[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11011]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1220
                     HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN VIETNAM

  (Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, on October 15, 2009, 
I received disturbing reports that a democracy activist, Tran Khai 
Thanh Thuy, and her husband, Do Ba Tan, were beaten in front of their 
13-year-old daughter and imprisoned by the Vietnamese police and 
government. Since then, I, along with some of my colleagues here in the 
House, have written countless letters to the Vietnamese Government 
urging the government to release Mrs. Tran. I have also engaged in 
direct communications with Secretary Clinton strongly advocating that 
the United States put pressure on the government in Vietnam to release 
her and so many other activists who simply want human rights to improve 
in Vietnam.
  Fortunately, last month, thanks to the work of human rights 
organizations and Members of Congress, Mrs. Tran was released, and the 
State Department was able to bring Mrs. Tran to the United States where 
she now resides with her daughter.
  Mrs. Tran, along with other activists, were all arrested simply for 
wanting human rights. I urge my colleagues to please help us with this 
issue.

                          ____________________