Joe Cunningham: “I would make one correction: There is no such word as ``hero.'' You do what you have to do, and try to survive. I rise…”

“I would make one correction: There is no such word as ``hero.'' You do what you have to do, and try to survive. I rise in support of this resolution. One of the most victorious things I think that has ever happened to me is we sponsor an art contest, like many of the Members. A young lady named Foo Lee, a Vietnamese refugee, won that contest. I found out that her mom had actually had to stay back while the whole family escaped in the boat, in a rickety old boat, which the picture was about. If you could see the picture, you would actually have tears in your eyes. You could see the pain in that family. It took us 2 years to get Foo Lee's mom out of a reeducation camp in Vietnam. She stayed behind, knowing that if the rest of the family was caught, they would be put into this reeducation camp, and not many people survive. After 2 years, on Christmas Eve, Foo Lee's mom came into San Diego. That is the kind of treatment that you can expect in Vietnam. I commend Pete Peterson, who asked me to come over just a couple months ago and raise the American flag over Ho Chi Minh City for the first time in many years, in about 25 years. Pete and I and a delegation did so with Hal Rogers. I want to tell you something. They are moving forward. As a matter of fact, I told the President of the Philippines this, that they are studying English. You see people on bicycles, carrying computers, they are studying economics, and they are going to move. Yet they are still repressed.”