[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 28250]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RELEASE FATHER NGUYEN VAN LY

  (Mr. CAO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CAO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call upon the administration 
and Congress to ask the Vietnamese Government to unconditionally 
release Father Nguyen Van Ly to his family.
  Father Ly is one of many Vietnamese citizens who have been harassed 
for religious and democracy advocacy. He has been placed on trial 
without defense and imprisoned more than once for a total of almost 17 
years.
  As a Roman Catholic priest and prominent Vietnamese dissident, Father 
Ly has become a powerful icon in the ongoing fight for human rights. 
For his continuous imprisonment and nonviolent protests, Amnesty 
International adopted him as the Prisoner of Conscience in 1983. His 
support for the Bloc 8406 Manifesto, which called for a democratic 
Vietnam, has led to his most recent sentence on March 30, 2007, for an 
additional 8 years in prison. Sadly, Father Ly suffered his second 
stroke just 5 days ago, leaving the right side of his body paralyzed.
  In a letter to His Excellency Nguyen Tan Dung, the Prime Minister of 
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Members of Congress asked the 
government of Vietnam to unconditionally release Father Ly on 
humanitarian grounds; provide access for his immediate and long-term 
medical care; and grant his family unencumbered admittance to lend 
moral, physical, and spiritual support during this difficult time.
  We believe Father Nguyen Van Ly to be a prisoner of conscience held 
solely for the peaceful expression of his dissenting political and 
religious beliefs. Asking for his release is an opportunity for 
Congress to take a bold stand for human rights.

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