In response to Laos’ ongoing support for “Axis of Evil” terrorist regimes as well as the fourth (4th) anniversary of the disappearance of two Hmong-Americans, strongly worded Congressional letters in opposition to the proposal by the Bush Administration to grant Normalized Trade Status (NTR) to the communist regime to Laos are currently being circulated on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Congressional letters are addressed to President Bush, Secretary of State Powell and Chairman Phil Crane, of the House Trade Subcommittee, and are now being spearheaded in the U.S. Congress by Rep. Mark Green (R-WI) and Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA). Signatories currently include Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), Rep. Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and others. The Congressional letters continue to gather additional Congressional support—and attention in the Laotian and Hmong-American community-- and will be sent to the White House, U.S. Department of State and others in the Administration and Congressional leaders in the near future.

“The strong, official terrorist link between the Lao Communist regime and Saddam Hussein in Iraq as well as North Korea are important realities that have become even more serious challenges to U.S. national interests in recent weeks, especially since the commencement of ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom,’” stated Philip Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, a Washington, D.C.-based policy think-tank. Smith continued: “These matters concern Members of Congress as well as many in the Laotian and Hmong-American community whose relatives are subjected to horrific religious persecution and ethnic cleansing in Laos—just like the Kurdish and Shiite minorities in Iraq. The Congressional letters by Representatives Green and Radanovich help to more fully communicate why many in the U.S. Congress staunchly oppose the granting of NTR trade status to Laos at this time, especially since the Lao Communist regime is working so closely in support of Stalinist regimes like Iraq and North Korean—even while American troops are deployed in these theaters-- and still has not been forthcoming about disappearances of prominent individuals in Laos, such as Houa Ly and Michael Vang as well as the Lao student pro-democracy leaders and others.”

The Congressional letters in opposition to granting NTR trade status to the Communist regime in Laos were recently distributed internally on Capitol Hill to Members of Congress and at a recent special session of the U.S. Congressional Forum on Laos cosponsored by Congressman Mark Green (R-WI), Congressman George Radanovich (R-CA)-- and other Members of Congress. The Forum on Laos, held Monday, April 21st, featured the testimony of Amnesty International, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and a broad spectrum of Lao and Hmong non-governmental organizations, scholars, community leaders and human rights activists—including victims of persecution by the Lao Communist regime. Initial copies of the U.S. Congressional letters have also been transmitted to the House Trade Subcommittee for official publication-- even as they continue to gather more support on Capitol Hill.

The full text of the U.S. Congressional letters, of April 21, 2003, in opposition to NTR trade status to Laos written to President Bush, Secretary Powell and Chairman Crane are as follows:




April 21, 2003


President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, D.C.


Secretary of State Powell
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.


The Honorable Phil Crane Chairman, Subcommittee on Trade Committee on Ways and Means U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

Dear President Bush,
Secretary Powell,
Chairman Crane:

We write today to implore you to take no further steps toward granting Normal Trade Relations (NTR) status to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR). We respectfully assert that granting NTR to Laos at this time would in fact represent an ill-conceived reward for the consistently dreadful behavior the LPDR regime has exhibited in recent years at home, abroad, and in its bilateral relations with the United States. We offer the following seven facts as evidence the LPDR has not yet earned such an upgrade in its trade status.

Two U.S. citizens remain missing after disappearing at the Laotian border in 1999. The LPDR government has been uncooperative in its dealings with U.S. authorities working to investigate their case, and the LPDR government may have been involved in the disappearance itself. According to American eyewitnesses, U.S. citizens Houa Ly and Michael Vang went missing on April 19, 1999 after having last been seen with Lao government authorities near the Laos-Thailand border. U.S. investigators have since pursued the case, but the State Department has acknowledged a lack of cooperation by the LPDR in the investigation, stating in November 1999 that the Lao government “has been slow to respond to our requests for access to the area and has tried to place restrictions on our investigators.” In July of 1999, staff members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee traveled to Laos and received information on the case from what they characterized as a “very credible source.” The staff report filed after the trip states that, “with a great degree of detail, the tip we received corroborated Hmong-American suspicions that the men in fact crossed into Laos and that the government of Laos captured and killed Messrs. Vang and Ly.”

As documented in this year’s State Department Report on Human Rights Practices, the LPDR continues to be one of the world’s most reprehensible abusers of human rights – with a repertoire that includes torture, harsh restrictions on the press and free speech, and imprisonment of people for their religious beliefs. The report speaks for itself, stating that last year: “The (Lao) Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit serious abuses. Citizens do not have the right to change their government. Members of the security forces abused detainees, especially those suspected of insurgent or antigovernment activity. Prisoners were abused and tortured, and prison conditions generally are extremely harsh and life threatening…The judiciary was subject to executive, legislative, and LPRP influence, was corrupt, and did not ensure citizens due process. The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights. The Government
restricted freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and association. The Government continued to restrict freedom of religion, and police and provincial authorities arrested and detained more than 60 members of Christian churches, with 4 members of religious communities in custody or incarcerated for their religious beliefs at year's end.” These appalling human rights abuses are of particular concern in the so-called “Saysamboun Special Zone” in Laos, where reports of LPDR military offenses against ethnic minorities are common and disturbing. Finally, it is important to note that independent human rights monitoring organizations such as Amnesty International continue to be barred from entering Laos by the LPDR government.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom this year called Laos one of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom, stating that forced renunciations of faith and imprisonment of people for their religious beliefs are tragically frequent. In its 2003 report to the president and Congress, the commission urged the Bush administration to name Laos a “Country of Particular Concern,” which would place it in the company of such terrifying regimes as Iraq, Sudan, Burma and North Korea. According to the commission’s report, “for at least the last several years, the government of Laos has engaged in particularly severe violations of religious freedom…these include the arrest and prolonged detention and imprisonment of members of religious minorities on account of their religious activities, as well as instances where Lao officials have forced Christians to renounce their faith. Between 100 and 200 individuals have been arrested since 1999. At the same time, dozens of churches have been closed. These violations have continued to be committed in the past year…”

Shockingly, the LPDR continues to foster close ties with Kim Jong-Il’s Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – stating less than two years ago that relations “of friendship and cooperation” between Laos and the North Korean pariah state “are steadily growing stronger,” and congratulating the North Korean people “on the shining successes made in their efforts to build a powerful nation…under the wise leadership of Kim Jong-Il.” In a joint communiqué issued July 17, 2001 by the leadership of the LPDR and DPRK, the North Korean government also commended the Lao government for the “great successes made in their efforts to consolidate and develop the people’s democratic system and estimated the daily rising role and position of the LPDR.”

The LPDR recently held state-sanctioned rallies speaking out against U.S. military action in Iraq in the most inflammatory of terms – stating that “the war will bring disaster to the whole of humanity,” and “demand(ing) the U.S. respect the peace and sovereignty of Iraq.” These and other similarly belligerent comments were transmitted throughout Laos on state-run radio and around the globe through various media services.


A substantial majority of Laotian-Americans – many of whom know, first-hand, the brutality meted out by the LPDR regime – are strongly opposed to offering NTR to Laos. These people, many of whom are Hmong-Americans who assisted the United States military during the Vietnam War, view the offer of NTR to the government of Laos as a fundamental betrayal of not only them personally, but of our American principles. According to the most recent census, there are approximately 170,000 Hmong living in the United States. An almost equal number of Lao live in the United States as well.

Although some argue that Laos presents a potentially lucrative market for U.S. companies, the facts show otherwise. While proponents of improved trade relations with Laos claim that the potential economic benefits outweigh the significant moral questions about Laos as a trading partner, the truth is that the LPDR’s Gross Domestic Product in 2001 was estimated to be $9.2 billion. For comparison, the Gross Municipal Product of Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2001 was more than double that amount: $18.8 billion. Laos’ authoritarian internal economic policies, not a lack of trade with the United States, has created this dismal reality. Without substantial change in those policies, neither the people of Laos nor the United States will ever benefit economically from NTR.

This letter should not be interpreted as a statement that we believe the door to NTR for Laos should be shut forever. In our opinion, however, Laos has failed miserably to demonstrate that it is ready for or deserves NTR at this time. In fact, in the six years since the negotiation of the U.S.-LPDR bilateral trade agreement, the Lao regime’s record on basic issues like those mentioned above has actually become worse, not better.

We believe that if, over the next few years, the LPDR government is able to successfully demonstrate concrete improvements in these areas of concern, consideration of NTR for Laos may be appropriate. Until then, however, we should send a strong message to the LPDR regime that economic rewards from the United States will not be forthcoming unless it can improve its abysmal record.


Sincerely,



Mark Green
Member of Congress

George Radanovich
Member of Congress

Devin Nunes
Member of Congress

Dana Rohrabacher
Member of Congress

Chris Smith
Member of Congress

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Member of Congress

Ron Kind
Member of Congress


Additional Members of the U.S. Congress….