Chris Smith: “Mr. Speaker, the Government of Vietnam likes to say that Vietnam is a country, not a war. It is a catchy little…”

“Mr. Speaker, the Government of Vietnam likes to say that Vietnam is a country, not a war. It is a catchy little self-evident phrase that some Members of Congress picked up during the bilateral trade agreement debate, as if to suggest that the debate was somehow about the Vietnam War, which it was not, instead of Vietnam's shameful present-day human rights record, which it was. Of course Vietnam is a country, to which I respond: behave like an honorable country. Live up to their word as a signatory to numerous human rights covenants, including the international covenant on political and civil rights. Stop bringing dishonor and shame to their government by abusing their own people. Mr. Speaker, according to the U.S. State Department report, the 'Report on Human Rights Practices for 2003': 'The Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit serious abuses.' Rather than repress and jail, harass, intimidate, and torture, the government should recognize and reflect the innate goodness of the Vietnamese people, a kind, gentle, compassionate people who deserve better, much better.”