Political Quotes

“I would like to strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I certainly want to commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the chairman of our committee, for bringing this resolution to the floor. I also want to commend the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Bereuter), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, for making the proper changes to this resolution that is now before us. Madam Speaker, while Vietnam has made a bit of progress in the past few years in opening up its society, we need to maintain pressure on the Vietnamese government to move more aggressively towards democracy. This resolution recognizes the important role that the more than 1 million Vietnamese Americans in our nation play in raising the awareness of the Vietnam human rights record. The resolution also recognizes the sacrifices made by the armed forces of the United States and the former Republic of Vietnam in fighting to bring democracy and freedom to that nation. We are right to get the Congress on record on all of these issues. I want to note also, Madam Speaker, the tremendous contributions 1 million Vietnamese Americans make to the betterment of our Nation becoming mainstream Americans. They are such an industrious people in education, business, and all walks of life. I want to commend the 1 million Vietnamese Americans that we have who are members of our Nation.”