Tom Lantos

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen).

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

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. First, I want to pay tribute to my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen), for introducing this resolution. This resolution brings about the realization of an important dream. It honors the organization Seeds of Peace for promoting understanding and coexistence among young people from the Middle East and other areas of conflict all around the globe. It praises Seeds of Peace for demonstrating that Israelis and Palestinians, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, Serbs and Bosnians and others can live together in peace and prosperity. Seeds of Peace reflects the vision of my late friend, John Wallach, who founded this organization 10 years ago. John believed that real peace is made by people as much as by treaties, and he believed that peacemaking starts with the attitudes developed in youth. More than 2,000 young people from nearly two dozen nations in areas of conflict have participated in Seeds of Peace programs mainly at the Seeds of Peace summer camp in Otisfield, Maine. Here they encounter, work with, play with, and argue with each other, and far more often than not befriend their counterparts from the other side of their national conflict. Seeds of Peace works to dispel the mistrust and prejudice that are among the root causes of violence and to build a generation of leaders committed to achieving peace. Of course, Mr. Speaker, Seeds of Peace does not guarantee peace, and it is certainly not an alternative to patiently negotiated peace treaties among governments. It does, however, ensure that there will be a growing core of high-quality people on both sides of the Israeli-Arab divide, and other conflicts as well, who will view one another as flesh and blood human beings and not as dehumanized enemies. The mutual understanding fostered by Seeds of Peace reinforces negotiations in good times and helps buffer conflicts in bad times. For that reason, Seeds of Peace deserves our respect, our appreciation, and our commendation as a successful venture in people- to-people peacemaking. It serves as a model for what a world which is violence-free could be in the future. I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 288. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson).

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

Mr. LANTOS

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

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

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), a distinguished member of the California delegation. (Ms. LOFGREN asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. LANTOS. In that case, Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez), the author of this resolution.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I first would like to commend my good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez) for introducing this important and timely resolution. I would also like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) for moving this legislation to the floor so expeditiously. Mr. Speaker, the resolution before the House tackles a critically important human rights matter: the continued oppression of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam and the lack of religious freedom in that country. For most of the last two millennia, Buddhism flourished in Vietnam. But in 1981, the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam was declared illegal, its temples were confiscated by the government, its clergy was persecuted because they refused to join State-sponsored Buddhist organizations. Leading figures in the Buddhist Church have been jailed, detained in isolated areas, harassed, and kept under constant surveillance. The Vietnamese government has systematically prevented Buddhist monks from meeting and worshipping as they choose. The Vietnamese government's campaign of repression against key religious figures and organizations has been strongly criticized by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an organization which we will be soon commending this morning. Our President has designated Vietnam ``as a country of particular concern'' under the International Religious Freedom Act. Mr. Speaker, this resolution urges the government of Vietnam to respect the right of all religious organizations to meet, to worship, to operate, and to practice their faith in accordance with Vietnam's own Constitution and international covenants to which Vietnam is a signatory. We cannot have truly normal relations with Vietnam until the Vietnamese government finally lives up to its obligations to protect religious freedom. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS

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

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. Let me begin by commending my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), for sponsoring this important resolution. As co- chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Congressman Wolf has been tireless in his support for human rights and religious liberty around the globe. Without his passionate commitment and determination, we would not have passed this landmark piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not also commend the distinguished vice chairman of the Committee on International Relations, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), my good friend, who is another tireless advocate for human rights and who was pivotal in the passage of the Religious Freedom Act. In the 5 years since President Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Act and established the Office of International Religious Freedom and the United States Commission on Religious Freedom, huge strides have been made in making religious freedom a core objective of U.S. foreign policy. In addition to the full-time diplomatic work of these two offices, the annual report on international religious freedom published by the State Department every year, these documents and the diplomatic efforts give hope to millions of people who are denied the ability to proclaim freely and to practice freely their faith. The Religious Freedom Act also requires the Department of State to name and to sanction the most egregious violators of religious freedom. This asks for the United States annually to confront governments like China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia for their policies of religious persecution and discrimination. The Religious Freedom Act has given our government an important set of tools to use to document and confront the alarming reemergence of virulent anti-Semitism in Europe and elsewhere. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the resolution we are considering today stresses the need to renew the commitment of the Congress to the promotion of religious liberty. Religious freedom continues to be under siege in many parts of the world, and we must rededicate ourselves to the effort to confront the violators. Mr. Speaker, freedom of religion and conscience are the cornerstones of liberty and of democracy. That is why religion is the first freedom enumerated in our Bill of Rights. If we succeed in promoting religious liberty in the United States' foreign policy, we will not only bring an end to unfathomable human suffering, but we will also advance the development of democracy and we will promote other fundamental human rights. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Res. 423. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 8 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards), my good friend and distinguished colleague, who has been a fighter for religious freedom throughout his distinguished congressional tenure.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, we have no additional requests for time, and I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of this resolution. First I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert), the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros- Lehtinen) for their important contribution in bringing this issue to our attention. Mr. Speaker, Afghanistan is entering a crucial phase in its efforts to leave behind the legacy of two decades of nightmare, civil war, narco-terrorism, the Taliban, and the appalling abuse of women and girls. Over the coming year, the Afghans will be approving a new constitution and a new Afghan government hopes to hold free and fair elections. These acts will determine Afghanistan's course for decades to come. The role of women and girls in this process remains, unfortunately, unclear. After suffering for so long under the brutal Taliban regime, Afghan women are finally participating in Afghan society, including the political process in that country. But despite progress being made, the threat still remains that Afghan women will once again become the subject of both discrimination and violence. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, girls' education is coming increasingly under attack, with the burning of schools dedicated for that purpose. And there are disturbing reports of abuses of women's rights by local warlords in spite of the efforts of the Afghan transitional authority to protect them. Our resolution commends the participation of Afghan women in the government of Afghanistan and in civil society, and it encourages the full inclusion of women in all sectors of Afghan society, particularly the political, economic and educational sectors. As the key decisions on the Afghan Constitution draw near, the United States and the international community must continue to press the Afghan government to allow the full inclusion of women in Afghan society at all levels and to provide for the full protection of women's human rights in the Constitution of Afghanistan. I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Res. 393. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) who has been an indefatigable fighter for all human rights issues and without whom we would not be considering this resolution.

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

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, first I would like to commend my dear friend and wonderful neighbor, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald) for introducing this important resolution. The gentlewoman has shown enormous leadership on behalf of Cambodian Americans and her work is greatly appreciated by all of us. The resolution calls attention to one of the most horrendous chapters in contemporary world history. The Cambodian genocide which unfolded from April 1975 to January 1979. Mr. Speaker, 3 million Cambodians living in cities were forced into the countryside in a brutal and bloody effort to reshape Cambodian society. The Khmer Rouge targeted these city dwellers for execution, along with anyone else deemed by them to be educated, sophisticated or just different. By the time the Khmer Rouge was forced from power in 1979, over 1.7 million Cambodian citizens amounting to over 20 percent of Cambodia's population had perished. When a number of us visited Cambodia not long ago, the vestiges of this brutal onslaught of innocent men, women and children was still profoundly visible. Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians had been forced to flee their native lands. Many were living in squalid refugee camps in Thailand and other Southeast Asia nations. During the 1980s, some 150,000 Cambodians were received by our own country as refugees, and they began the long process of rebuilding their shattered lives. Cambodians who had lost most of their families and been subject to forced labor and torture found new lives here in the United States, and they began the difficult process of rebuilding their shattered dreams. Cambodian Americans now number over 200,000, Mr. Speaker, and they are making an enormous contribution to our Nation's economy and to the development of our diverse culture. These new Americans continue to face many challenges rebuilding their lives in the United States even with financial, psychological and educational assistance provided to them. With passage of this resolution, we remember the victims of the Cambodian genocide, not only those who perished in Cambodia's Killing Fields, but those who were left to live with the physical and psychological scars inflicted by the hands of the brutal Khmer Rouge. The courage and resiliency of these survivors is an inspiration to all of us. We cannot undo the massive devastation of the horrendous 4 years of Cambodia's history. By remembering the victims of the Cambodian genocide, however, we do our best to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this important resolution. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentleman from California (Ms. Millender-McDonald), my good friend and distinguished colleague who is the author of this resolution.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan).

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise in strong support of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2003 ensures that our Nation continues to play a leadership role in combatting one of the most despicable of all human rights violations, the use of torture around the globe. I was very pleased to join with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), my good friend and distinguished colleague, in sponsoring this measure. I would like to commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his long-standing leadership on this issue, and I want to congratulate him for all of his work to support the heroic endeavors of all clinics around the world in the treatment of victims of torture. He is in the forefront of every single issue relating to human rights, and he has carried the ball on this issue as well. On June 26, 1945, Mr. Speaker, the United Nations charter was signed, inaugurating the global fight for human rights. On the same day, 42 years later, the United Nations convention against torture came into force, declaring the depravity of torture and affirming the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. In 1998, the United Nations declared June 26 an international day in support of torture victims. Mr. Speaker, despite the work that has been done on the international front to prevent torture, it is a grim truth that governments worldwide continue to torture their citizens with impunity. Exact figures are difficult to come by, but Amnesty International estimates that some 117 countries, more than half of the countries on the face of this planet, still practice torture on their own citizens. Pakistan, Guatemala, Zimbabwe, and China consistently rank high on this grim and despicable list. In some nations, the governments themselves carry out the torture. In some, they condone its use by the nation's political machinery. The ramifications of torture practices are beyond the realm of the comprehension of normal human beings. Torture leaves no victim unscarred. It effectively shapes the remainder of his or her life. Torture survivors need psychological and physical therapy to cope with the post-traumatic stress that afflicts them every single day. Recovering from torture, Mr. Speaker, is a long-term process. It can take years before torture survivors can once again feel emotionally stable and comfortable in their own society. Mr. Speaker, it sometimes just takes one individual to stand strong against the darkness of human rights violations. The torture victims treatment center community is fortunate to have such a person in my wife's and my good friend, Dr. Inge Genefke, of Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr. Genefke started her work for torture victims as cofounder of the Danish Medical Group of Amnesty International 30 years ago. She observed during the treatment of torture victims that the physical wounds of those lucky enough to survive torture heal with time, but the trauma of her clients lingered on much longer. In 1982, Dr. Genefke started a multidisciplinarian treatment approach integrating physical and psychological treatment. Her work has been utilized by torture victim treatment centers across the globe, dramatically improving the treatment of torture victims in scores of countries. An estimated half a million foreign torture survivors reside in the United States, and we estimate that about 100 million live worldwide. There are now 250 treatment centers for torture victims internationally, with the sole purpose of providing crucial services to survivors of torture. In our own country, the Center for Victims of Torture in Minnesota was the first of its kind in the United States and the third torture victims center in the world, and I want to pay tribute to my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), for her leadership role in connection with this important center. These centers are among those funded through the Torture Victims Relief Act, and their work is the only hope for people who have endured torture. I urge all of my colleagues to support our legislation, H.R. 1813. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. (Mr. LANTOS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks, and include extraneous material.)

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 1824, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Amendments Act of 2003. Mr. Speaker, I would first like to express my deep appreciation to the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde), who once again demonstrated outstanding leadership in managing this all-encompassing, bipartisan committee review of OPIC's operations and management. On November 4 of this year, the Committee on International Relations reported H.R. 3145, the identical companion bill to the legislation we are considering today. All of the language in the committee's report should be considered directly applicable to the reauthorization we are voting on today. Mr. Speaker, OPIC has faced its share of controversy over many years. In particular, OPIC's mission to support private investment in developing countries has sometimes seemed to be in conflict with its own statutory responsibilities regarding loss of U.S. jobs and the protection of the environment. OPIC's leadership recently has made significant efforts to address these issues. I want to commend Dr. Peter Watson, the president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, for his commitment to ensuring that OPIC complies with its statutory mandate on environment and labor rights standards. The reauthorization package we have before us is sound. Not only does the bill reauthorize OPIC through September 30, 2007, but it reflects a comprehensive, bipartisan compromise between the committee, OPIC, and all of its stakeholders. I am particularly pleased, Mr. Speaker, that our package will address the concerns shared by many of my colleagues in recent years about the effectiveness of OPIC's safeguards to ensure that its projects support the interests of American workers, protect the global environment, and support human rights. I want to thank my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), for his willingness to work with us to address these concerns. The report language we have agreed upon directs OPIC to establish a robust and independent accountability mechanism on these matters, which I strongly believe will help guarantee broad congressional support for this important institution. Mr. Speaker, this legislation has strong bipartisan support, as well as the support from environmental and labor groups. I urge all of my colleagues to support OPIC's reauthorization by voting in favor of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, before I close, I include for the Record two letters from OPIC President Watson to Chairman Hyde and me that were crucial to our side's support for this legislation. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Washington, DC, October 30, 2003. Hon. Henry Hyde, Chairman, Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Tom Lantos, Ranking Member, Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Hyde and Congressman Lantos: As Congress prepares to conclude action on legislation to reauthorize the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), I wanted to affirm to you again my strong commitment to OPIC's statutory mandates with regard to the environment. During my confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in May 2001, I said, ``I support OPIC's rejection of applications for projects that pose major or unreasonable hazards to the environment, health and safety. OPEC should continue to support only environmentally responsible development.'' I believe that my actions and decisions over the past two years in promoting environmentally sound development have given substance to these words. Over this time, I have had the opportunity to talk with members of the International Relations Committee and Congressional Committee staff concerning OPIC's environmental stewardship, and to discuss ways to make our program more accountable and transparent. My meetings with Representative Earl Blumenauer have been particularly valuable in this regard. Based on these many discussions, I want to confirm to the Committee my intent, in consultation with stakeholders, to create an ``accountability mechanism'' at OPIC. Among other functions, it is my intention that the mechanism will allow for a robust, consistent and independent environmental evaluation of OPIC projects, policies and practices, ensuring that OPIC environmental program is the model for best practices in other bilateral and multilateral institutions, and that the agency continues to meet its developmental goals in the most environmentally responsible manner. I look forward to beginning this ambitious process in the coming weeks. I also want to confirm to the Committee my intent to continue the dialogue with stakeholders on a ``transparency'' initiative. Among other functions, such an initiative is intended to ensure that stakeholders can more clearly see how OPIC is implementing its statutory mandates and policy commitments concerning environmental stewardship. This initiative would heighten transparency and information disclosure concerning OPIC's projects and internal mechanisms. I look forward to re-engaging in this dialogue in the coming weeks and months. Additionally, with a view toward fully supporting our statutory mandates and enhancing the contribution provided to the Corporation by the Board of Directors, I wanted to inform the Committee that when a private sector Director term expires, I am prepared to recommend to the Administration that a future private sector Director have, as part of that individual's professional qualifications, substantial experience in advocating for or managing regulatory compliance with environmental standards. I deeply appreciate the bipartisan support OPIC has received from the Committee over the past year, and look forward to continuing to work with you and other members of the Committee in the future. Best regards, Peter S. Watson, President & CEO.