RE:     Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2001
        HR 2833
        The Building Blocks to a Peaceful Society

Dear Senator Kerry:

     Your biography states that you served in the brown water Navy aboard a
swift boat.  You served your country well by earning a Silver Star, a Bronze
Star with the V for Valor and three Purple Heart awards.  As with most veterans
you did not sit on your laurels.  You became an attorney and used the law to
fight for what you believed in.  At present you are in the Senate continuing the
fight for what you believe in.

     Our stories are not altogether different.

     In 1965 I made a commitment to help the Vietnamese people maintain their
freedom.  I was a Canadian citizen living in the U.S.  I voluntarily joined the
U.S. Marine Corps and voluntarily served one year in Vietnam.  We eventually
lost the war but my commitment to help the Vietnamese people maintain their
freedom has never wavered.

     The U.S. government made the same commitment to the Vietnamese people and I
firmly believe that our government must never abandon this commitment to the
Vietnamese people.

     Since the North Vietnamese came to power they have been in constant war
with their neighbors including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and China.  Vietnam
lacks the three building blocks to a peaceful society.  These building blocks
are (1) Free elections  (2)  a fair and just judicial system and (3) basic human
rights.

     Please allow the Vietnam Human Rights Act to move out of committee so that
this bill can be debated and voted upon.  I would appreciate your support of the
bill when you vote on it.

Sincerely
Sheila L. Richardson