Speech #1000031365

If any of my colleagues wants to help ASEAN countries and safeguard them from the spread of communism. then they can join with me in holding these countries harmless from the punitive. destructive trade bill that is about to be before the Senate. Before concluding. I want to address the resolution as it affects the lives of the hundreds of thousands of refugees living in camps throughout Southeast Asia. We can all agree that the preferred solution for these refugees is repatriation. Unfortunately. repatriation for Hmong. Lao. Cambodian. and Vietnamese refugees today is synonomous with summary execution or immediate imprisonment. How many times must we look to what the Heng Semerin regime or the Pathet Lao do to push backs before we quit talking about repatriation as a viable option. It is not. In fact. repatriation will never be a viable option for the refugees of the region until the United States plays a major role in that process. And until the United States has an improved relationship with Vietnam. the United States will not be involved in the negotiations for safe repatriation for the regions refugees. Fourteen Senators. including Sena-