Royce Effort on Vietnamese Human Rights Passes Key Committee Congressman Ed
Royce
May 20, 2009
*State Department Authorization Contains Royce Amendment on Religious
Freedom** *
Washington, D.C. — Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the
Foreign Relations Authorization Act, a bill that authorizes funding for the
U.S. Department of State. Importantly, this bill contains an amendment
offered by Ed Royce calling on the State Department to relist Vietnam as a
"Country of Particular Concern" for violations of religious freedom. The
amendment was included in the bill after spirited debate in Committee, led
by Royce.
"Passage of this bill is an important step to putting the House of
Representatives on record as supporting religious freedom in Vietnam. We
need to send a message to the State Department that the status quo in
Vietnam is unacceptable," said Royce.
Since 1999, the U.S. State Department has designated countries that "engage
in or tolerate particularly severe violations of religious freedom," as
"Countries of Particular Concern." This annual designation puts the
violations of specific countries on record, making it a significant
diplomatic tool for advancing human rights.
Due to Vietnam’s egregious human rights violations, the State Department had
previously listed it as one of these countries. In 2006, Vietnam was removed
from this annual list.
"Some have seen positive steps in Vietnam, but frankly, I don’t see it.
Religious freedom remains under attack. The Communist government continues
to harass and physically abuse worshipers who don’t follow every last state
sanctioned rule," Royce stated.
Representative Joseph "Anh" Cao joined Representative Ed Royce as an
original cosponsor of H.Res.20 the resolution that provided the text for the
amendment.
Rep. Ed Royce is a senior member on the Asia, the Pacific and the Global
Environment Subcommittee. Additionally Royce serves on the Congressional
Caucus on Vietnam and the Caucus on Human Rights. |
