American Samoa’s delegate to the US House of Representatives, Eni Faleomavaega, has criticised the House Foreign Affairs Committee for passing a Human Rights Act that he says does not reflect the full truth of the situation in Vietnam.

The committee approved the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2013 on June 28, calling on the US government to link human rights and democracy conditions with non-humanitarian assistance and hold a more conservative attitude towards Vietnam on issues related to human rights and religious freedom.

In a press release, Eni Faleomavaega, who is member of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on Asia and the Pacific, said the act’s approval was affected by some Vietnamese Americans who do not have goodwill towards Vietnam.

Congressman Faleomavaega said as a Vietnam War veteran, he understands the feelings of these Vietnamese Americans, but attempting to overthrow the government and provide false information is not the right thing to do.

According to the congressman, it is time to break with the past and begin a new period of healing war wounds.

The press release states that Vietnamese leaders are committed to strengthening Vietnam-US relations and promoting people’s fundamental human rights. The country has joined most human rights conventions and participated in many human rights dialogues with the European Union, Australia Norway, Switzerland, and the US.

Vietnam is making every effort to improve its human rights record through reinforcing its legal system and socio-economic and cultural rights, while welcoming international assistance to help implement appropriate human rights policies.

He said he is proud of the development in Vietnam-US relations after past meetings with senior Vietnamese leaders, including Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong, and Vietnamese ambassador to the US, Nguyen Quoc Cuong.

He said he believes that bilateral relations will continue to develop, and the approval of the bill will not affect the friendship between the two countries.

Faleomavaega said Congresswoman Barbara Lee has proposed a bill on assistance for people exposed to Agent Orange/dioxin.

He said the US must be held responsible for and help overcome the consequences of tens of millions of litres of herbicides containing Agent Orange/dioxin that were sprayed over Vietnam by the US military during the war.

Exposure to the toxic chemicals seriously affected millions of Vietnamese people and continued to affect the following generations. It is only right and fair that they receive due compensation.

The US House of Representatives will vote on the bill in October and, if it is approved, the bill, which is being submitted by Congressmen Ed Royce and Chris Smith, will be transferred to the Senate for consideration. However, similar bills in the past have been rejected by the Senate.  

Source: VOV