Date: 2001-10-30
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I thank the chairman for his courtesy and consideration in bringing this bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker. I rise to express my strong support for H.R. 1840. a bill which will extend eligibility for refugee status of unmarried sons and daughters of certain Vietnamese refugees. The Communist government of Vietnam. by its actions in imprisoning Catholic priests. Buddhist monks. and ordinary citizens whose only crime is to speak out for freedom and democracy is saying loudly and clearly and consistently to the United States. we want American investment dollars and we are willing to learn from the American economic system. but American values of religious and political freedom are not welcomed. We need to do more to respond to this message of oppression with our own message of freedom. Human rights needs to be central to our foreign policy toward Vietnam. One small step is to save as many as possible of the people who are still being persecuted by the Communist authorities because of their wartime associations with the United States. or simply because they share our values. Mr. Speaker. until 1995. those refugees who were eligible to resettle in the United States under the HO component of the Orderly Departure Program. which is limited to persons who served 3 or more years in reeducation camps after the Communist takeover of Vietnam in 1975. were allowed to bring their children with them. This policy included unmarried children who had reached the age of 21 during the period of the refugees incarceration or during the long wait to receive an exit visa from the Communist authorities. I introduced this resolution several months ago to address a specific immigration concern. Until April 1. 1995. former Vietnamese prisoners of war who were accepted for resettlement by the United States as refugees could bring their sons and daughters. even those above the age of 21. so long as they had never married and were members of the refugee parents household. On April 1. 1995. INS changed its interpretation of the thenexisting law to exclude children who were over 21. even if they were unmarried and living with their parents. This abrupt decision reversed our humanitarian profamily policy. This change in policy forced a brutal choice on expolitical prisoners: either decline the opportunity to findfreedom in the United States. or abandon their children in a country that has persecuted them. In 1996 Congress adopted the McCain amendment to make clear that unmarried adult sons and daughters of reeducation camp internees are refugees of special humanitarian concern under U.S. law. Unfortunately. difficulties in interpretation and implementation of this provision have left hundreds of refugee families still separated. For South Vietnamese combat veterans and others who had suffered long terms in reeducation camps because of their -wartime associations with us. this imposed a particularly harsh burden on both them and their children. These children had already been without their fathers when they were in reeducation camps. in some cases for 10 or 15 years. Then the refugees were given a choice between living forever under a Communist dictatorship or leaving their children behind when they immigrated to the United States. These children are marked as members of a counterrevolutionary family and denied educational and employment opportunities by the Government of Vietnam. They would certainly go on suffering in Vietnam because of their families participation in the war. Additionally. the new INS rule was particularly harsh to young women. In Vietnamese society. a 21- or 22yearold girl either lives with her parents or is regarded as vulnerable and unprotected. Recognizing these realities. Congress on three occasions adopted the McCain amendment which changed the INS interpretation of the law so that refugees who are survivors of reeducation camps can once again be accompanied by their unmarried sons and daughters. The latest extension expired on September 30. My bill will extend the McCain amendment for 2 years and fix a drafting problem in the language. This bill will allow over21 unmarried sons and daughters and widows of qualified reeducation detainees to be considered for resettlement -as refugees to the United States. regardless of the date of acceptance. H.R. 1840 is a fair and equitable bill that will provide family reunification and allow us to keep our promise to the people who fought alongside U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. Their courage and valor must never be forgotten. Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Texas and the gentleman from Wisconsin for their leadership. and their respective staffs. I urge my colleagues to give this legislation their support.