[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4954-4958]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CALLING ON VIETNAM TO IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY RELEASE DR. PHAM 
   HONG SON AND OTHER POLITICAL PRISONERS AND PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution

[[Page 4955]]

(H. Con. Res. 320) calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic 
of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Pham Hong Son 
and other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 320

       Whereas in March 2002, Dr. Pham Hong Son was arrested after 
     he had translated an article entitled ``What is Democracy?'' 
     from the Web site of the United States Embassy in Vietnam and 
     sent it to both friends and senior party officials;
       Whereas Dr. Son has written and published on the Internet 
     articles entitled ``The Promotion of Democracy: A Key Focus 
     in a New World Order'', ``Sovereignty and Human Rights: The 
     Search for Reconciliation'', and ``Hopeful Signs for 
     Democracy in Viet Nam'';
       Whereas in none of his activities did Dr. Son advocate 
     violence in his opposition to the Vietnamese Government or 
     its policies;
       Whereas Dr. Son has been arrested for the peaceful exercise 
     of his fundamental rights to freedom of expression and 
     association in violation of Article 69 of the Vietnamese 
     Constitution which states: ``The citizen shall enjoy freedom 
     of opinion and speech, freedom of the press, the right to be 
     informed and the right to assemble, form associations and 
     hold demonstrations in accordance with the provisions of the 
     law'';
       Whereas Dr. Son has been arrested, tried, convicted, and 
     imprisoned in contravention of the rights enshrined in the 
     International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 
     to which Vietnam is a state party, specifically Article 19 
     (freedom of expression) and Article 22 (freedom of 
     association);
       Whereas Dr. Son did not have a trial that would be 
     considered fair and that met even the most basic standards of 
     internationally accepted justice, in contravention of Article 
     14 (right to a fair trial) of the ICCPR;
       Whereas Dr. Son was sentenced in June 2003, after a half-
     day closed trial in Hanoi, to 13 years of imprisonment and 
     three years of house arrest on spurious espionage charges;
       Whereas such spurious charges are routinely used to 
     suppress peaceful democracy activists, as in the notorious 
     cases of Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, his two nephews and 
     niece, and in the cases of Pham Que Duong, Tran Khue, and 
     Tran Dung Tien;
       Whereas Dr. Son's appeal was held on August 26, 2003, in a 
     closed trial before Vietnam's Supreme Court, from which 
     international observers and Western journalists were barred, 
     although diplomats from more than eight countries gathered 
     outside the courthouse during the trial to register their 
     concern;
       Whereas, although the Vietnamese Supreme Court upheld Dr. 
     Son's sentence, it reduced the sentence of imprisonment from 
     13 to five years;
       Whereas Dr. Son remains imprisoned in harsh conditions, 
     including imprisonment for more than a year in solitary 
     confinement, which have endangered his health;
       Whereas Vietnam has imprisoned, detained, placed under 
     house arrest, or otherwise restricted numerous other peaceful 
     democratic and religious activists for reasons related to 
     their political or religious views, such as Do Van My, Mai 
     Thi Dung, Nguyen Thanh Phong, Nguyen Thi Ha, Nguyen Van Dien, 
     Nguyen Vu Binh, Phan Van Ban, To Van Manh, Vo Van Buu, Vo Van 
     Thanh Liem (Nam Liem), Bui Thien Hue, Nguyen Lap Ma, Nguyen 
     Nhat Thong, Nguyen Van Ly, Phan Van Loi, Thich Dong Tho, 
     Thich Huyen Quang, Thich Nguyen Ly, Thich Nguyen Vuong, Thich 
     Phuoc An, Thich Quang Do, Thich Tam Lien, Thich Thai Hoa, 
     Thich Thanh Huyen, Thich Tien Hanh, Thich Tue Sy, Thich Vien 
     Dinh, Ngo Van Ninh, Le Van Chuong, Le Van Tinh, Phuong Van 
     Kiem, Nguyen Van Si, Tran Van Thien, Thich Thien Tam, Hoang 
     Chinh Minh, and Do Nam Hai (Phuong Nam);
       Whereas Dr. Son and other political prisoners and prisoners 
     of conscience have been deprived of their basic human rights 
     by being denied their ability to exercise freedom of opinion 
     and expression;
       Whereas the arbitrary imprisonment and the violation of the 
     human rights of citizens of Vietnam are sources of 
     continuing, grave concern to Congress;
       Whereas Vietnam continues to restrict access to Western 
     diplomats, journalists, and humanitarian organizations to the 
     Central Highlands and the Northwest Highlands, where there 
     are credible reports that ethnic minorities suffer serious 
     violations of their human and civil rights, including 
     property rights, and ongoing restrictions on religious 
     activities, including forced conversions;
       Whereas there are continuing and well-founded concerns 
     about forcibly repatriated Montagnard refugees, access to 
     whom is restricted;
       Whereas on December 1, 2005, the European Parliament 
     adopted a resolution calling on the Vietnamese authorities, 
     among other measures, to undertake political and 
     institutional reforms leading to democracy and the rule of 
     law, starting by allowing a multi-party system and 
     guaranteeing the right of all currents of opinion to express 
     their views;
       Whereas the resolution further calls on Vietnamese 
     authorities to end all forms of repression against members of 
     the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and officially 
     recognize its existence and that of other non-recognized 
     Churches in the country;
       Whereas the resolution further calls on Vietnamese 
     authorities to release all Vietnamese political prisoners and 
     prisoners of conscience detained for having legitimately and 
     peacefully exercised their rights to freedom of opinion, 
     expression, the press, and religion;
       Whereas the resolution further calls on Vietnamese 
     authorities to guarantee full enjoyment of the fundamental 
     rights enshrined in the Vietnamese Constitution and the 
     International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in 
     particular by allowing the creation of a genuinely free 
     press; and
       Whereas the resolution further calls on Vietnamese 
     authorities to ensure the safe repatriation, under the 
     Cambodia-Vietnam-UNHCR Agreement, of the Montagnards who fled 
     Vietnam, and allow proper monitoring of the situation of the 
     returnees by the UNHCR and international nongovernmental 
     organizations: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That--
       (1) Congress--
       (A) condemns and deplores the arbitrary detention of Dr. 
     Pham Hong Son by the Government of the Socialist Republic of 
     Vietnam and calls for his immediate and unconditional 
     release, and for the immediate and unconditional release of 
     all other political prisoners;
       (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 Vietnam;
       (D) urges the Government of Vietnam to allow unfettered 
     access to the Central Highlands and to the Northwest 
     Highlands by foreign diplomats, the international press, and 
     nongovernmental organizations; and
       (E) applauds the European Parliament for its resolution of 
     December 1, 2005, regarding human rights in Vietnam, and 
     urges the Government of Vietnam to comply with the terms of 
     the resolution; and
       (2) it is the sense of Congress that the United States 
     should--
       (A) make the immediate release of Dr. Pham Hong Son a top 
     concern;
       (B) continue to urge the Government of Vietnam to comply 
     with internationally recognized standards for basic freedoms 
     and human rights;
       (C) make clear to the Government of Vietnam that it must 
     adhere to the rule of law and respect the freedom of the 
     press in order to broaden its relations with the United 
     States;
       (D) make clear to the Government of Vietnam that the 
     detention of Dr. Son 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
       (E) reiterate the deep concern of the United States 
     regarding the continued imprisonment of Dr. Son and other 
     persons whose human rights are being violated and discuss the 
     legal status and immediate humanitarian needs of such 
     individuals 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 of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present this bill to my colleagues today 
in defense of a man who has fought for democracy in Vietnam at great 
personal cost. There has been a tremendous amount of publicity lately 
about Internet dissidents in China. As a matter of fact, we had a day-
long hearing on this use of the Internet to capture and to really 
decapitate the dissidents and religious freedom movements in China, in 
Vietnam and Belarus and in other countries, but we now focus on one 
particular man, as well as others who have suffered because of that, in 
the case of Dr. Pham Hong Son of Vietnam.
  In March 2002, Mr. Speaker, police arrested Dr. Son. He had 
translated an article from the Web site of the U.S. Embassy Hanoi that 
was entitled, ``What is democracy?'' and he sent it to some of his 
friends and senior Vietnamese officials. In addition, he had written an 
open letter, published on the Internet, protesting the fact that his 
house had been searched illegally and his computer and documents 
confiscated.
  Dr. Son was charged with espionage by the government, which accused 
him

[[Page 4956]]

of collecting and dispatching news and documents for a foreign country 
to be used against the Socialist State of Vietnam. Let us not forget 
who that foreign country is. It is us. It is the U.S. Embassy's Web 
site in Hanoi, and that is where he went to download that essay, ``What 
is democracy?''
  After a closed trial and a closed appeal, from which Western 
reporters and diplomats from Europe, the United States and Canada were 
barred, Dr. Son was sentenced to 5 years, plus an additional 3 years of 
house arrest.
  Dr. Son's case has been highlighted repeatedly by the U.S. Department 
of State's Human Rights Report for Vietnam and by Human Rights Watch, 
Reporters without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and 
Amnesty International.
  Mr. Speaker, I went to Vietnam last year, accompanied by Eleanor 
Nagy, who is our Director of Policy on the Subcommittee on Africa, 
Global Human Rights and International Operations, and met with some 60 
dissidents in the course of the better part of a week in Hanoi, Hue and 
in Ho Chi Minh City. We met with Dr. Son's extraordinary and courageous 
wife, Vu Thuy Ha, who continues to campaign for her husband's freedom 
despite constant surveillance and harassment, which I personally 
witnessed. I knew that we could not let this brave woman battle alone.
  As a matter of fact, when Eleanor and I, along with some people from 
the embassy, sat with his wife, right across from us at a hotel were 
some thugs from the secret police who were taking pictures of her and 
trying to intimidate her, which they have been doing day in and day 
out.
  The State Department, to its credit, put Dr. Son at the head of their 
list of political prisoners who need to be released during the February 
Human Rights Dialogue with Vietnam. As Assistant Secretary of State for 
Democracy, Barry Lowenkron told the Vietnamese, and this is his quote, 
``I bluntly told them that the American people will not understand why 
a country that wants to have better relations with us would imprison 
someone for translating an article on democracy.''
  On Friday March 31, Vietnam flatly rejected Lowenkron's call to 
release Dr. Son and 20 other religious and political prisoners, saying 
it only jails criminals. In Vietnam, they said, there are no prisoners 
of conscience, and no one has been arrested for their viewpoints or 
their religion.
  That is unmitigated nonsense and a big lie, Mr. Speaker, and that has 
to be confronted by this Congress.
  Less than a day after the unanimous subcommittee markup of this 
resolution on December 9, plainclothes officers detained two other 
well-known Internet writers, Do Nam Hai, whom I met with in Vietnam and 
who is mentioned in our resolution. They were at a public Internet 
cafe. The police also forced Hai to open his personal e-mail account 
and printed about 30 of his sent messages.

                              {time}  1215

  The two writers were interrogated for 6 hours at the cafe and later 
at a police station in Hanoi. Both were released from police custody 
that day.
  And the persecution continues, Mr. Speaker. On March 12, according to 
Reporters Without Borders, an Internet user calling himself ``Freedom 
For the Country,'' joined the discussion group ``Democracy and Freedom 
the Only Way for Vietnam.'' He went on-line in a Hanoi cyber cafe, and 
he discussed politics for about half an hour with two other people in 
the group. During the discussion, he said he was a member of a pro-
democracy working group. The entire on-line conversation was recorded 
by the forum administrator, police entered the cyber cafe, and they 
arrested him.
  On the recording, someone could be heard asking the Internet user to 
go with them, and then someone else shouting, hit him. The 
administrator continued recording after the police intervention, and no 
one came to disconnect the computer linked to Pal Talk. Afterwards, a 
man's voice is heard on the microphone introducing himself as the cyber 
cafe's owner and confirming that one of his customers had been taken 
away by the police. He added that he had been fined for violating 
Internet law. The Vietnamese denied the arrest, and the victim's 
identity is unknown. He joins three other cyber dissidents who were 
arrested in October and whose whereabouts remain unknown.
  This sort of persecution, Mr. Speaker, will obviously not go away by 
itself. But tyranny hates and fears public exposure, and we need to 
keep attention focused on Vietnam's continuing violation of the rights 
that it claims to grant to its people.
  Vietnam is at a critical crossroads. It wants to expand its 
burgeoning trade relations with the United States and seeks to join the 
WTO. There would be no better way to convince Vietnam of the 
seriousness of our human rights concerns and their centrality in any 
relation with the U.S. It seems to me you can't trust a country on 
intellectual property rights and copyright infringement if they jail, 
incarcerate, and beat their own people because they simply espouse 
basic fundamental human rights.
  The European Parliament, I might add, has already passed a resolution 
calling for Vietnam to release all of its prisoners of conscience, 
allowing democracy and political pluralism and ensuring the human 
rights for Vietnam's Montagnards. It is appropriate that we do likewise 
and that we do it today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, 
and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would first like to commend my very good friend and distinguished 
colleague from New Jersey, Congressman Chris Smith, for introducing 
this important resolution and for his unique, dogged pursuit of 
Vietnamese human rights issues.
  None of us here today should be under any illusions about the 
Vietnamese government. According to the State Department's Human Rights 
Report, the Vietnamese government is an unrepentant authoritarian 
regime, and true political opposition is not allowed. Freedom of 
expression does not exist in Vietnam, and Vietnamese are locked in 
prison for simply expressing political opinions.
  In the case which is the focus of this resolution, the Vietnamese 
government has even imprisoned someone from translating into Vietnamese 
an article entitled ``What is Democracy,'' from the U.S. embassy Web 
site in Hanoi. It boggles the mind, Mr. Speaker, that the Vietnamese 
government is so fearful of dissent that it won't even allow citizens 
to discuss, let alone implement, meaningful democracy.
  The Vietnamese government also places severe restrictions on the 
expression of religious beliefs, particularly upon Buddhists, who do 
not worship as part of the official church, and upon Christians in the 
Vietnamese highlands.
  With the approval of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement 5 
years ago, the political security and economic relationship between the 
United States and Vietnam has become increasingly more complex, but we 
must continue to send a strong signal to Hanoi that the United States 
continues to make it a top priority to promote internationally 
recognized human rights everywhere, including Vietnam.
  Passage of our resolution will indicate to the administration and to 
the government of Vietnam that we in Congress expect to see real 
progress on the human rights front in Vietnam, and that we have not 
forgotten those Vietnamese who are being persecuted for their beliefs.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this carefully 
crafted resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to my good friend and 
distinguished colleague from California, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
support of a dangerous man. In Vietnam, Dr. Pham Hong Son is considered 
a criminal, a man who must be silenced and incarcerated for the good of 
society.

[[Page 4957]]

  Is Dr. Pham a violent man, a terrorist, perhaps? Does he advocate the 
violent overthrow of his government? No, absolutely not. Dr. Pham is a 
dangerous man not because of his dangerous actions, but because of his 
dangerous ideas. Dr. Pham's great crime was to translate articles on 
democracy into Vietnamese and to write and publish his own articles 
about democracy and human rights in Vietnam.
  Dr. Pham's case is typical of how the government of Vietnam deals 
with voices of peaceful and patriotic dissent. A case in point is a 
personal one for me. I was scheduled next week to go to Vietnam. I was 
interested in talking with their government about issues of human 
rights and religious freedom, issues that are very important to the 
people of Orange County, California. Unfortunately, I was informed last 
night that my visa application was denied by the Vietnamese government 
for the third time in 2 years, despite the fact that we have welcomed 
their dignitaries to the United States and that I was personally 
invited by Madam Ninh, the Vice Chair of the Committee of Foreign 
Affairs of the Vietnamese National Assembly.
  Some of my colleagues continue to push for closer ties with Vietnam 
through trade relations and military partnerships and other forms of 
nonhumanitarian cooperation and assistance. We, as a Congress, will be 
asked in the coming months to decide on issues fundamental to the 
nature of our relationship with Vietnam. Supporting this concurrent 
resolution today is an important step in the right direction, but I 
would also ask my colleagues to keep Dr. Pham and others like him in 
our minds for the future.
  Vietnam's actions against its own patriots demonstrate that they are 
not ready yet to be full partners with the United States. The United 
States must live by our own professed values, our true values, and we 
must do everything we can do to protect the human rights of the people 
of Vietnam.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to our 
distinguished colleague, my good friend from Texas, Congresswoman 
Sheila Jackson-Lee.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Lantos. Again, I 
express my appreciation to Mr. Smith, and I express my appreciation to 
Congresswoman Sanchez, who has been a strong stalwart of vocalizing the 
inconsistencies with the image of Vietnam, a united country, and the 
reality.
  And let me express my personal outrage that Members of Congress 
extend themselves to a foreign land to be able to be a fact-finder, to 
find out information, to share that with their constituents; that 
foreign governments who are welcomed into the United States would be so 
arrogant as to deny a visa so that information could be written.
  I have a personal story, of course, which I did not mention 
previously in the same way of attempting to visit the Sudan and going 
through the normal channels and finding that visas would not be 
rendered. And they have done that to Members of Congress who are there 
doing the work of the American people. So to the Vietnamese government, 
we know what you are and what you are doing.
  This is an important resolution that establishes the importance of 
human rights and dignity in Vietnam. Although the war is behind us, we 
realize that the Vietnamese people in the United States love democracy. 
They fled the country because they love democracy, but they want 
democracy for the existing Vietnam.
  The plight of Dr. Pham and many, many others that are now being 
detained is a poor story, a poor assessment of the outright rejection 
of human rights and freedom of expression that should be the call of 
this Nation that claims that it wants to be part of the world human 
family. So I call upon this issue to be addressed not only by this 
resolution, which I enthusiastically support, and I thank the authors 
of this bill, but also for the United Nations to get in gear and get a 
grip.
  The Human Rights Council, Mr. Lantos, as you well know, has been 
revised just recently with some difficulty and opposition from the 
American government because it was a little less strong, if you will, a 
little less in great depth than we would have wanted it to be, where we 
could have prevented some of the more heinous actors against human 
rights from even being on this council. But it is a first step.
  Now is the time for the United Nations, along with this resolution, 
to show itself truly committed to human rights. Do something about the 
Sudan. Do something about Vietnam. This is not to suggest that we don't 
want a thriving economy. For years, I voted against the Jackson 
amendment that deals with trade in Vietnam. Why? Not because I am 
against Vietnam, Mr. Speaker, but because I want human dignity and 
human rights.
  So I rise in support of this resolution, H. Con. Res. 320, but I am 
asking that as we put forward this resolution, that institutions that 
deal with human rights wake up and smell the coffee or the tea and 
begin to address these questions in a forthright way.
  And let me close by simply saying that there is a whole mountain of 
people that are being detained and their human rights violated. Can we 
suffer this indignity? I ask that this resolution be supported, and I 
ask the United Nations to do its job.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I would close by especially 
thanking Dennis Curry, Eleanor Nagy, and Dan Freeman, our staff who 
have worked so hard on this resolution. The hearing that we held 
recently was a very insightful hearing that focused on the ongoing and 
persistent violations of fundamental human rights in Vietnam. Last 
year, right before Prime Minister Khai came to the United States, we 
held another Vietnam human rights hearing, and it was very telling.
  We can't reduce human rights to an asterisk or a ``see page 3'' 
footnote in our relationship with the government of Vietnam. I would 
urge every Member, when and if they travel to Vietnam, that they 
prepare themselves by really understanding the nature of this 
government. Yes, there may be some modest progress being made in the 
area of religious freedom, and I underscore the word ``modest,'' but 
they still are a country of particular concern, so designated by the 
Department of State because of their egregious violations of religious 
freedom and the persecution of people, whether they be members of the 
Montagnards, the Evangelical Christians, or the Unified Buddhist 
Church, people like the Venerable Thich Quang Do, whom I met with.
  Let me say finally that I met with the Venerable Thich Quang Do in 
his pagoda, as he is under house arrest. When we began to leave, all of 
a sudden he stopped, and he said, ``I take one step beyond this and the 
guys across the street will have me in handcuffs.'' That is the reality 
of what is going on in Vietnam today. I would hope Members, before they 
go to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, acquaint themselves very thoroughly 
with the human rights abuses the Vietnamese commit and raise those 
issues, particularly as it relates to trade.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. 
Con. Res. 320, calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Pham Hong Son 
and other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
  The Vietnamese people have endured extensive struggles for many years 
in their ongoing fight for basic human rights and freedom.
  As a member of the Vietnam Caucus, I am dedicated to promoting 
awareness and policy debates among the U.S. Congress, the American 
public, and the international community about the greater need for 
fundamental human rights in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
  I would like to voice my support for H. Con. Res. 320, as it calls 
for the immediate release of Dr. Pham Hong Son and other political 
prisoners of conscience.

[[Page 4958]]

  In March 2002, Dr. Pham was arrested after he had translated an 
article entitled ``What is Democracy?'' from the Web site of the United 
States Embassy in Vietnam and sent it to both friends and senior party 
officials. On August 26, 2003, the Vietnamese Supreme Court sentenced 
Dr. Pham to 5 years in prison, to be followed by 6 years of house 
arrest.
  The arrests of Dr. Pham, along with many others, demonstrate the 
ongoing human rights abuses and lack of religious freedom in Vietnam. 
We must continue to bring attention to these issues, generate pressure 
on Vietnamese officials, and hold the Vietnamese government 
accountable.
  I am hopeful H. Con. Res. 320 will serve as a small stepping-stone 
towards the ultimate liberation and freedom of the Vietnamese people, 
and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support 
of House Concurrent Resolution 320, a resolution that calls for the 
release of Dr. Pham Hong Son and other political prisoners and 
prisoners of conscience in Vietnam.
  Dr. Pham was imprisoned in 2002 for the simple act of translating a 
document posted on the U.S. Embassy's website entitled, ``What is 
Democracy?'' He has tirelessly worked in non-violent ways to promote 
democracy and freedom of speech, expression, and association in 
Vietnam.
  But Dr. Pham is not alone. Thousands of peaceful activists have been 
harassed, imprisoned, or been placed under house arrest for calling for 
basic human rights in Vietnam. The State Department, the U.S. 
Commission on International Religious Freedom, Amnesty International, 
the Committee to Protect Journalists, and various Vietnamese-American 
groups have documented egregious violations of religious freedom, human 
rights, and free speech in the country.
  For the past two years, the State Department has designated Vietnam a 
``country of particular concern'' which means Vietnam has been engaged 
in systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom. In 
company with Vietnam are such human rights violators as Sudan, Burma, 
China, Iran, and North Korea.
  In its 2005 report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious 
Freedom states, ``the government of Vietnam continues to commit 
systematic and egregious violations of religious freedom by harassing, 
detaining, imprisoning, and discriminating against leaders and 
practitioners from all of Vietnam's religious communities. Religious 
freedom conditions in Vietnam remain poor, and the overall human rights 
situation has deteriorated in the past two years.''
  The Committee to Protect Journalists says, ``Press conditions in 
Vietnam largely stagnated in 2005, despite efforts by the country's 
leaders to project an image of greater openness. Three writers remained 
imprisoned on antistate charges for material distributed online; print 
and broadcast media continued to work under the supervision of the 
government; and attacks on journalists were common.''
  For the past year, Vietnam has sought a new relationship with the 
United States. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and several other high-
level members of the Vietnamese government visited the U.S. in 2005. 
But if the Vietnamese government expects to cultivate this new 
relationship, it must start by respecting basic human rights of all 
citizens of Vietnam.
  I hope this Congress will show strong support for change in Vietnam 
by unanimously passing House Concurrent Resolution 320 today.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Con. 
Res. 320 which calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. 
Pham Hong Son and other political prisoners in Vietnam. The Socialist 
Republic of Vietnam has been holding prisoners because of their 
exercise of basic human rights including freedom of speech, religion, 
movement, and association.
  Dr. Pham Hong Son was indicted and imprisoned for translating an 
article on the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam entitled ``What 
is Democracy?'' and circulating the article among friends and senior 
party officials. He was subsequently sentenced to 13 years imprisonment 
and 3 years of house arrest on espionage charges after a half-day 
closed trial that deprived him of due process. The Vietnamese 
Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights (ICCPR), of which Vietnam is a state party, both protect the 
rights to freedom of opinion and speech. The government of Vietnam 
should uphold their obligations under the ICCPR and honor other 
internationally recognized standards for basic freedoms and human 
rights before their accession into the World Trade Organization.
  The fall of the Republic of Vietnam displaced approximately three 
million Vietnamese. My late husband Ricardo J. Bordallo was Governor of 
Guam at the time of Operation New Life. I vividly remember how the Guam 
community came together in solidarity with the Vietnamese people and 
worked hard to help comfort these brave individuals who had left all 
their worldly possessions behind in the name of freedom. The people of 
Guam empathized with the Vietnamese refugees, and we opened our hearts 
as well as our island to them. One of my assignments as First Lady was 
to organize the care for the hundreds of orphan babies that arrived in 
Operation Baby Lift. This was a moving experience that has remained one 
of my fondest memories of my husband's first term as Governor of Guam.
  Of the 150,000 Vietnamese who arrived on Guam in April 1975, many 
decided to return to Vietnam to help rebuild their motherland. 
Unfortunately, those who remained in Vietnam now face a Socialist 
government that denies them basic human rights of freedom of speech, 
religion, movement, and association. They deserve the right to a fair 
trial and due process.
  Today, Congress calls on Vietnamese authorities to end all forms of 
repression against small religious sects and for the release of all 
Vietnamese political prisoners who have legitimately and peacefully 
exercised their rights. I urge passage of H. Con. Res. 320.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1230

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. 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. 320, 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 question will 
be postponed.

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