Date: 2012-09-11
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Thank you to Chairwoman ROSLEHTINEN and to Ranking Member BERMAN and to the committee for bringing this resolution to the House floor. Mr. Speaker. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan is a democracy activist. and hes also a member of a democracy activist organization here called Viet Tan. On April 17 of this year. an American citizenyes. Dr. Nguyen is an American citizenwas arrested at Saigon Airport by the Vietnamese authorities. and he was charged with terrorism for 4 months for possessing educational documents on leadership skills and on nonviolent political activism. How can possession of educational documents be considered terrorism? Last month. the Vietnamese Government decided to change Dr. Nguyens crime from terrorism to subversion. despite having no grounds for either one of those two things. Democracy activists such as Paulus Le Son. Ho Duc Hoa. Dan Xuan Dieu all have been detained under article 79. which penalizes "carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the peoples administration." When youre charged with article 79 in Vietnam. it carries a maximum of the death penalty. Father Nguyen Van Ly. Nguyen Van Hai. more commonly known as blogger Dieu Cay. and Phan Thanh Hai are all charged. for example. with article 88. which penalizes conducting propaganda against the state. And that carries a maximum sentence of 12 years. So what does House Resolution 484 do? It addresses these very vague national security provisions. and it calls on the Government of Vietnam to cease abusing provisions such as articles 79 and 88. Using those articles to arrest peaceful democracy advocates. I believe. is blatant human rights violations. Vietnam is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil Rights and Political Rights. However. Vietnam has yet to become a responsible member of the international community. Consistently. the Vietnamese Government has denied its citizens the freedoms of religion. of opinion. of speech. of assembly. of the right to counsel. of a fair trial. How does this government expect to gain the respect of the international community when they refuse to treat their citizens with the same respect? House Resolution 484 condemns the Government of Vietnam for its continued crackdown against democracy activists and calls on Vietnam to repeal articles 79 and 88. It also calls for release of all political prisoners. writers. and bloggers that the only thing theyve asked is to have a more open process. to have some civil rights. to have some human rights. to be able to discuss with each other a new way forward. As Americans. we pride ourselves on being a country that stands by freedom. by liberty. and by justice. And as Members of this United States Congress. we have a responsibility. Other countries are watching us. We have a responsibility to stand up and to take steps and to say enough is enough. As the Government of Vietnam continues to criminalize individual rights. as it criminalizes basic freedoms. I believe this is an indication that Vietnam is not interested in being a responsible member of the international community. We. the United States. need to examine our economic and our military relationships with Vietnam. We must insist on changes to human rights in that country. I urge my colleagues to vote for House Resolution 484 to protect the rights and the freedoms of the citizens of Vietnam. and in doing so. we protect the rights and freedoms of every citizen in this world.