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Congressman Sherman Receives Award of Excellence from Republic of Vietnam War Veterans Association

May 19, 2016

Washington DC – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) received the Award of Excellence from the Republic of Vietnam War Veterans Association of the San Fernando Valley. Sherman received the award in recognition of outstanding service to the Vietnamese community and the American and South Vietnamese soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War.

“It is with tremendous gratitude that I receive this award,” said Congressman Sherman. “I thank the Republic of Vietnam War Veterans Association for preserving the memory and dignity of the South Vietnamese. We owe a great debt to the South Vietnamese, and it is important that we never forget or overlook the sacrifices made by those who served alongside our soldiers against the spread of communism.”

Congressman Sherman is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Asia. He has also been an active member of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam. Through his work in Congress, Sherman has long advocated for the concerns of the Vietnamese-American community and fought for human rights in Vietnam.

Sherman cosponsored the Vietnam Human Rights Act, which would prohibit increases in non-humanitarian aid to Vietnam above current levels unless the President reports to Congress that Vietnam has made serious improvements in human rights and religious freedom. Humanitarian aid would not be affected by the bill. The bill also allows the Administration to increase aid to Vietnam if that increased assistance is matched by U.S. funds to training programs on human rights and the rule of law in Vietnam.

The legislation also expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. should overcome the Vietnamese government’s jamming of Radio Free Asia and that bilateral education and cultural exchanges should promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.

Sherman has encouraged the Obama administration to call for improved human rights conditions in Vietnam. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Sherman and his colleagues called for a more open society, and expressed deep concerns about our increasing trade partnership with Vietnam, including through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The position expressed to Secretary Kerry is that “any further economic ties, specifically trade agreements, should be contingent on the condition of human rights in Vietnam.”


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