[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 16264-16265]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 592--RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE MONTAGNARD 
  INDIGENOUS TRIBESPEOPLE OF THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF VIETNAM TO THE 
 UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, AND CONDEMNING THE 
 ONGOING VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SOCIALIST 
                          REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

  Mr. BURR submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 592

       Whereas the Montagnards, sometimes referred to as ``Dega'', 
     are the indigenous tribespeople living in Vietnam's Central 
     Highlands region;
       Whereas the Montagnards were driven into the mountains by 
     invading Vietnamese and Cambodians in the 9th century;
       Whereas French Roman Catholic missionaries converted many 
     of the Montagnards in the 19th century and American 
     Protestant missionaries subsequently converted many to 
     various Protestant sects;
       Whereas, during the 1960s, the United States Mission in 
     Saigon, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and United 
     States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets, 
     trained the Montagnards in unconventional warfare;
       Whereas an estimated 61,000 Montagnards, out of an 
     estimated population of 1,000,000, fought alongside the 
     United States and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 
     forces against the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong;
       Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency, United States 
     Special Forces, and the Montagnards cooperated on the Village 
     Defense Program, a forerunner to the War's Strategic Hamlet 
     Program and estimated 43,000 Montagnards were organized into 
     ``Civilian Irregular Defense Groups'' (CIDGs) to provide 
     protection for the areas around the CIDGs' operational bases;
       Whereas, at its peak, the CIDGs had approximately 50 
     operational bases, with each base containing a contingent of 
     two United States Army officers and ten enlisted men, and an 
     ARVN unit of the same size, and each base trained 200 to 700 
     Montagnards, or ``strikers'';
       Whereas another 18,000 Montagnards were reportedly enlisted 
     into mobile strike forces, and various historical accounts 
     describe a strong bond between the United States Special 
     Forces and the Montagnards, in contrast to Vietnamese Special 
     Forces and ARVN troops;
       Whereas the lives of thousands of members of the United 
     States Armed Forces were saved as a result of the heroic 
     actions of the Montagnards, who fought loyally and bravely 
     alongside United States Special Forces in the Vietnam War;
       Whereas, after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam in 1975, 
     thousands of Montagnards fled across the border into Cambodia 
     to escape persecution;
       Whereas the Government of the reunified Vietnamese nation, 
     renamed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, deeply distrusted 
     the Montagnards who had sided with the United States and ARVN 
     forces, and subjected them to imprisonment and various forms 
     of discrimination and oppression after the Vietnam War ended;
       Whereas, after the Vietnam War, the United States 
     Government resettled large numbers of Montagnards, mostly in 
     North Carolina, and an estimated several thousand Montagnards 
     currently reside in North Carolina, which is the largest 
     population of Montagnards residing outside of Vietnam;
       Whereas the Socialist Republic of Vietnam currently remains 
     a one-party state, ruled and controlled by the Communist 
     Party of Vietnam (CPV), which continues to restrict freedom 
     of religion, movement, land and property rights, and 
     political expression;
       Whereas officials of the Government of Vietnam have forced 
     Montagnards to publicly denounce their religion, arrested and 
     imprisoned Montagnards who organized public demonstrations, 
     and mistreated Montagnards in detention;
       Whereas the Government of Vietnam's restrictions on 
     foreigners' access to the Central Highlands region complicate 
     accurate reporting of human rights violations against the 
     Montagnards, including the hundreds of Montagnards who have 
     reportedly been imprisoned since 2001 and Montagnards who 
     have fled to Thailand seeking asylum in a third country;
       Whereas some Montagnard Americans have complained that 
     Vietnamese authorities either have prevented them from 
     visiting Vietnam or have subjected them to interrogation upon 
     re-entering the country on visits;
       Whereas the Department of State's 2013 Country Reports on 
     Human Rights Practices and 2013 International Religious 
     Freedom Report reference the mistreatment of Montagnards as 
     an example of the detention of ethnic minorities in Vietnam 
     and references reports from followers of the unsanctioned 
     Church of Christ that local authorities in the Central 
     Highlands provinces had harassed and persecuted them;
       Whereas, in March 2014, the Unrepresented Nations and 
     Peoples Organization (UNPO) submitted an alternative report 
     to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and 
     Cultural Rights summarizing the alleged violations of the 
     economic, social, and cultural rights of Vietnam's 
     Montagnard, Hmong, and Khmer Krom;
       Whereas the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization 
     report states that the Government of Vietnam has denied 
     Montagnards of their right of self-determination; imposed 
     discriminatory policies; curtailed religious freedom; impeded 
     access to an adequate standard of living; limited access to 
     health care and education; infringed on the Montagnards' 
     cultural rights; and, in two recent cases, arrested and 
     imprisoned Montagnards purportedly for their religious 
     beliefs;
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom's 2014 Annual Report states that the 
     Government of Vietnam controls all religious activities 
     through law and administrative oversight, severely restricts 
     independent religious practice, and represses individuals and 
     religious

[[Page 16265]]

     groups it views as challenging its authority, including 
     independent Protestant house churches in the Central and 
     Northwest Highlands; and
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom recommends that Vietnam be designated as a 
     Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and that access to 
     Priority 1 refugee resettlement authority should be increased 
     for individuals from Vietnam facing a well-founded fear of 
     persecution: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the contributions of the Montagnards who 
     fought loyally and bravely with United States Armed Forces 
     during the Vietnam War and who continue to suffer persecution 
     in Vietnam as a result of this relationship;
       (2) condemns actions taken by the Government of Vietnam to 
     suppress basic human rights and civil liberties for all its 
     citizens;
       (3) urges the Government of Vietnam to allow human rights 
     groups access to all regions of the country and to end 
     restrictions of basic human rights, including the freedom of 
     religion, land and property rights, freedom of movement, and 
     access to an adequate standard of living; and
       (4) urges the President and Congress to develop policies 
     that support Montagnards and other marginalized ethnic 
     minority and indigenous populations such as the Khmer Krom 
     and the Hmong in Vietnam and reflect United States interests 
     and commitment to upholding human rights and democracy 
     abroad.

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