Press Release

Press Release

August 1, 2001

Congressman Chris Smith
4th Congressional District, New Jersey
www.house.gov/chrissmith

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Peter Dickinson
(202) 225-3765

International Relations Committee Approves ‘Viet Nam Human Rights Act’
Legislation Would Tie Increased Foreign Aid To ‘Substantial Progress’ on Human Rights

Washington, D.C. — The House International Relations Committee today voted to approve H.R. 2368, the Viet Nam Human Rights Act, authored by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-4), the Vice Chairman of the Committee.

“As relations between the United States and Viet Nam approach full ‘normalization’, the government in Hanoi is unfortunately getting worse, not better, in the way it treats those of its own citizens who share our values,” said Smith. “The Viet Nam Human Rights Act contains a number of provisions designed to ensure that the promotion of freedom and democracy will be a central element in U.S. policy toward Viet Nam,” he said.

The Smith bill (H.R. 2368) would link future increases in non-humanitarian foreign aid to Hanoi to progress on human rights. It does not affect existing aid, or any kind of humanitarian aid, and it does not limit assistance that is provided through non-governmental organizations rather than through the government.

“The Viet Nam Human Rights Act will require that the government of Viet Nam make ‘substantial progress’ toward the release of political and religious prisoners, an end to religious persecution, respect for the rights of ethnic minorities, and elimination of trafficking in human beings before getting any further increases in government-to-government, nonhumanitarian U.S. assistance,” Smith said.

“During the last few months Hanoi has arrested a prominent leader of the Unified Buddhist Church, a Catholic priest who gave written testimony to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and any number of evangelical Protestant ministers and believers. Since February the government has also waged a brutal crackdown against members of the Montagnard ethnic minority groups who participated in peaceful demonstrations asking for religious freedom and for return of their confiscated lands,” he said.

“So as we move toward 100 per cent ‘normalization’ with the Bilateral Trade Agreement, we also need to make very clear – to the Hanoi regime and also to its victims – that expansion of trade relations does not mean we approve of the government’s egregious record of violating the human rights of the people of Viet Nam, or that we do not care,” Smith said.

The Smith bill will also ensure that the U.S. government uses other tools at its disposal to promote freedom and democracy in Viet Nam.

“H.R. 2368 authorizes assistance to nongovernmental organizations committed to promoting freedom and democracy in Viet Nam. It promotes more vigorous efforts to overcome the jamming of Radio Free Asia by the government of Viet Nam and it will require the State Department to take steps to ensure that U.S. cultural and exchange programs are open to people who share our values, not just to Vietnamese government and Communist Party officials and persons close to such officials,” said Smith.

“In addition, my legislation requires the State Department to make sure that we have made every reasonable effort to locate and assist people who were eligible for U.S. refugee programs but were denied access to these programs. Most of these people have been persecuted because they fought on our side during the war or were associated with the United States in some other way,” he said.

“The Viet Nam Human Rights Act is a commonsense approach that attempt to use every reasonable means at our disposal to ensure that the benefits of ‘normalization’ extend not only to the government, but to ordinary people in Viet Nam, especially those who share our commitment to freedom and democracy,” Smith said.

Rep. Chris Smith, who serves as Vice Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, previously served as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights for six years where he played the leading role in securing asylum for more than 18,000 Vietnamese under the Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Refugees (ROVR) program. Smith also serves as the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. He was elected to represent the Fourth District of New Jersey in 1980 and reelected every two years thereafter.

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