[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24400-24401]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 MOVE THE VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS BILL NOW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cao) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CAO. Madam Speaker, in 1620, 102 Pilgrims and a crew of 
approximately 25 people left England on the Mayflower to escape 
religious oppression. After an arduous 66-day journey plagued by 
disease, they landed on the shore of Plymouth and founded this great 
Nation.
  The story of the Mayflower is a symbol of the struggle against 
religious oppression, and the symbol still resonates in the hearts and 
minds of the American people today. But this struggle for religious 
freedom did not end with the Mayflower. The struggle continues today 
worldwide in countries such as Tibet, China, the Sudan and Vietnam. Two 
days ago, I had the great honor of speaking to His Holiness the Dalai 
Lama. He encouraged the U.S. Congress to continue speaking out against 
religious oppression and to stand up and defend the values that founded 
our great Nation. This is what I'm doing today.
  Madam Speaker, the country that I would like to challenge today, and 
have done many times previously, is Vietnam. Vietnam, for decades, has 
exemplified religious and human rights oppression. And this image today 
has not changed. Since receiving its preferred status and being 
selected a member of the World Trade Organization, Vietnam's record on 
human rights and religious freedom has gotten worse rather than better. 
This regression is well documented by Human Rights Watch as well as by 
the Commission on Religious Freedom.
  Madam Speaker, let me briefly outline for you what the Vietnamese 
Government has done. Ten years ago, the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, 
War Invalids, and Social Affairs directly oversaw and operated two 
state-owned labor companies that were involved in the largest human 
trafficking case ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of

[[Page 24401]]

Justice. The High Court of American Samoa rendered a judgment against 
the Vietnamese Government in the amount of $3.5 million, and they have 
yet to pay.
  Recently, the Vietnamese Government assaulted, arrested and 
imprisoned dozens of Catholics in the Diocese of Vinh for erecting a 
temporary place of worship on Tam Toa Parish Church that was destroyed 
during the Vietnam war. They attacked the parishioners of Thai Ha 
Parish as they were conducting a prayer service. They then arrested and 
wrongfully prosecuted church members for inciting riot. They imprisoned 
Father Nguyen Van Ly, put the Venerable Thich Quang Do under house 
arrest, and forced members of Protestant churches to renounce their 
faith. They arrested and imprisoned human rights activists such as Le 
Cong Dinh, Le Thi Cong Nhan, and Nguyen Van Dai for criticizing the 
government. They forcefully evicted 400 Buddhist monks and nuns from 
Bat Nha Temple and shut down the monastery without just cause.
  These are just a few examples of the outrageous and egregious actions 
taken by the Vietnamese Government recently in violation of every 
principle of justice and fairness. If these examples are not sufficient 
to draw our attention and condemnation, I do not know what will.
  Unfortunately for these oppressed people, our world today does not 
allow them to simply leave their country to establish a country of 
freedom elsewhere. That is why they need the assistance of a country 
like ours, the most powerful democratic country in the world, to speak 
on their behalf.
  We must speak loudly by passing the Vietnam Human Rights Bill. The 
longer we wait, the longer people like Venerable Thich Quang Do, Father 
Nguyen Van Ly, Mr. Le Cong Dinh and countless others like them will 
continue to suffer.

                          ____________________