Yểm trợ cho Nghị Quyết H.Res. 342, nữ DB Zoe Lofgren (Dân Chủ - CA), một người rất quen thuộc về người tị nạn Việt và tình hình vi phạm nhân quyền ở Việt Nam, đã ca ngợi những người Mỹ gốc Việt "đã thành công trong việc tái lập đời sống ở Hoa Kỳ trong khi vẫn tiếp tục tranh đấu cho quyền của những người ở lại ở Việt Nam." Bà Lofgren, trước khi đắc cử vào Quốc Hội, đã từng tham gia chương trình giúp tái định cư cho thuyền nhân Việt ở San Jose.

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  Millions of Boat People and other Vietnamese refugees endured harrowing voyages to escape the tyranny and depravation of communist Vietnam. Hundreds of thousands of those refugees reached the United States, and we are all better for it. Like so many immigrants before and since, they came seeking freedom, and in turn became valuable members of their new communities. I have the privilege of representing many Vietnamese-Americans in San Jose, California, and can attest to this first-hand.

   Unfortunately, I cannot speak with the same warmth about the situation inside Vietnam. To this day, the Vietnamese government refuses to respect the basic human rights of its own citizens. Reports by the State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and non-governmental and Vietnamese American organizations document egregious abuses of free speech and expression, religious liberty, and many other fundamental freedoms.

   So today I rise to honor the experiences of Vietnamese refugees, and to commend the Vietnamese Americans who have successfully rebuilt their lives in the United States while fighting for the rights of those left in Vietnam.