The Honorable (Your Senator’s Name)

U.S. Senate

Washington, DC 20510

 

Dear Senator:

 

Please cosponsor the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004, which sought to ensure that trade and expanded relations with Vietnam would promote political reforms, freedom, civil society, and democracy in that country.

 

Repeatedly passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support (410-1 in 2001 and again, 323-45 in 2003), this legislation links further increases in U.S. non-humanitarian assistance to progress on human rights in Vietnam and provide assistance to pro-democracy groups.

 

Human rights and religious freedom situation in Vietnam has deteriorated significantly since 2001. The U.S. Commission of International Religious Freedom has repeatedly recommend Congress to pass Vietnam Human Rights Act.

 

If passed, this legislation would reinforce a balanced approach of trade and human rights in U.S. foreign policy. Undeniable reality of human rights violations in Vietnam today has suggested that perhaps one reason why our “constructive approach” failed to work is because we have simply focused on trade and economic assistance as the only solution in this complex relationship. We strongly believe that a “constructive approach” must not solely rely on trade itself but also on universal values that would build a strong foundation for US-Vietnam bilateral relation to foster in the future.

 

Passing this legislation would also mean that our people’s tax money would be well spent and directly delivered to benefit the people of Vietnam. While the U.S. government has increasingly provided economic assistance to Vietnam over the years, we must make sure that this money will be spent to help developing infrastructure, carrying out reforms to benefit 80 millions of Vietnamese. Currently, there is no benchmark or monitoring system available to measure progress in human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam. However, it was with this clear intention that the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the bill 410-1 when it, at the same time, ratified the US-Vietnam bilateral trade agreement in 2001.

 

I wholeheartedly urge you to join the bill’s author, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), in working to build a more positive bilateral relationship between the two countries and help construct the stage for the development of civil society for 80 million Vietnamese.

 

Please support the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2004.

 

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