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[Page H4440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GIVE MICHAEL NGUYEN FAIR TREATMENT IN VIETNAM
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Porter) for 5 minutes.
Ms. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of Mr. Michael
Nguyen, an American citizen and resident of my home district,
California's 45th Congressional District.
Mr. Nguyen left Vietnam in 1975, 44 years ago. The Vietnamese
Government arrested Michael last summer, almost a year ago, while he
was traveling and visiting elderly relatives. Michael has now been
detained in Vietnam for over 11 months.
We still don't know what crime he is alleged to have committed or
what, if any, evidence the Vietnamese Government has to justify his
detention and his upcoming trial.
My office has asked repeatedly for this information, but we have been
told that we won't know these basics until Michael is taken to court
later this month. His family won't know these basics until then.
To make matters worse, for the vast majority of these past 11 months,
Michael was being detained without formal charges at all. We now know
that Michael is being charged for allegedly violating article 109 of
the Vietnamese Criminal Code, activities against the government. This
is a charge that Vietnamese officials have used in the past for
arbitrary arrests.
By all accounts, Michael is a good man. He was an active member of
his community and church in Orange County. I have met his family
numerous times, and his wife, Helen, was my guest for the State of the
Union.
He has four beautiful daughters, all school age, who miss their
father very much. He is a dad who makes breakfast for his girls in the
morning and was their primary caretaker.
He was a small business owner, and he is an American citizen with no
criminal record here in the United States.
He hasn't been able to speak to his family during this entire time,
nearly 1 year. Instead, the Vietnamese Government permits only monthly
visits by the U.S. State Department. I thank our State Department
officials for visiting him, enabling him to hear messages from his
loved ones, and working to ensure his health during this long
detention.
But that isn't enough. His family is suffering. Michael's wife,
Helen, has taken on a second job while acting as a single mom to their
four young girls. His daughters have trouble sleeping and focusing at
school.
This entire situation is unjust. Michael was held without formal
charges for over 9 months, and we still have been presented with no
evidence. That is not how an American citizen should be treated abroad.
We expect our partners to show respect for human rights and the rule of
law.
I am grateful that so many of my colleagues, Republicans and
Democrats, continue to join me in calling on the Vietnamese Government
to do what is right. This is not a partisan issue.
Respectfully, I demand that the Vietnamese Government provide Michael
with a fair resolution to his case and return him safely to the U.S.
and to his family as soon as possible.
I will continue to work to secure Michael's release until he is
reunited with his family and brought home to his country, the United
States of America.
____________________