Calling Attention to the Oppression of Political Opponents By the Vietnamese Government

Floor Speech

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Mrs. STEEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the Vietnamese Government's oppression of political opponents.

Last week, the Communist Party Government of Vietnam sentenced Nguyen Lan Thang to 6 years in prison for documenting protests and human rights abuses in Vietnam. Thang is a well-known advocate for freedom and democracy. He is a renowned blogger and contributor to Radio Free Asia. He should not be punished for criticizing communism.

This violation of the basic human rights of free expression is unacceptable and shows a worsening human rights situation in Vietnam.

According to Human Rights Watch, Vietnamese authorities have convicted at least 163 people since 2018 for exercising their rights to freedom of association or freedom of expression against Vietnam's Communist Party Government.

I have and will continue to call out the Communist Party of Vietnam for imprisoning journalists, human rights defenders, religious figures, and dissidents in Vietnam. The Chinese Communist Party has expertly influenced their neighbors, like Vietnam, hoping we will be silent in the face of these heinous acts.

I urge all my colleagues to join me in condemning Vietnam's continued horrific targeting of anyone who dissents from the oppressive Communist regime, and I urge Vietnam to release its political prisoners, including Mr. Thang and journalists like Pham Doan Trang.

We must come together, proclaim Communism as the evil that it is, and show the world that we will defend freedom. Tax Day

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Mrs. STEEL. Mr. Speaker, today is tax day, the deadline for over 200 million Americans to file their taxes.

Over the past year, responsible, hardworking families across the Nation created a budget, sacrificed to stick to that budget, and paid what they must by law to the government.

Meanwhile, their government spent taxpayer dollars recklessly, resulting in a national deficit that is over $31 trillion. That is approximately $250,000 per taxpayer.

My friends on the other side of the aisle claimed that they would close the gap by raising taxes and hiring an army of 87,000 new IRS agents to increase audits, especially on hardworking families making less than $100,000 a year.

Collecting more taxes from hardworking Americans will not fix the Federal Government's irresponsibility.

While California suffers from the highest income tax rate in the country, the State's reckless spending resulted in a deficit of $22.5 billion.

High taxes and reckless spending will not solve our Nation's problems. That is why the House of Representatives passed my bill with Representative Adrian Smith to defund the IRS's plan to hire 87,000 new agents. The IRS exists to serve the American people, not target them.

More taxes and more spending will only result in a higher deficit and a broken economy that will weigh on the backs of our children and grandchildren.

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