Xavier Becerra: “passage of House Joint Resolution 120 would not be a message, it would be a hammer. It would be a hammer because it…”

“passage of House Joint Resolution 120 would not be a message, it would be a hammer. It would be a hammer because it sends the clear message to the people of Vietnam that we are not serious about trying to be constructive and open up our trade and open up our relations with this country. If we believe that, by imposing these stricter standards of economic engagement with Vietnam, we are going to send a message and have some success; and if we are going to look at examples like South Africa, we have to remember that South Africa were multilateral sanctions where we had virtually an entire world behind those efforts to change South Africa. We cannot say that about Vietnam. We know for a fact that the Europeans, Japan, other Asian countries, Latin America, they are all ready to go in and fill a void if the U.S. disengages. That will not just be at the expense of U.S. business, it will be at the expense of the U.S. government and the U.S. people. We must engage. If no one has faith with the folks that are speaking here, please remember our former colleague, Pete Peterson, ambassador to Vietnam, a former POW who says it is right to do this. Please oppose House Joint Resolution 120.”