|
Asia and the Pacific
Currently, I serve on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. America has considerable strategic and economic interests in this region. I am active both in Congress and at home on many issues of importance to the U.S., including trade, security, economics and human rights. I have fought to lower trade barriers for California goods and services throughout Asia, protested religious persecution in Vietnam, called attention to the plight of North Korean refugees, and worked to expand U.S. international broadcasting towards repressive governments in the region.
In 1999, I was appointed by the Speaker of the House to chair the U.S.-Republic of Korean Interparliamentary Exchange. The Exchange provides Members of Congress and their counterparts in the Korean National Assembly a forum to discuss issues central to the U.S.-South Korean relationship including security, trade, and politics. The Exchange alternates between the U.S. and South Korea each year.
I have worked hard to promote international broadcasting into countries whose government's limit free speech or strictly control the news and information that their people receive. I am the author of the Radio Free Asia Act of 1997, which significantly boosted broadcasting activities to China, North Korea, and other Asian countries with repressive governments. I am also working to expand international radio broadcasts into North Korea to counter the communist North Korean government. A fundamental prerequisite for the development of a representative government is the free flow of information. All people deserve to know the truth about what is going on in and outside their country.
In July 2004 the House again passed legislation that I co-authored to bring attention to the abysmal human rights record of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a country notorious for its poor human rights record. In an effort to promote religious freedom and democracy in Vietnam, the bill prohibits non-humanitarian U.S. aid from being provided to Vietnam unless the Vietnamese government begins freeing political prisoners and respecting the rights of ethnic minorities. It also supports Radio Free Asia's efforts to overcome jamming efforts by the Vietnamese government, and works against the Vietnamese government's recent crack down on Internet usage. As co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, I am working to strengthening ties between the U.S. and India.
In the 112th Congress, I introduced the Vietnam Human Rights Sanctions Act, a bill to impose sanctions on Vietnamese government officials who are complicit in human rights abuses committed against the people of Vietnam. The bill targets government agents, police officers, and others who commit egregious human rights abuses against peaceful dissidents with travel restrictions and financial sanctions.
My hometown city of Fullerton contains the largest population of Korean-Americans in Orange County, while the city of Westminster is home to Little Saigon. As co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Korea and the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam, I am developing strong economic, social, and strategic relationships necessary between the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region.
|
