Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez Accomplishments Fighting for Human Rights and to Improve the Lives of the Vietnamese-American Community Since being elected to Congress in November of 1996, Sanchez has been one of Washington s most relentless advocates for not only the Vietnamese living in the United States, but those who inhabit the country of Vietnam. She has consistently advocated against Vietnam being granted Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status, remaining on the State Department s list of Countries of Particular Concern, being added to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and being allowed to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. In the 105 th Congress (1997-1998), Sanchez co-founded the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam (originally known as the Congressional Dialogue on Vietnam). Below is a synopsis of some of Sanchez s most notable legislative achievements and circumstances concerning the Vietnamese and Vietnamese American communities. 1997: Congresswoman Sanchez authored legislation that recognized and honored former South Vietnamese Commandos who were trained and worked for the United States government during the Vietnam War. She also helped secure the passage of legislation that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton (Public Law #105-18) on June 12, 1997, that provided long overdue compensation for the Commandos ($40,000 per person to support the wives/families). Congresswoman Sanchez established the Campaign to Adopt-a-Voice of Conscience in Vietnam to bring attention to human rights violations in Vietnam and to generate pressure for the release of all prisoners of conscience from prison, house arrests or other forms of detention. Congresswoman Sanchez participated in the Adopt-a-Religious Prisoner in Vietnam campaign sponsored by the Hoa Hao Buddhist church of Southern California, Mr. Tran Huu Duyen and Mr. Nam Liem to raise awareness among U.S. decision makers and the public about religious repression in Communist Vietnam. In 1997, Congresswoman Sanchez hosted the very first forum with the Vietnamese American community and the first US Ambassador to Vietnam, Douglass Pete Peterson to discuss human and religious rights. Speakers from the audience urged the ambassador to make the human rights struggles his first priority. 1998: The House approved legislation authored by Congresswoman Sanchez to honor and recognize the former South Vietnamese Army Commandos who were employed by the US government during the Vietnam War. This legislation officially recognizes these heroic men who fought side-by-side with American soldiers in Vietnam. Congresswoman Sanchez was able to include this legislation in the FY99 DoD Authorization bill (H.R. 3616) which passed by a vote of 357 to 60. Congresswoman Sanchez s first trip to Vietnam in 1998 was off the record met with a number of prominent dissidents and religious prisoners such as Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, the Venerable Thich Quang Do, etc. Congresswoman Sanchez also met with US/Vietnam
officials regarding the case of Nguyen Thanh Giang, a prominent political dissident, who publicly criticize the Communist Party of Vietnam in which he advocated for democracy, human rights and peaceful political platform. 2000: Congresswoman Sanchez again traveled to Vietnam with President Bill Clinton and met with US Embassy officials including Ambassador Peterson, officials of the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam including the Deputy Foreign Minister, the Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, the head of the Immigration Section in the Interior Department, and representatives of the Joint MIA Task Force. During her visit, Congresswoman Sanchez discussed a number of pressing issues, including the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), and the Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR) refugee programs, political and religious prisoners, worker rights, the reception and jamming of Radio Free Asia. 2003: Congresswoman Sanchez was an original co-sponsor of House Resolution 1587, which calls for human rights in Vietnam and allocates money to overcome the jamming of Radio Free Asia as well as a resettlement policy for nationals that have been persecuted in Vietnam. Sanchez also introduced House Resolution 427, a bill recognizing and honoring the courageous leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and the urgent need for religious freedom and related human rights in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The bill received strong bipartisan support and was swiftly passed by an overwhelming vote of 409-13. 2004: Congresswoman Sanchez authored House Resolution 415, which calls on the Vietnamese government to resolve claims regarding confiscated land and urges the Vietnamese government to stop this unjust practice. Also this year, in attempting to visit Vietnam, Congresswoman Sanchez was denied a visa. Since then, the government of Vietnam has she has been denied Congresswoman Sanchez a visa at least 6 times. 2007: Congresswoman Sanchez joined an Armed Services Committee congressional delegation in Vietnam after three previous visa denials by the Vietnamese government. The delegation held meetings regarding the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command s mission to account for missing American soldiers. During this trip, Sanchez had the opportunity to meet with the wives of political dissidents (many whom are imprisoned or under house arrest) at the invitation of US Ambassador Michael W. Marine to discuss the recent escalation of human rights violations by the Vietnamese government. Unfortunately, the wives were blocked entrance to the Ambassador s residence and physically coerced off
the premises by Vietnamese police, providing Sanchez an up-close but disheartening view of the human rights violations in action. During October of 2007, Sanchez hosted U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, Michael Michalak, at Coastline Community College in Westminster to enhance dialogue between the community and U.S. government. In November of 2007, Sanchez led a congressional effort to call for the release of 5 Vietnamese Americans who were falsely accused of carrying a weapon and was arrested by the Vietnamese government. As a result, all five US citizens were released. On December 4, 2007, H.R. 3887, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2007 passed the House 405-2, and has not yet moved in the Senate. The bill would expand the rights of human trafficking victims, and provides special protections for child victims. It would also provide technical assistance and to support foreign governments in prevention and prosecution of human trafficking cases. Congresswoman Sanchez was also an original cosponsor or H.R. 4007, the Amerasian Paternity Recognition Act also known as the Amerasian Naturalization Act. This bipartisan Bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide U.S. citizenship for the children of U.S. servicemen born abroad, more specifically children born during the Vietnam War. 2008: As the Department of State prepared for their upcoming United States-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue on May 29, 2008 in Hanoi, the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam held a hearing entitled Human Rights Conditions in Vietnam and Suggestions for the United States-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue. Sanchez issued a statement during the hearing expressing her concerns and recommended that the United States should again designate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). In light of an upcoming visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to the White House, Sanchez issued a letter to President Bush expressing her strong concern regarding human rights conditions in Vietnam and strongly urged him to re-designate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). In September of this year, Sanchez joined Congressman Frank Wolf, Co-chair of Human Rights Caucus to sponsor the Human Rights Issues in Post Olympics Forum to address human rights violations in Southeast Asia. In October, Congresswoman Sanchez issued a letter to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung calling for the release of internet activists who were reportedly imprisoned by the Government of Vietnam for propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 2009: Congresswoman Sanchez led a bipartisan group of eleven Members of Congress in a letter expressing concern over the Government of Vietnam s continuing disregard for the free speech rights of internet bloggers. The letter was sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and executives from Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google, calling on internet service
providers to protect the freedom of speech and expression and to not collaborate with the Vietnamese government. Sanchez also introduced House Resolution 334 calling on the Communist Government of Vietnam to release imprisoned signers of the Bloc 8406 Manifesto as well as other human rights activists. This resolution also called on the Secretary of State to re-designate Vietnam on the list of "Countries of Particular Concern" for gross violations of religious freedom. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez led the other co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam in a letter calling for the release of Le Cong Dinh, a Vietnamese lawyer arrested earlier this week for defending pro-democracy and free speech advocates in Vietnam. The letter, which was addressed to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was also sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak. The also urged the government of Vietnam to adhere to international human rights standards. 2010 Congresswoman Sanchez worked with U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren to send a letter to Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet urging him to release and dismiss charges against two prominent Vietnamese activists. Both Pham Thanh Nghien and Tran Khai Thanh Thuy are being detained for calling on Vietnam to respect fundamental human rights. Congresswoman Sanchez led Congressional efforts to urge the Department of State issued the following statement regarding the release of Vietnamese human rights activist Father Nguyen Ly, who spent more than 15 years in prison for protesting Vietnam s communist regime: I am extremely pleased by Vietnam s decision to release Father Ly on humanitarian grounds. Father Ly suffered multiple strokes while in prison last year and is reportedly in poor health. Thankfully, he will now be able to seek the medical care he needs in the company of his friends and family. Congresswoman Sanchez was the first to call the US Deputy Chief of Mission in Vietnam, Virginia Palmer, and urged her to take action on reports that one of the democracy activists, writer Tran Khai Thanh Thuy (Tran Khai-Ton-Twee) and her husband were beaten in front of their 13-year old daughter and imprisoned by the Vietnamese police and government. Internet Freedom Resolution (H.Res. 672) Congresswoman Sanchez led Congressional efforts to send letters to internet service providers (ISPs) and met with ISPs like Yahoo and Google to applaud their participation in the Global Network Initiative and to urge these companies to continue advocating for the freedoms of speech and expression on the internet in Vietnam.
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez introduced H.Res. 672 calling on the Government of Vietnam to release imprisoned bloggers and respect Internet Freedom, which passed the House in October, with unanimous support. Prisoners of Conscience Campaign Congresswoman Sanchez started the Prisoners of Conscience Campaign last month for three women activists: Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, Le Thi Cong Nhan, and Pham Thanh Nghien. The campaign calls on Members of Congress to adopt one of these three women and become a voice for them by writing to the following individuals in order to urge them to use diplomatic pressure to release the activists. o Writing to the activist o Writing to President Obama o Writing to Secretary Clinton This campaign is also an effort to raise awareness among Members of Congress about the ongoing human rights violations occurring in Vietnam Introduced H.Res 1515 H.Res. 1515 calls on the President and DoS to use diplomatic pressure to urge Vietnam to respect human rights. The resolution calls on the President and Secretary of State to directly request the release of 3 brave women democracy activists, Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, Le Thi Cong Nhan and Pham Thanh Nghien. Letter to Secretary Clinton Congresswoman Sanchez led a bipartisan group of 19 Members in a letter to Secretary Clinton asking her to address human rights during her trip to Vietnam and urge for the release of 3 women democracy activists. Other Notable Efforts: LS has been an instrumental voice urging for the passage of the Vietnam Human Rights Acts (107, 108, 110, 111 th Congress). Congresswoman Sanchez has continuously nominated the Venerable Thich Quang Do for the Nobel Peace Prize and nominated many other democracy activists for other human rights awards. Sanchez has worked with the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam to advocate against the wrongful arrests of five United States citizens: Mr. Truong Van Ba (of Hawaii), Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, Mr. Cong Thanh Do, Mr. Le Van Phan and his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thinh (all from California). Congresswoman Sanchez was an instrumental voice in advocating President Clinton to successfully put Vietnam on the CPC list. Congresswoman Sanchez has advocated AGAINST Vietnam being:
o o o o granted Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status, removed from the State Department s list of Countries of Particular Concern, added to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and allowed to be a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. All of these policies were endorsed by the Bush Administration who continuously rewarded the Government of Vietnam even though Vietnam made no real effort to improve its human rights record.