Wayne Gilchrest: “the main discussion here seems to be, on both sides of the aisle, the question of human rights violations, the question…”

“the main discussion here seems to be, on both sides of the aisle, the question of human rights violations, the question of religious persecution, immigration policy, and the issue of the POW and the MIAs. So how best do we deal with that particular issue right now 2 or 3 decades after the war is over? I think that the U.S. needs to exert its influence in those areas. So how best do we exert our influence to change that, when it seems to me very obvious America's absence of engagement will create a void that will be filled by a country with little or no interest in our POWs or MIAs, human rights violations or their emigration policy. It is the United States in this world that wants to be engaged in those kinds of problems. The Vietnamese government has shown significant improvement in all of these areas in the last couple years, especially since our former colleague, Pete Peterson, a former POW, is now the ambassador to Vietnam. With the Vietnamese and the Americans working side by side on roads, bridges, coastal hotels, dredging the harbors, et cetera, et cetera, with the Vietnamese paying the bill, with that kind of engagement, the human contact with this country and that country will make the difference. I urge a no vote on the resolution.”