Vietnamese Americans lobbying in D.C.

A group of prominent Vietnamese Americans from Orange County and across the United States are meeting with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., today to lobby for legislation to force Viet Nam to improve its human-rights record.

That meeting will come a day after a delegation presented to the White House a petition bearing 130,000 signatures via the We the People website that ask for the United States to stop trade with Viet Nam until that country addresses human-rights issues. Because the petition got more than 25,000 signatures, the White House will issue a response.

One of the goals of the trip to Washington, D.C., is to encourage the White House to pressure Viet Nam to release its hold on prisoners Viet Nam considers to be dissidents.

In all, about 700 Vietnamese Americans descended upon the nation’s capital on Monday, either to engage in meetings with officials from the State Department and other agencies to express their support for the petition drive.