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Occurrences in the Congressional Record

Entry Title Date
Hurricane Sandy Relief January 3, 2013
Frank LoBiondo, R-NJ
"I’m convinced we had the votes. I’m convinced we would have moved this forward. And for us in New Jersey, every day that is lost is a bigger disaster. This isn’t about people getting a sun tan. This is about jobs and the economy, a $40 billion tourism business that relies on the summer season. Who is going to come and vacation in a community that doesn’t have a beach and whose town is devastated that normally comes there? The answer is nobody. So the bigger disaster is going to come in a couple of months from now, and the money into the pipeline is what we needed now. We needed it 5 minutes ago. We needed it 2 weeks ago. We don’t need it a month from now. We need the Federal Government to step up so people’s lives can be put back together."
Honoring United States Army Veterans December 4, 2012
Frederica Wilson, D-FL
"Mona Figueroa, Julie Chery, Amaury Acosta, Delawrence Blue, Pedro David Lanza, Jimmy Moises Palma, Edwin Garcia Llauger, Dejongh Oscar, Evette Linda Phillips, Virgil A. Lacey, Norman Cooper, William Berrios, James Hosley, Charles Henry Green, Daniel Shannon, Franklin D. Mack, Alfred E. Glass, Cleotha Brown, Thomas George Darden, Ishmnel Cash Rolle, Jr., John Steele, Bobby White, Andrew D. Reid, Neville Solomon Shorter, Richard A. Love, Jr., Rufus Lester, Hector Ramirez, Paul Murray, Alexander Flowers, Eulas C. Mitchell, Jr, Jeffrey Smith, Reinnier Ray Santos, Sunil Mittoo, Trenton A. Brewton, Travis D. Small, Bernard Carr, Michael D. Beebe, George Hill, Robert Foster, Wilfred Bedeau, Derrill Clayton White, Hector E. Valle Acosta, Alex Esteban White, Tan S. Eward, Jeffrey Allen Cooper, Robert Brown, Mose McClain, Alejandro Suarez, James Henry Sconiers, Murray Lanard, Milto N. Smith, Tomas M. Rodriguez, Rutheven Williams, Roscoe Shannon, James L. Struchins, Tommy Fortner, Jr, Elizabeth Fequiere, Andrew Nesbitt, Paul M. Wellons, Samuel C. Rhoden, Cedric Halyard, Alvin Chambers, Shirlene Ann Lassiter, Jerome Williams, Hugh H. Hood, Jared M. Dawson, Charles F. Johnson, Jr., John A. Cooper, Israel Santiago, Deoraj Ramsaran, Willie L. Thompson, Michelle R. Forbes-Brown, Benjamin B. Cowins, Sr., Rufus Curry, Jr., Michel Pellerin, Craig Coney, Abe Stein, Phillip A. Johnson, Claude Evans Adside, Jr., Debra Reed, George A. Stewart, John Garrison, Ronald Maycok, Charles Markx, Walter Hardemon, Corey Cornell Butler, Willie Brinson, Willie Thomas, Edwin Bain, Herman Williams, Albert Sturrip, Dan Brand, Jerry Williams, Esme Bain, James C. Smith, Raymond Burke, John Donald Pace, Jr., Derrick Andrea Porter, Patricia Ann Barber, James E. Johnson, Diana M. Gilliam, Carla Horne, Beatrice E. McIver, Winifred D. Browne, Evette Linda Phillips, Charlie Reid, John Williams, Simuel Williams Jr, Maurice Ratliff, Michael Johnson, Santwan Williams, Hector Rivera, Nathan Johnson, Jose Morales, Alphonso Giles, Beverly Bethel, John Riley, Karen Boyd, Edgar Childs, Virgil Lacey, Frank Rawlerson, Mariano Cruz, John Zeigler, Melissa Billingsley, Evette Phillips, George Stanley, Namon J. Gilbert Jr. Glen R. George, Allyn McKinney, Charles Green, Roger Hibard, Seitu Muhammad Kokavi, Shirl Cornwall, Richard Mason, Peter James Kendrick, Charles Mack, Ronald Maycok, John Garrison, Norman Kight, Henry Picket, Willie Thang, April Barnes, Thaddeus Pinkney, John Wallace, Walter Hodge, Luther Benjamin Smith, Charmaine Rolle, Allison Bullard, Timothy Forbes Sr., Sam Lattimore, Edilberto Martinez, Phillip Moncur, Vernette Berry Richardson, Wilfred Bedeau, Wesly Frazier, Darrell Morgan, Roland James, Henry Elam, Alfred Gordon, Peter James Kendrick, Louis Tyler, Karen A. Boyd, Frederick Edwards, Johnnie Nesmith;"
Honoring 53 Years Of Exemplary Service By The Federation Of Asia- Pacific Women’S Association September 19, 2012
Madeleine Bordallo, D-GU
"I recognize the founders, Minerva G. Laudico and Geronima T. Pecson; this organization has carried on their vision and passion across generations and national boundaries. I am confident that their legacy of service will endure. I commend my fellow Honorary President Cecilia Y. Koo, Honorary Advisor Nancy C. Nee, FAWA President Kristal Koga, FAWA 1st Vice President Charlene Yang, FAWA 2nd Vice President Mei Woo, FAWA 3rd Vice President Jung Sook Kim, Convention Chair Sylvia Crafton, Convention Co-Chairs Nancy Tan and Denise Mendiola-Hertslet, and members of the FAWA Board of Executives and all the organizing members for their efforts in ensuring that this year’s conference, like past events, will be a success. I congratulate the Federation of Asia-Pacific Women’s Association for their dedication and contributions, and I look forward to the continued growth of this organization for many more years to come."
Disclose Act Of 2012—Motion To Proceed—Continued July 16, 2012
Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI
"I think we all have seen the four freedoms, the posters by Norman Rockwell. Perhaps the most famous of those posters is the one of the fellow in the tan windbreaker jacket, a thin guy. He is standing up tall surrounded by people, clearly at a townhall meeting. Why is he standing and what is he doing? He is speaking. He is having his say."
Calling For The Firing Of U.S. Ambassador To Vietnam July 9, 2012
Frank Wolf, R-VA
"Dear Mr. President: On May 15, 2012, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, which I co-chair, held a hearing on human rights abuses in Vietnam. As you undoubtedly know, the State Department’s own annual human rights report aptly describes Vietnam as an “authoritarian state.” During the hearing, several of my colleagues and I heard testimony from Mrs. Mai Huong Ngo, the wife of Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, a Vietnamese- American democracy activist and U.S. citizen. Upon his arrival at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on April 17, he was arbitrarily detained and has been in prison ever since. Dr. Quan’s wife was invited to testify in light of her husband’s plight. Assistant Secretary Michael Posner was also invited to testify at the hearing on behalf of the State Department. At the time I expressed my shock and dismay that no one from the department, not even the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, David Shear, had been in touch with Dr. Quan’s wife since his detention. Only at my urging did Ambassador Shear initiate contact with Mrs. Ngo to update her on her husband’s situation. This was disturbing on a number of levels. I have long believed that U.S. embassies should be islands of freedom— especially in repressive countries like Vietnam. Under Ambassador Shear’s leadership it didn’t appear that the U.S. embassy in Hanoi was embracing this important task. But even more troubling is the fact that Dr. Quan is an American citizen, and yet there appeared to be little urgency to securing his release. In speaking by phone with Ambassador Shear following the hearing I expressed my concerns and urged him to host a July 4th celebration at the embassy, where the guest list was comprised of religious freedom and democracy activists in Vietnam. I stressed that he should fling open the doors of the embassy and invite Buddhist monks and nuns, Catholic priests and Protestant pastors, Internet bloggers and democracy activists. Such was the custom during the Reagan Administration, especially in the Soviet Union. This practice sent a strong message that America stood with those who stand for basic human rights. In many cases it afforded these individuals protection from future harassment and even imprisonment. Ambassador Shear said that he intended to honor this request. Following my conversation with him I received the enclosed letter from the department indicating that, “Ambassador Shear continues to engage with civil society advocates, promoters of rule-of-law, and democracy activists and will welcome them to the Embassy’s July 4th celebration.” I took Ambassador Shear at his word and in fact shared this correspondence with members of the Vietnamese Diaspora community in the U.S., several of whom were greatly encouraged by this development. Late last week it was brought to my attention that many of the most prominent democracy and human rights activists in Vietnam were not invited to the event. These reports seemed starkly at odds with the assurances I had personally received from Ambassador Shear. I called him directly this morning to find out if the embassy had invited the dissidents as had been agreed upon. His response was appalling. He said that he had invited a few civil society activists but then said that he needed to maintain a “balance.” I then asked him for a list of the invitees. He initially refused saying he was unable to provide this information, even though presumably the embassy, which he leads, created the guest list. Then he said he would have to address this through State Department. I asked him when we might expect to receive a copy of the guest list and, after initially declining to be specific; he eventually conceded that it would be “in a few weeks.” Ambassador Shear’s entire handling of this issue has been unacceptable. He showed little to no initiative in the case of Dr. Quan. Then, after appearing to recognize the shortsightedness of this approach, he agreed to host an Independence Day event at the embassy attended by human rights and democracy activists—only to go back on his word and mislead me about his intentions. Finally, when posed with a simple congressional request for additional information about the guest list at a U.S. embassy event, he was uncooperative at best and obstructionist at worst. In light of these realities, I write today to call for the firing of Ambassador Shear. Sadly, his sidelining of serious human rights issues in Vietnam is symptomatic of this administration’s overall approach to human rights and religious freedom. Time and again these issues are put on the back-burner—to the detriment of freedom-loving people the world over. In a Constitution Day speech, President Ronald Reagan described the United States Constitution as “a covenant we have made not only with ourselves, but with all of mankind.” We have an obligation to keep that covenant. If you were to take this action, it would send a critical message to U.S. ambassadors globally, and just as importantly, to repressive governments which fear the words of the Constitution and the promise they hold as much as they fear the aspirations of their own people. I have repeatedly said that it would be fitting for a Vietnamese-American to serve as U.S. ambassador Vietnam— someone who understands the country, the language, and the oppressive nature of the government having experienced it themselves before coming to the U.S. Such an individual would not be tempted to maintain smooth bilateral relations at all costs. Such an individual would embrace the cause of freedom. The Vietnamese people, and frankly millions of Vietnamese- Americans, deserve better than what Ambassador Shear and this administration are giving them. America must be a voice for the voiceless. The U.S. Embassy in Vietnam must be an island of freedom, headed by a bold American ambassador. Ambassador Shear is not that man. Best wishes. Sincerely, Frank R. Wolf, Member of Congress. Enclosure."

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