Tom Lantos

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would first like to commend my very good friend and distinguished colleague from New Jersey, Congressman Chris Smith, for introducing this important resolution and for his unique, dogged pursuit of Vietnamese human rights issues. None of us here today should be under any illusions about the Vietnamese government. According to the State Department's Human Rights Report, the Vietnamese government is an unrepentant authoritarian regime, and true political opposition is not allowed. Freedom of expression does not exist in Vietnam, and Vietnamese are locked in prison for simply expressing political opinions. In the case which is the focus of this resolution, the Vietnamese government has even imprisoned someone from translating into Vietnamese an article entitled ``What is Democracy,'' from the U.S. embassy Web site in Hanoi. It boggles the mind, Mr. Speaker, that the Vietnamese government is so fearful of dissent that it won't even allow citizens to discuss, let alone implement, meaningful democracy. The Vietnamese government also places severe restrictions on the expression of religious beliefs, particularly upon Buddhists, who do not worship as part of the official church, and upon Christians in the Vietnamese highlands. With the approval of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement 5 years ago, the political security and economic relationship between the United States and Vietnam has become increasingly more complex, but we must continue to send a strong signal to Hanoi that the United States continues to make it a top priority to promote internationally recognized human rights everywhere, including Vietnam. Passage of our resolution will indicate to the administration and to the government of Vietnam that we in Congress expect to see real progress on the human rights front in Vietnam, and that we have not forgotten those Vietnamese who are being persecuted for their beliefs. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this carefully crafted resolution. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to my good friend and distinguished colleague from California, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to our distinguished colleague, my good friend from Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, and I commend my good friends Mr. Shaw and Mr. Cardin for introducing this timely and very important resolution. Mr. Speaker, after a years-long quest, Saudi Arabia finally acceded to membership in the World Trade Organization late last year. Unfortunately, the Saudis acceded in letter only--and in a spirit utterly contrary to the principles of free trade embodied by that organization. Moreover, it now appears that Saudi Arabia, having gained accession, has absolutely no intention of implementing even the letter of WTO rules. As Saudi Arabia has now made clear in the aftermath of its accession, it has absolutely no intention of ending its boycott of trade with Israel. This is a direct violation of Saudi Arabia's WTO obligations to Israel. Earlier this month, as if to underscore its disregard for the WTO rules to which it is formally committed, Saudi Arabia hosted a conference called ``Ninth Meeting of the Liaison Officers of Islamic Regional Officers for the Boycott of Israel.'' Mr. Speaker, there is indeed a mechanism by which a WTO member-state can invoke an exception regarding its commitments to another member- state, but Saudi Arabia did not invoke that exception regarding Israel. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out why: The ruling royals no doubt thought that, if they invoked that exception, the U.S. Congress would persuade the Administration to veto their accession to the WTO. So they deceitfully and cynically deceived us into thinking that they had taken a dramatic decision to open trade ties with Israel, all the while planning to continue their boycott unabated. Clearly, USTR thought they had an agreement for an end to the boycott. After signing off on Saudi accession in September last year, USTR boasted that Saudi membership in the WTO meant that--and I quote from a USTR press release--``Saudi Arabia is legally obligated to provide most-favored nation treatment to all WTO members, including Israel. Any government sanctioned activity on the Boycott would be a violation of Saudi Arabia's obligations and subject to dispute settlement. This legal obligation cannot be changed.'' So the Saudis not only deceived the U.S. Congress; they have embarrassed the U.S. Trade Representative and left themselves open to dispute settlement mechanisms. Mr. Speaker, the U.S. helped shepherd Saudi Arabia into the WTO. We have a right to expect the Saudis to obey its rules. Most of all, we have a right to expect them to honor their commitments to us. Mr. Speaker, our Nation has many issues of concern regarding Saudi Arabia--including lack of human rights, a benighted educational system, and ongoing support for extremist madrasas around the world. Nevertheless, this body has every right to expect that the Administration will place an extremely high priority on persuading the Saudis to fulfill their pledges as WTO members, particularly regarding trade with Israel. The Saudis, we now see, entered the WTO under false premises. They must put this situation aright once and for all. They must end their boycott of Israel without delay, and the Administration should not let Saudi rulers have a moment's rest until they comply. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this resolution, and I urge all my colleagues to do likewise.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it is remarkable that more than 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall we are still dealing with the vestiges of failed experiments in totalitarian social engineering. One of these cases is the shocking situation of children in Romania in orphanages. For many years, the dictator of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, had a policy of encouraging population growth to enhance the country's international importance. He encouraged parents to have large numbers of children, but the economic and social conditions in Romania made it impossible to support large families. As a result, many parents were forced to abandon their children to state-run institutions that were grossly underfunded and understaffed. My wife, Annette, and I visited a large number of these Romanian orphanages, and what we saw was worse than pathetic. Many children spent long periods of time in miserable conditions that stunted their development and left them detached from the society at large. Upon the discovery of the large number of Romanian orphans, people from around the world, particularly in the United States, opened up their hearts and proceeded to try to adopt Romanian orphans. In 1990, 121 Romanian children were adopted by American parents. A decade later, the number had increased tenfold. Because of a new Romanian law, Mr. Speaker, last year this number shrank to zero, and the hundreds of U.S. couples who had already been approved for international adoption were caught up in the change of law that did not allow those adoptions already in the pipeline to go forward. Their dream of having children and creating a family has been devastated. No one doubts that there have been serious problems regarding the international adoption situation in Romania since the earlier 1990s. Exorbitant fees and false medical information, in some cases, have blazed across the media, and the Romanian moratorium on international adoptions that was instituted in 2001 may well have been a wise move, although children in mid-process were caused needless suffering. Rather than creating a pause and developing a new system, Romania has instituted a new law that virtually prohibits international adoptions. Clearly, we all support children remaining in their home countries, being integrated into their own societies. However, where there are not enough willing parents, international adoption is one way to address the best needs of the orphan child. I am very pleased, Mr. Speaker, that our Department of State has taken a strong interest in this matter and that they are pushing the Romanians, at a minimum, to deal with American citizens whose petitions were in mid-process. I also support their efforts to clarify the European Union's role in this new law, since the Romanian government has suggested that the new approach is based on accession talks with the European Union. Mr. Speaker, let me say that in the next year the United States will become a party to The Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoptions. This will work to ensure that all countries avoid the abuses that led Romania to close their adoptions in the first place. I urge all of my colleagues to support our carefully crafted resolution. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 4 minutes to our distinguished colleague and my good friend from Texas, Sheila Jackson- Lee.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their powerful and impassioned statements. This is a legislation of conscience. I urge all of my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to my fellow Californian and good friend, who is a fighter for human rights in Africa and everywhere, Ms. Maxine Waters.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that an additional 20 minutes of debate time be made available, equally divided between the two sides.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to my good friend from Massachusetts, our distinguished colleague, Michael Capuano.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. First, I would like to commend my very good friend and distinguished colleague, Mr. Faleomavaega, for introducing this important measure concerning nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. His tireless leadership to strengthen the bonds between the United States and all the nations of the Pacific is deeply appreciated by all of us who have the privilege of serving with him on the International Relations Committee. Madam Speaker, 60 years ago, the history of the Marshall Islands and its people was fundamentally altered. The residents of isolated Bikini Atoll were loaded aboard American military ships and sent to live on a distant atoll. The goal of this relocation was simple: to enable the testing of a hydrogen bomb equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshima-sized weapons. Bikini Atoll had drawn the short straw, and it would become ground zero for the famous Bravo detonation. This blast in 1954 was not the first nor the last nuclear test in the Marshall Islands. Between 1946 and 1958, we conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, but Bravo was the most powerful of our nuclear tests and the one which caused the greatest impact on the long-term health of Marshallese citizens. Despite the enormous after-effects of the U.S. nuclear testing program, the relationship between the Marshallese and the American people has only grown stronger over the past six decades. Through the Compact of Free Association, the United States provided substantial financial assistance to the Marshall Islands and medical aid to those directly impacted by the nuclear tests. In return, the government of the Marshall Islands has been a steadfast ally of the United States since it obtained its independence in 1986. Young Marshallese citizens proudly serve in the United States military, and they have died alongside their American comrades in defense of liberty in Iraq. The government of the Marshall Islands has stood with us on vote after vote in the United Nations, when many of our other allies were more than happy to sideline their commitment to freedom and democracy, particularly in cases when the defense of the democratic State of Israel was at stake. Mr. Speaker, over the past six decades, the people of the Marshall Islands and the United States have been on a long, but important, journey together, beginning with the liberation by American GIs of the Marshall Islands from Japanese occupation, continuing through 12 years of post-war atmospheric nuclear testing and resulting in a strong and mutually beneficial relationship between these two Pacific nations. The 60th anniversary of the Bravo test is an important time to remember our shared history and to appreciate better the future positive relations we can surely expect between our two nations. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this resolution and urge all of my colleagues to do as well. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield as much time as he might consume to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), my distinguished colleague and good friend, author of this resolution and the ranking Democratic member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the International Relations Committee.

Mr. LANTOS. Before yielding back the balance of our time, I want to express my appreciation to the chairman of our Pacific and Asian Subcommittee for his extraordinary work on this and all other issues, and I want to identify myself with the powerful and persuasive statements of my friend and colleague, Eni Faleomavaega.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I want to commend all of my colleagues who have worked on this legislation. We have no further requests for time and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to our distinguished colleague and my good friend, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy).

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. I would first like to thank my good friends and colleagues, Chairman Hyde and Congressman Chris Smith, for their tireless advocacy of peace and justice in Northern Ireland. Madam Speaker, over the past several years the peace process in Northern Ireland has taken many twists and turns. The Good Friday Accord, designed to bring an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland, has been declared dead time and again. During the past few months, however, we have witnessed very promising developments in our efforts to fully implement the Good Friday Accord, which was signed almost 8 years ago. In July of last year, the Irish Republican Army announced that it would forswear violence. The IRA followed up on that announcement by decommissioning a substantial portion of its weapons cache last fall. After these dramatic events, we all hoped and expected that the Good Friday Accord would be fully implemented. It is becoming increasingly clear now that we have reached another impasse. Sinn Fein has refused to support the police in Northern Ireland or to encourage Catholic Republicans to join the police service. The Democratic Unionist Party has refused to enter local government with Sinn Fein or even to talk with them. Meanwhile, Madam Speaker, despite the positive moves on the part of Sinn Fein, the Unionist paramilitary groups have yet to follow up with a no-violence pledge and disarmament agreement. Our resolution addresses all of these outstanding issues. It challenges all the parties to renounce violence and to disarm, and it calls on all sides to fully engage in police reform. Madam Speaker, after many setbacks, substantial pressure has finally developed to fully implement the Good Friday Accord. Our resolution is designed to support this forward movement and to help pave the way to a time when the conflict in Northern Ireland is only a subject for the history books. I strongly support this resolution, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of this resolution. April 2006, marks the 20th anniversary of the catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. At the time of this disaster, Ukraine was still under the iron domination of the Soviet Union. When the accident occurred, we saw the stock Soviet response to all major disasters: cover it up, regardless of the consequences to the innocent civilians living in the region. It was not until radioactive particles were being detected in Finland that the Soviets were forced to admit that the Chernobyl reactor No. 4 was burning. While the authorities were engaged in a political coverup, scores of brave rescue and emergency workers were attempting to douse the burning reactor and hastily construct a concrete cover over the reactor, the so-called sarcophagus that is now in danger of collapse. According to a United Nations study, Madam Speaker, more than 200,000 emergency workers were exposed to high levels of radiation and some 2,200 will ultimately die from radiation-caused illness during their lifetimes. The Chernobyl accident also caused some 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer, the majority of which have occurred in individuals who were children or adolescents at the time of the accident. On December 15, 2000, with the encouragement of the United States and the international community, the President of Ukraine decided to shut down the last functioning reactor at Chernobyl, thus effectively closing the entire nuclear plant and putting an end to a shameful Soviet legacy. The Soviet response to the Chernobyl disaster should serve as an important reminder to future generations of the folly of totalitarian regimes and the need to ensure that democracy remains at the core of our foreign policy. Instead of covering up toxic chemical slicks traveling silently down China's waterways towards crowded cities, Beijing should move towards openness and transparency to save lives; and rather than pretending that the destruction of 700,000 homes in Zimbabwe was a cleanup operation, Zimbabwe's totalitarian leaders should be empowering the young people in these slums to become the next generation of democratic leaders in southern Africa. Madam Speaker, the Chernobyl disaster has many lessons for our age, and our resolution is an important reminder of the importance of freedom and democracy worldwide. I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a remarkable individual, Chaplain Edward Bastille who has dedicated his life to the service of facilitating the recovery of our veterans. During his tenure at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS), Chaplain Bastille coordinated and implemented numerous programs and services that meet the needs of an ever-diversifying residency. As an inspiring leader, Chaplain Bastille, himself a 100 percent disabled service-connected Vietnam combat veteran, was responsible for hiring a talented and progressive clergy at VAPAHCS including: the first nun in the VA as a Eucharistic Minister, the first Catholic Dean in the VA as a Fee Basis Eucharistic, the first Buddhist Chaplain in the VA, the first Muslim chaplain, the first endorsed woman Mormon spiritual leader, and for hiring the first Indian Spiritual Leader. Mr. Speaker, in addition to finding appropriate spiritual counselors for the patients of the VA, Chaplain Bastille established a number of ongoing services and training programs that the facility now offers to comfort and accommodate the healing process for both patients and families alike. A fine example of Chaplain Bastille's efforts is the establishment of the American Indian Cultural Center at Menlo Park, which includes a sweat lodge program to meet the spiritual needs of the Native American patients. This program received a VA Best Practice Award and has been emulated by other VA health care facilities. Also, Chaplain Bastille assisted in revitalizing the Chaplain Program at the VA Northern California Health Care System (VANCHCS) by training staff, rewriting procedures, and providing operational leadership for three years. For the families and other loved ones of patients at the VAPAHCS, he established a Memorial Rose Garden as an extension to the Chapel Garden. The Rose Garden provides a touching space for families to memorialize their loved ones at the health care center. Mr. Speaker, Chaplain Bastille's extraordinary efforts to help humanity has not been limited to the VA. For example, after Hurricane Mitch, Chaplain Bastille helped organize the Palo Alto aid effort: the Honduras Relief Project, which helped send three medical teams to Honduras through funding provided by 12 local churches. He organized the church fundraising and recruited hospital volunteers. For 18 years, Chaplain Bastille has also directed the Patient PTSD chorus and helped lead to trips to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC., and one trip to Russia to meet with Russian-Afghanistan PTSD Veterans. Chaplain Bastille's invaluable work has been duly recognized. In 1991 he received a Commendation given by VA Secretary Derwinski. He also received the Distinguished Service Award in 1992 from the Military Chaplain Association for his work in Ethics and the Julius Varwig Award in 2003 from the National Council for Health and Human Services Ministries for the United Church of Christ. Aside from being a phenomenal and selfless public servant, Chaplain Bastille enjoys a family of three brothers, and his lovely wife, Louise, to whom he has been married for 21 years. Before Chaplain Bastille became a spiritual counselor and leader, he served as an Air Force Specialist in Vietnam. He went on to be the Chaplain for this unit until 1978. Chaplain Bastille obtained his B.S. degree from Springfield College and earned his Master's in Theology from Andover Newton Theological School in 1975. In 1985, Chaplain Bastille continued at Andover Newton to complete his doctorate. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me and rise to pay tribute to this extraordinary individual, Chaplain Edward Bastille. He is a fine example of the power of one to make a difference in this world. As he retires to become the owner of an inn in Gilford, New Hampshire, I wish him every ounce of happiness and success.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of this resolution. I would first like to thank my good friend and distinguished colleague, Congressman Pence of Indiana, for introducing this critically important resolution. This is in line with his longstanding commitment to religious freedom and human rights across the globe. I would also like to commend my friend and a champion for international religious freedom, Henry Hyde, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, for joining us in support of this measure. Madam Speaker, as we have turned on the evening news in recent weeks, we have been riveted by the shocking case of an Afghan citizen, Mr. Abdul Rahman, facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity. Along with my colleagues in Congress and leaders of several NATO countries, I expressed outrage that while soldiers from the United States and other NATO allies are dying in defense of a free Afghanistan, that country's government would be seeking to prosecute an Afghan citizen for acting on his inalienable right as a free human being to choose his own religion. His case was made all the more absurd because he converted well before this new government even existed. Madam Speaker, tolerance and freedom of worship are the sine qua non of democracy. They are key principles in the protection of human rights, which must be embraced by every democratic, pluralistic government, including the Government of Afghanistan. Indeed, Madam Speaker, the founding of our own Nation and the efforts to create a more free and open society began with members of oppressed religious minorities in Europe yearning to worship as they saw fit. Afghan authorities resolved this case by claiming that Mr. Rahman was mentally unfit and therefore was unable to stand trial. Unfortunately, this approach is totally unacceptable because what we have here is a generic, long-term problem. It is reasonable to believe that there will be other religious converts in Afghanistan, and it would be unacceptable to assume that they are all mentally unfit and need special treatment. Madam Speaker, earlier today in a testament to its commitment to international religious freedom, the Government of Italy agreed to grant asylum to Mr. Rahman, and I understand that he has now arrived in Italy. I applaud the Government of Italy for this humanitarian gesture and for their support of international human rights. But while Mr. Rahman's case may have come to closure, the broader issue remains. Afghanistan must live up to its own constitution which provides for the protection of religious freedom, and it is the duty of the United States, our NATO allies, and the entire international community to help Afghanistan establish better protections for religious minorities, including converts, and to enhance human rights protections for all the citizens of Afghanistan. The United States and our friends around the globe are not sacrificing hundreds of our soldiers and committing hundreds of billions of dollars of our resources so that Afghanistan could revert to the days of the Taliban. As the lead Democratic sponsor of this resolution, I strongly urge all of my colleagues in both political parties to support this resolution. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation. This legislation, Mr. Speaker, represents a small, but important, change to existing law to help ease in one small way the suffering of U.S. citizens whose relatives have made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our Nation. Mr. Speaker, we are at war. Hundreds of thousands of Americans from both our regular forces and from the National Guard and Reserves have been deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries around the globe. Our forces have been subject to more stress than any time since the Vietnam War when the United States had the draft. The men and women who have performed so magnificently for their country deserve all the support we can give them, and their families deserve every possible relief we can give them as well. The legislation before us today affords those families some relief at a time of unimaginable loss. Many members of our Armed Forces have developed ties and families abroad, and a few of them are being buried at private cemeteries in foreign lands after making the ultimate sacrifice. At present, our law requires grieving parents, grandparents, and other relatives to pay nearly $100 in first-time passport fees when all they want to do is to attend their family member's final honor. For a large family these costs can add up and for no good reason. The legislation before us remedies this problem. It authorizes the Department of State to waive the passport fees in this situation, just as the Department is currently allowed to do when the family member is being buried in a U.S. military cemetery. It also extends the waiver to allow grandparents to be eligible for it. Mr. Speaker, this is a problem that affects relatively few people. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that it would have no significant impact on the Federal budget; but when it does happen, it can be a godsend to those who have lost so much. I commend my dear friend, the Senate sponsor of this legislation, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, for introducing this humanitarian measure; and I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting it. Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our men and women bravely serving in the Armed Forces--past, present, and future. As they fight the forces of terrorism around the globe we must seek to honor their sacrifices made to preserve our freedoms. As we remember them on March 26, National Support the Troops Day, it is only fitting that we participate in a moment of silence to reflect on their service. Those currently serving in our Armed Forces are protecting liberty that was established by the Founding Fathers and has been preserved by our Nation's veterans. Soldiers, sailors, and airmen daily risk their lives fighting those who wish to enslave mankind to religious extremism, oppression, and tyranny. Today I also rise in support of S. 1184, an effort to properly honor those whose loved ones have fallen in combat. It is the least we can do to waive passport fees for those who must travel overseas in order to visit the resting place of their relatives who have given the full measure of service. From the beaches of France to deserts of Africa, American soldiers have given their lives and been interred on foreign soil. We are ever grateful for their sacrifice and this is but a small way we can now support their relatives. Finally, recognizing that our military is dependent on a robust recruiting operation, I give my full support for H. Con. Res. 354. To preserve an all volunteer military service, it is essential that recruiters be granted access to the best and brightest American students. Service in the military is an honorable position and without our Armed Services, we would not have the academic freedoms that have made our Nation so advanced in culture and science. I recently had the pleasure of recognizing New Jersey's Fifth District nominees to the U.S. Service Academies. Not all students have that honor, but all students should have the option of learning more about this noble profession from qualified Armed Forces recruiters.