A Statement from the Floor of the House
The Honorable Loretta Sanchez

Calling for the release of Father Nguyen Van Ly

May 11, 2004

Watch Loretta on the House Floor...

Mr Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.Con.Res. 378, a resolution which calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Catholic Father and Human Rights champion Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly.

I thank my colleague Mr. Smith of New Jersey for bringing this resolution to the floor.  I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill, and proud to work with my colleague on the bi-partisan Vietnam Caucus.

On this day, the 10^th anniversary of Vietnam Human Rights Day, and the 14^th anniversary of the Vietnamese Manifesto of the Non-Violent Movement for Human Rights, there can be nothing more appropriate than bringing attention to the unjust imprisonment of Father Ly.

We as Member of the U.S. Congress bear a particular responsibility to defend Father Ly, as it was, in part, in reaction to testimony that Father Ly gave regarding the human rights abuses of the Vietnamese government to the U.S. Congress that prompted his most recent arrest.

In reaction to Father Ly’s defense of human rights, and his pronouncements on the need for religious freedom and non-violent resistance, the government of Vietnam branded him “traitor”, prohibited him from carrying out his religious responsibilities as a priest, and sentenced him to 13 years of prison for “damaging the Government’s unity policy”.

The imprisonment of Father Ly is not only a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it is a direct attack on all of us who value basic human rights.

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for bringing this resolution to the floor, I thank him for his steadfast leadership on promoting human rights in Vietnam, and I would urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.