[vacets-gen] [American Legion National Commander Calls for Senate Vote on Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004 ]

[Hai Tran]

American Legion National Commander Calls for Senate Vote on Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004                      

 

    INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The top official of the world'slargest veterans service organization is calling on members of the U.S. SenateForeign Relations Committee to bring to a vote a bill that aims to improveVietnam's worsening record on human rights and religious freedom.    "Severe religious persecution is standard practice in Vietnam, and it isworsening," said Thomas P. Cadmus of Michigan, national commander of the 2.7-million member American Legion.  "Hundreds of Christians, Buddhists andfollowers of other faiths are in jail today, or under house arrest withoutcharges, for peacefully following beliefs that are not authorized by thegovernment."    The Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004, sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith,R-N.J., passed by a 323-45 vote in the House on July 19.  The Senate versionwas introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., on Sept. 9.  It was referred tothe Senate Foreign Relations Committee where it has yet to be considered.    A similar measure
 passed by a 410-1 landslide in the House in 2001 butstalled in committee after it was referred to the Senate. "The number ofkillings, beatings and arrests of innocent worshipers in Vietnam since thedeath of that bill is anyone's guess," Cadmus writes in an editorial releasednationwide today. "It is unconscionable to fail these prayerful people -- somany of whom are allies we left behind in Vietnam -- because some members ofthe Senate won't so much as give this bill its day in court. By failing toact, the committee also sends a message to Hanoi, which covets U.S. aid andtrade but, as yet, has been given no good reason to change its draconianhuman-rights policies."    On Sept. 15, Vietnam was designated by the U.S. State Department as a"country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act.The designation is shared with North Korea, Iran, Burma, China, Eritrea, SaudiArabia and Sudan.    Among the primary targets of Vietnam's religious persecution and
 human-rights abuses are the Montagnard people of the central highlands who foughtalongside U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War. Christian Montagnards werereportedly attacked and beaten by Vietnam government authorities during aprayer vigil last Easter weekend. Numerous other abuses, including violenceand church destruction, have been widely reported since 2000. New laws inVietnam are set to take effect Nov. 15 that would give the government greaterfreedom to restrict worship.    In the editorial, the commander calls upon all veterans and all Americanswho value freedom and human rights to demand immediate Senate action on thebill, which will die at the end of the 108th Congress if not acted on. "Toneglect our former allies again is, at best, to subject them to Communistthought control," Cadmus states.  "At worst, our lack of action delivers theirdeath sentence ... America must do better."    Thomas P. Cadmus, a U.S. Army veteran from Ypsilanti, Mich., is nationalcommander of the 2.7
 million-member American Legion, the nation's largestveterans organization.
SOURCE American Legion
Web Site: http://www.legion.org 




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