[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 25362-25363]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            STATEMENT OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE SAYAVONG

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 27, 2000

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend to my 
colleagues the following letter and testimony sent by His Royal 
Highness Prince Sayavong to Philip Smith, of the Center for Public 
Policy Analysis, for the U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos that was held 
on September 7, 2000. My foreign policy advisor, Mr. Al Santoli, was 
one of the keynote

[[Page 25363]]

speakers at this event after returning from a research mission to 
Southeast Asia.
  As a Member of the House International Relations Committee, I 
appreciate the important role of the Royal Family in Laos--past, 
present, and future. Laos is currently ruled by a one-party Communist 
regime. After 25 years of communism, its people want and need change. 
The Lao and Hmong people are rightfully demanding freedom, democracy, 
human rights and economic prosperity.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to submit for the Record the important statement 
of His Royal Highness.

                                            Paris 4 September 2000
     Hon. Philip Smith,
     Center for Public Policy Analysis, U.S. Congress--Capitol 
         Hill, Washington, DC.
     Subject: U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos--7 September 2000.
       I should be most grateful if you could kindly distribute 
     the attached paper--though unsolicited--to Distinguished 
     Members of the Forum who are to examine the ``challenges and 
     opportunities surrounding the 25th Anniversary of the Lao 
     People's Democratic Republic''. The views expressed herein 
     are those of the Lao people as a whole whom I am privileged 
     to represent during the last 4 years from our operating 
     Bureau in Paris (40bis Rue Championnet 74018 Paris--France).
       Thank you most sincerely for your kind assistance and 
     understanding.
                                           H.R.H. Prince Sayavong,
      Brig. General, The Lao National Army--Surviving son of King 
          Sri Savangvong (1885-1959) and Half-brother of King Sri 
                                      Savang Vatthana (1907-1980).


     
                                  ____
    [U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos, U.S. Congress--Capitol Hill, 
                  Washington, DC 20510 Sept. 7, 2000]

  The Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR): An Appraisal after 25 
                        years of Communist rule.

                    (By Brig General Tiao Sayavong)

       The year 1975 should go down in Laos' history, indeed in 
     Indochina's as the most tragic date in our common memory--
     where our beloved country suddenly sustained a horrible 
     cataclysm of gigantic magnitude, plunging that part of the 
     world in total darkness. That was the year where millions of 
     peoples--young and old--had to leave behind their most 
     cherished treasures in order to escape forced-labour camps 
     and death, and to seek freedom in foreign lands.
       For us free Laotians we consider December 2nd of each year 
     as the time of mourning--of national mourning--of national 
     mourning since it brings back to memory the death of our age-
     old traditions and way of life, of our fertile soils and 
     rivers and mountains which we inherited from our forefathers. 
     The Kingdom of Laos was one of the most ancient nations in 
     Asia--the cradle of post-angkorian civilization. Of course, 
     we will never forget that we were the victims of world 
     politics, and we know too that we were the sacrificial lambs 
     of the American foreign policy at that time. That the Pathet-
     Lao were able to overwhelm us so massive support-politically, 
     militarily and logistically from the Soviet stooges who at 
     the very moment run the show from Hanoi which incidentally 
     will become the future capital of the Socialist Republic of 
     Indochina by the year 2020!


                        Disastrous Balance Sheet

       After 25 years behind the bamboo curtain what do we see 
     today? Politically we see that the following inhumane abuses 
     are daily occurrence: violation of basic human rights; non-
     respect of fundamental freedoms; brutal suppression of 
     democratic dissent; emprisonment without due process of the 
     law; arbitrary arrest upon simple denunciation and torture. 
     Economically the LPDR ranked among the ten poorest countries 
     in the world today according to the United Nations. Per 
     capita income is less than $300; foreign debt amounts to well 
     over $3 billion or more; local currency (the Kip) is almost 
     worthless; inflation averaged 300 percent annually thus 
     pushing the rate of the Kip up to almost 10.000 to a dollar. 
     Without substantial external assistance the government will 
     not be able to function normally. The inevitable consequence 
     is that ordinary citizens find their daily existence totally 
     unbearable--fueling pervasive resentment against the 
     dictatorship of the proletariat. it is obvious to everyone 
     that the LPDR is actually on the brink of explosion at any 
     moment! Socially peaceful Lao traditional society is turned 
     upside down--forcing thousands of young men and girls to flee 
     across the borders in order to escape misery and seek good 
     fortune in neighboring Thailand. Meanwhile millions of 
     foreigners, mostly from North Vietnam--keep pouring into the 
     country to fill the void--thus bringing destruction and 
     irreparable damage to our thick forests and wild-life and 
     driving local inhabitants to abandon their lands with 
     apparent impunity. Recently Hanoi promised to triple the Lao 
     population--actually estimated at 5 million--by the year 
     2010!


                           Path to Salvation

       Since the Lao people are being prevented from changing 
     their government for the better through democratic means 
     external intervention--essentially from Western powers, the 
     United States and Japan therefore become critical in order to 
     bring about needed radical reforms in our country.
       Even before S. Res. 240 and H. Res. 169 were officially 
     adopted by the US Congress we have had numerous opportunities 
     of submitting to The Honorables Senator R. Grams, Senator C. 
     Thomas, US Representative B. Vento and Chairman J. Helms for 
     consideration of a number of concrete proposals aimed at 
     restoring social justice, liberty and democracy in our 
     homeland. They still remain valid to these days, viz:
       1. We humbly request that S. Res. 240 and H. Res. 169 be 
     transmitted to the Executive Branch as soon as feasible 
     together with ample budgetary appropriations necessary for 
     their implementation;
       2. We humbly request that the US government set up a 
     Special Lao Task Force (SLTF) to be charged with the 
     responsibility of translating the sense of the US Congress 
     into practical reality without further delays; the SLTF 
     should be required to work closely with all truly anti-
     communist groupings (such as the Lao Liberation Front led by 
     Major-General Vang Pao and the Party of Vientiane 
     Government--PGVT--under the chairmanship of Phagna Houmphan 
     Saignasith) put in place by Lao refugees in the United 
     States, Europe and elsewhere--excluding those openly or 
     discreetly in favor of power-sharing with the communist 
     Pathet-Lao;
       3. We humbly request the US government to take the lead in 
     choosing the future Lao political leaders from among the Lao 
     anti-communist elite to all ethnic groups residing abroad; 
     these selected intellectuals should form the backbone of the 
     Kingdom's political, economic and administrative framework;
       4. We humbly request the US government to solicit the 
     concurrence, support and commitment of the countries 
     signatory of the Geneva Accords of 1962 on Laos neutrality 
     and of those which were party to the Paris Agreements of 
     1973;
       5. We humbly request that the US government resolve in 
     collaboration with ASEAN and the United Nations--to exert 
     maximum diplomatic and military pressure upon the marxist 
     authorities in Vientiane in order to compel them to 
     relinquish power and be replaced by a new power structure 
     freely elected by the Lao people; and
       6. We humbly request that the US government, with the 
     concurrence and support of its allied, announce a massive 
     assistance programme designed to help the newly-elected 
     government of the Kingdom of Laos to reconstruct the country 
     anew on the basis of respect for basic human rights and 
     fundamental freedoms.
       In the end it will prove to be necessary to convene an 
     International Conference similar to the Geneva Conference of 
     1962 to tackle various abuses and problems confronting Laos 
     today--in particular the non-respect of the neutrality, 
     sovereignty and independence of our country by its immediate 
     neighbours.
       In view of the fact that a great number of political 
     groupings set up by Lao refugees abroad are heavily 
     infiltrated by communist elements and opportunist trouble-
     makers it will be difficult--if not impossible altogether for 
     them alone to create a single anti-communist entity without 
     American proding. The success of the US pro-democracy crusade 
     in Laos will undoubtedly trigger throughout the Asia region a 
     genuine tidal wave carrying a powerful signal as well as an 
     unmistakable warning to dictators and tyrants in other lands 
     hence that the international community will no longer 
     tolerate undemocratic practices and uncivilized and inhumane 
     behavior by members of the United Nations.
       The Lao people both inside the country and overseas hope 
     and pray with us that the American people will understand and 
     support their government's resolute action humanely intended 
     to assist the Kingdom of Laos in regaining peace, 
     independence and liberty essential ingredients for economic 
     advancement and well-being in the years to come.
                                            Paris 1 September 2000

     

                          ____________________