Joseph Cao

We fully understand that the practice of faith, which includes fighting for social justice, advocating for the oppressed, for the poor, for the elderly, all of that is encompassed in religious faith.

We ask that this House and this administration will heed the voice of the oppressed around the world, particularly those of the people of Vietnam.

Staying faithful to the principles that make our nation great, we will fight for the rights of those who do not have a voice.

When you deprive people their rights to live in dignity, to hope for a better future, to have control over their lives--when you deprive them of that choice, then you expect them to fight for these rights.

It is just a another terrible indication of what dictatorship is all about.

What transpired in Vietnam after the Communist takeover could only be described by analogously linking the tragedy of Vietnam to such unconscionable events in human history as the Holocaust, the Killing Fields and the Great Purge.

April 30, 1975, was the day of infamy for the millions of Vietnamese whose future was dashed when their freedom was extinguished by the brutal assault on South Vietnam by Communist forces in blatant violation of the 1973 Paris Peace Accord.

The history of Vietnam and the history of Vietnamese-Americans is a history bathed in tears, a history of unbearable suffering but also a history with a proclamation Of hope.

I urge the U.S. Congress to present the Vietnam Human Rights Act, to present the Vietnam Sanctions Act.

The passage of the Vietnam Human Rights Act through the House speaks very loudly of where we are as a government.

And therefore I would ask the Congress to take actions now to back up our dialogue with action to show Vietnam that these are no longer empty words.

The Communist Government of Vietnam persecutes all religion across the board, and more particularly they target those groups of people that do not have a voice.

I absolutely agree. Because when we look at the history of our country, this great nation was founded on the principles of religious freedom, on the principles of the freedom of expression and individual rights.

I am deeply disturbed that the tier rankings are not being better utilized by our State Department to pressure Vietnam to correct the trafficking abuses occurring within its government.

I will be introducing the Vietnam Human Rights Act very soon.

Many of these land disputes are promoted by officials who have some kind of business dealings that would lead them to make a lot of money.

Freedom and democracy are not only confined to the United States.

Their intention is about cracking down on democracy activism, on religious freedom activism.

Any democracy activist, any person who is involved in promoting freedom and religious freedom in Vietnam, they are all considered at least by us here in the United States as people of great importance.

If the administration does not act, the U.S. Congress must act.

The state of human rights in Vietnam is very poor and it's growing worse.

Land rights issues, land confiscation issues, both for ethnic minorities and religious groups ... is an area of increasing concern.

The United States has to be more assertive in forcing Vietnam to adhere to the promises that it made to the U.S. Congress in 2006 and this requires the passing and enforcing of the Vietnam Human Rights Act.

Sadly, instead of improving its human rights records, the Government of Vietnam has increased its repression of dissenters and religious leaders.