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Letter from Jack Silberman, Producer
Thank you for taking the time to come today and see "Bombies."
I first heard about the problem of unexploded cluster bombs nearly a decade ago, when my neighbor - an international development consultant, returned from a trip to Laos and told me that villagers there were still being killed by American bombs dropped 25 years earlier. The story sounded so incredible that, I must admit, I doubted its truth.
Several years later I had the opportunity to visit Laos and discovered that the story was not only true, but that the situation was worse than what I had been told. And this is a problem that’s not going away: experts believe that Lao villagers will still be killed by bombies for many decades, and even centuries, to come.
The United States spent nearly $ 7 billion bombing Laos and, although today it is contributing up to several million dollars a year to help deal with the problem of unexploded ordnance, many people feel that it has a responsibility to do more, much more.
And the problems caused by cluster bombs are spreading. Recent reports from Afghanistan confirm that unexploded cluster bombs there are having the same kind of tragic consequences for Afghan civilians as they have had for the people of Laos.
As you may know, international concern over the use of cluster bombs is growing, and several months ago the European parliament passed a resolution calling for an immediate moratorium on cluster bombs to be followed by an outright ban. Cluster weapons are an issue about which congressional members and the public need to be more informed, so that they can take part
in the growing debate about their use.
I’d like to thank the Independent Television Service (ITVS) for its support of "Bombies" and Representatives Kucinich and Lane, the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, Mennonite Central Committee, and ITVS for helping to arrange this special screening of "Bombies."
Thank you.
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Statement by Titus Peachey, Director of Peace Education, Mennonite Central Committee
It was 21 years ago that my wife Linda and I saw our first cluster bomb in the country of Laos where we were working with Mennonite Central Committee. In the years since then we have worked hard to draw the attention of the world to the problem of unexploded bombs in Laos. So we are grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the showing of the film, "Bombies," here in Washington, D.C. I was a consultant in the making of the film. All of the Lao filming was done during April and May 2000, except of course for the archival footage.
We worked in Laos from 1980-1985 with Mennonite Central Committee. In 1994, I returned to Laos on behalf of MCC to work with the Mines Advisory Group and the Lao government to set up the Bomb Clearance Project. When I left Laos in October of 1994, MAG had just trained the first 20 Lao Bomb Removal Technicians (deminers). When I returned to Laos in the year 2,000, I was pleased to discover that the project had expanded exponentially, thanks to funding and assistance from various governments and from the UN. At that time, the project had grown to
nearly 1,000 employees, working in 9 different Lao provinces.
Just a little over one month ago, on March 15, 2002, the Bomb Removal Project experienced its first fatalities. While thousands of Lao villagers have been killed by unexploded ordnance over the years, the demining teams had so far had a very good safety record. Unfortunately, on March 15, two deminers, Mr. Bounda and Mr. Khamsouk were killed while trying to destroy an unexploded cluster bomb.
I'm very pleased to be here today to participate in the showing of Bombies, and
I will be happy to respond to any questions afterward.
Thank you.
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Statement of Narin Sihavong
Thank you for your time and allowing me to speak at this special viewing of "Bombies," by Representatives Kucinich and Evans. My name is Narin Sihavong. Today, I will speak briefly about my personal experiences as a Laotian-American.
Although I did not directly experience the violent effects of the civil war in Laos, I became a casualty of war like many other Laotian-Americans. Today, roughly 700,000 Americans were born or are descendants of Laos or about 15 percent of the current total population in Laos.
I came to the US in 1978 as a refugee. My mother and six siblings spent nine months at a refugee camp in Thailand, before resettling in Hawaii.
Unfortunately my father, who worked for the royal Lao government before 1975, became a political prisoner and spent five years in re-education camp. After his release from re-education camp in 1980, he chose to
rebuild his life in Laos, rather than join us in the United States.
Despite my experiences, I have held a desire to return to Laos for various reasons: one, the desire to rekindle a relationship with my father; second, to contribute my personal knowledge and experience to the development of Laos; and to rediscover and learn about my cultural and social heritage.
From personal experience, there are many Laotian-Americans like me who feel strongly about making positive changes and contributing to the development of Laos.
A positive step in this direction would be for the US government to sign the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The BTA is necessary to enable Laos to participate in the global economy.
Equally important is today's momentous viewing of the "Bombies" video, which documents the destructiveness of the legacy of the war in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
I first returned to Laos in 1989. Little has changed since 1975. Since 1989, Laos has developed at an extremely slow pace compared to its neighbors, such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
Much of the country still lacks basic services such as potable water, electrical and telephone service, farming irrigation, and paved roads.
The BTA between the United States and Laos is not a panacea to the economic development of Laos, but it will stimulate hope. Thus I strongly recommend that the United States establish normalized trade relations with Laos and begin by signing the BTA with Laos. The BTA will also promote cultural, social, and educational dialogue and exchanges between Laos and the US.
Finally, the BTA will encourage Laotian-Americans to participate in the development of Laos through trade and commercial exchange and technical assistance.
Lastly, I would like to emphasize that young Laotian-professionals like me are willing to serve as resources and facilitators.
In a few minutes you will have a chance to see the documentary film "Bombies." It is a beautifully done film about the terrible continuing cost to the people of Laos in America's war against Vietnam. It points out
clearly America's moral obligation to these people. Approval of the BTA is a downpayment.
Thank you very much for your time and allowing me to participate in this viewing.
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Statement by Andrew Wells-Dang, Washington Representative, Fund for Reconciliation & Development
Thanks for the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on how US policy can make a positive contribution to resolving the legacies of war in Laos and around the world. A little by the way of personal background: while I have made several trips to Laos, both while working with Catholic Relief Services and on my own, my first in-depth study of the problem of bombies and other unexploded ordnance came in Vietnam several years ago, when I was the first in-country researcher for Landmine Monitor, the yearly report published by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. A I learned more about the problem and its ongoing effects, like what we have seen in this film, I became increasingly obsessed. My wife was convinced I had gone off the deep end when I gave her several models of landmines and cluster bombs (used for awareness teaching purposes) on our first wedding anniversary.
As we’ve seen in the documentary, the scope of the UXO problem in Laos is vast. A national survey by Handicap International several years ago, for instance, concluded that more than 3,800 villages in Laos are affected by UXO, with a total population of 1.3 million people. Another study commissioned by Oxfam Hong Kong, entitled "Curse of the Bombies," estimates that 500,000 tons of UXO remain in the ground in Laos.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that nearly 30 years after the illegal bombing of Laos ended, the US and the international community are beginning to do something about it. The US Government has contributed more than $17 million to UXO and mine clearance in Laos since 1994, most of it in-kind assistance provided through the Humanitarian Demining Program, which is jointly run by the Departments of State and Defense. The Congress also deserves credit for providing this funding and continuing to express support for US demining efforts, which are the largest in the world. But the US should do more, in Laos and around the world.
Assistance for poor countries to clean up from the aftermath of war—particularly in cases where the US was involved in dropping bombs, laying mines, and, I’d like to add, spraying herbicides such as Agent Orange—is a humanitarian imperative. I hope that members of Congress will support increased contributions towards these efforts, regardless of your political party affiliation, views about the government of Laos, or your stand on the mine ban treaty or the ongoing effort to ban cluster bombs. It is particularly important to maintain levels of funding for countries like Laos, even while we know there will be immense needs for clearance and help for survivors in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
People who are injured and maimed by bombies also face a daunting set of challenges for survival, especially in a less-developed country such as Laos. A bill currently before Congress seeks to address the rights of survivors, the "International Disability and Victims of Landmines, Civil Strife and Warfare Assistance Act of 2001" (H.R. 3169). This bill is written to assist all "individuals with disabilities, including victims of landmines and other victims of civil strife and warfare," hence cluster bomb survivors as well. This broad approach is the correct one, and I thank members of this House who have already signed on as co-sponsors to the bill. As the bill is currently on the House calendar, I encourage the majority leadership to bring it to a vote.
Specifically regarding US-Lao relations, there are several additional steps the US can and should take that will help the development of the Laotian people, regardless of politics. First is to pass the bilateral trade agreement with Laos. This agreement granting normal trading status to the Lao PDR was negotiated without fuss in 1997, but has been awaiting Congressional approval since then. Given that all but a handful of the US’s trading partners have this status, including Laos’s neighbors Cambodia, China, Burma and Vietnam, it strikes me as unfair and inconsistent to leave Laos out—especially given the history of suffering that we have just witnessed. Rather than viewing trade as a reward for which the Laotian government and people need to meet a list of conditions, trade can be a realistic tool for improving conditions in Laos, both economically and socially, in a way that furthers US interests. At the very least, giving people who live in bombie-affected areas more economic freedom to produce and export can’t hurt.
Second, I believe that Americans of Laotian origin have a particular role to play in the process of eliminating the physical and psychological legacies of war, reducing poverty in Laos and opening the economy and society further to the outside world. It is also worth pointing out that the areas in Laos most heavily affected by bombies, as well as by Agent Orange spraying and by North Vietnamese incursions, are populated largely by ethnic minorities, including Hmong in Xieng Khoang and Houaphan provinces where much of the documentary was filmed. The current US Ambassador in Laos, Douglas Hartwick, recognizes the need for assistance in these areas and is actively seeking to include Laotian-Americans in the process of reconciliation, and I commend him for that.
Finally, I’d like to put in a plug for an upcoming Congressional briefing on May 23 that is being sponsored by two other distinguished members of Congress, George Miller and Betty McCollum. The briefing forms part of a "National Laotian-American Symposium on US-Lao Relations" that I have been helping to organize on behalf of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development. We have invited both Ambassador Hartwick and the newly arrived Lao ambassador to the US, Phanthong Phommahaxay, to participate. The briefing will be followed by panel discussions in the afternoon on trade, human rights and war legacy issues; these are open to the public, and I hope that all of you can attend.
Thanks once again to Representatives Kucinich and Evans for arranging this showing of a very important film, and to ITVS and Jack Silberman for making it. We look forward to your questions.
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