Speech #1050036466

I have an amendment at the desk. amendment No. 8. as filed in the RECORD on May 14. 1997. with revisions as filed in the Committee on Rules. and it is being included in the en bloc amendment. I appreciate this cooperation and thank Chairman GILMAN and Representative HAMILTON for their help. This amendment will require the State Department to report to Congress on the allegations of persecution and abuse of Hmong and Laotian refugees who have repatiated to Laos following the Southeast Asia conflict. Such an extraordinary State Department analysis is urgently needed because of the current and continued reports which allege serious human rights violations. persecution. and loss of life being experienced by the Hmong in Laos--in years past and today. The Hmong fought on the side of the United States in special guerrilla units during the Vietnam war at great sacrifice to themselves. their families. and their entire community. After the war. many of the Hmong who did survive the battlefields of their homeland were welcomed to the United States. while 10.000 Hmong remained in the refugee camps in Thailand until the closure of the camps in recent years. There have been continuous allegations of persecution and abuse of the Hmong who repatriated to Laos. In recent months. press reports describe bonechilling nighttime massacres of Hmong villagers. including children.