David Funderburk: “today President Clinton will formally recognize Communist Vietnam. While American diplomats toast the brutal Hanoi…”

“today President Clinton will formally recognize Communist Vietnam. While American diplomats toast the brutal Hanoi regime, this White House ignores the wishes of hundreds of POW/ MIA families and thousands of Vietnamese-Americans who fled their country to escape Communist tyranny. In 1992, candidate Clinton promised never to lift the trade embargo on the Hanoi communists unless and until there was a full accounting of American servicemen. Mr. Clinton then turned his back on our POW/MIA families claiming that Hanoi had changed. What change? Vietnam is one of the world's worst human rights abusers. Thousands are imprisoned for political and religious beliefs and Buddhist monks are once again threatening to immolate themselves on the streets. Hanoi continues to torture our POW/MIA families with the slow and selective release of information about their husbands and fathers. Mr. President, if you want to know why you are wrong listen to what my colleague Sam Johnson--7 years a prisoner of Hanoi--told the Washington Post about Vietnamese communists: "They have always lied to us, and they are still lying to us. I see normalization as an attempt on their part to get access to American markets. They are not to be trusted." Mr. President, is breaking faith with hundreds of brave American families really worth the profits of the big multinationals bankrolling your reelection campaign?”