Thomas Daschle: “Today, the Senate takes a significant step toward opening Vietnamese markets to America's farmers and workers…”

“Today, the Senate takes a significant step toward opening Vietnamese markets to America's farmers and workers, normalizing our relations with Vietnam, and reaffirming our commitment to engage, and not retreat from, the rest of the world. H.J. Res. 51, the Vietnam Trade Act, is the result of nearly five years of negotiations. It will put into action the landmark trade agreement that was signed last summer by the United States and Vietnam. A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Vietnam. I remember the warmth with which we were greeted by nearly everyone we met. I especially remember a girl I met one morning on a street in Hanoi. She couldn't have been more than 12 or 13 years old, and she was selling old postcards of different places all over the world. I offered to buy the one postcard she had from America. She shook her head and said, 'No, won't sell . . . America.' To her, that postcard was priceless. It represented a place of freedom and opportunity. This trade agreement will allow US goods and services to enter Vietnam. Just as important, it will allow American ideals to flow more freely into that nation. It will help that young woman, and the 60 percent of all Vietnamese who were born after the war, create a freer and more prosperous Vietnam. Instead of holding onto that old, tattered postcard, she will be able to grasp real freedom and opportunity. That will help both of our Nations.”