irresponsibility.
  While California suffers from the highest income tax rate in the 
country, the State's reckless spending resulted in a deficit of $22.5 
billion.
  High taxes and reckless spending will not solve our Nation's 
problems. That is why the House of Representatives passed my bill with 
Representative Adrian Smith to defund the IRS's plan to hire 87,000 new 
agents. The IRS exists to serve the American people, not target them.
  More taxes and more spending will only result in a higher deficit and 
a broken economy that will weigh on the backs of our children and 
grandchildren.

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