[CPEO-MEF] GLOBAL, HERBICIDES: U.S.-Vietnam Agent Orange cooperation

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Agent Orange in Vietnam: Recent Developments In Remediation

Matthew Palmer
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Testimony before the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global 
Environment Committee on Foreign Affairs
Washington, DC
July 15, 2010

Chairman Faleomavaega, Ranking Member Manzullo, and Members of the 
Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on the topic of 
United States engagement with Vietnam on issues related to Agent Orange.

Overall Relationship

It is important to place U.S.-Vietnam cooperation on the complex and 
challenging issues surrounding Agent Orange in the context of progress 
in our overall bilateral relationship. This year marks the 15th 
anniversary of our diplomatic relationship with Vietnam. Over this short 
period, U.S.-Vietnam cooperation has steadily matured into a robust 
bilateral relationship, characterized by mutual respect and shared 
interests. We continue to make progress on a growing range of issues, 
from trade liberalization, health and environment, to education, nuclear 
safety, and security. Our strong collaboration on these issues has 
created a positive environment that has allowed frank discussions of 
matters on which we do not agree, such as human rights. USAID/Vietnam 
works in close partnership with the Vietnamese government, and with our 
colleagues in the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services, 
and in the Environmental Protection Agency, to implement a broad foreign 
assistance program. As part of that program, USAID has provided over 
$330 million in the last ten years.

This assistance includes development objectives, such as economic reform 
and good governance, as well as programs to address genuine humanitarian 
needs, including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, and aid to people 
with disabilities, regardless of cause.

...

For the entire testimony, see
http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2010/07/144702.htm

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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