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News Article
February 16, 2003
Global Furor Dooms Vietnam Flag
Bill
Va. Panel Shelves Honor for Symbol Of Fallen Republic
By Steven Ginsberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 16, 2003; Page C06
RICHMOND -- A proposal to honor the flag of the fallen Republic of Vietnam, an
idea that has inflamed passions from Northern Virginia to Southeast Asia, has
been sent to die in a Virginia Senate subcommittee that won't meet before the
General Assembly adjourns.
The measure, sponsored by Del. Robert D. Hull (D-Fairfax), would have required
the flag of South Vietnam to be flown in place of the official flag of the
communist government at all public events in Virginia.
To save the spirit of the bill, Hull proposed an amendment that provided the
option of flying the flag rather than mandating its display, but senators showed
no appetite for a cause with international implications. The flag bill had
sparked opposition from the Bush administration, several congressmen and the
government of Vietnam.
Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City), the sole member of the subcommittee
in which the bill resides, said he will not call the subcommittee into session
to consider it. "Traditionally, the General Assembly of Virginia adheres to the
constitution of Virginia, and it does not empower us to enter into international
affairs," he said.
But Hull said he would seek at least a vote in the Senate Rules Committee. "I'm
going to write a letter asking for the courtesy to be heard on my bill," he
said.
Despite the bill's fate, backers declared at least a partial victory. They said
getting this far achieved a primary intent: to assert the political pull of the
29,000 Vietnamese Americans who live in Northern Virginia.
"I think the goal here is that it shows [that] the Vietnamese American community
is able to flex its political power," said Hung Quoc Nguyen, president of the
Fairfax-based National Congress of Vietnamese Americans. Nguyen promised that
come November, when all General Assembly members face reelection, the community
will remember "those who supported this bill and ones who didn't support it."
The Vietnamese flag bill appeared last month in a House of Delegates committee
where many measures paying symbolic tribute to particular constituencies are
sent. Almost immediately after the bill was narrowly approved, Speaker William
J. Howell (R-Stafford) received a phone call from the U.S. State Department
expressing its dismay. A short time later, the Vietnamese government reacted
angrily, denouncing the proposal as "insolent."
Over the past two weeks, the news media in Vietnam have picked up the story, and
government officials there have been asked about the proposal during regular
briefings. At the state capitol, Hull and Norment said they have received an
unprecedented number of calls from U.S. officials, members of the worldwide
media and constituents.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage sent a letter this month to Senate
Majority Leader Walter A. Stosch (R-Henrico) expressing the department's "deep
concerns" about a bill that "could have potentially serious adverse consequences
for the conduct of United States foreign relations."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, responding to a letter from Vietnamese Foreign
Minister Nguyen Dy Nien, said in a letter last week that the department had
informed Virginia officials that the bill was unconstitutional and had
encouraged them to kill it, a State Department official said.
Hull, who has been criticized by state and federal officials for mucking with
foreign affairs, chastised Powell. "While the secretary of state on one hand is
trying to get support for going to war against Iraq, it looks like he's doing
the bidding of a communist government," Hull said.
Bach Ngoc Chien, press attache for the Embassy of Vietnam, said in a statement
that the bill was "very detrimental to the Vietnam-US friendly relationship."
The flag of South Vietnam has a yellow background with three horizontal red
stripes, signifying North, Central and South Vietnam. To many Vietnamese
Americans who fought under that flag, it represents their lost cause of freedom.
They consider the current flag -- which contains a gold star on a red background
-- to be an oppressive symbol and a cruel reminder of their suffering.
Nguyen Dinh Thang, executive director of Boat People S.O.S., a Vietnamese
American civic group in Falls Church, said that one in eight Vietnamese
Americans is a torture survivor or the relative of one, and "when they see that
flag it is very traumatizing and very painful for them. I think that the Senate
may have missed the point altogether."
Other members of the Vietnamese American community, especially the young, are
ambivalent about the flags. They say the struggle to raise the fallen flag is a
political effort intended to arouse passion for a battle they did not fight.
"For the majority of us in the younger generation, we do not have the same
emotional scars as parents and elders in our community," said Thanh-Thuy Nguyen,
a 29-year-old Washington area activist. "This is literally a red flag coming up
and reminding us what they've gone through, and that is legitimate. But in a
way, they should also teach us how to move on and live our lives.
"This really is just a bill working on people's emotions, anxieties and fears,"
Nguyen said.
Hung Quoc Nguyen, of the national congress, said: "This is what it is to be an
American. You voice your opinions -- sometimes people agree with it, and
sometimes they don't."
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