The Free Vietnamese Solidarity Conference held its Fourth Congress on March 3-5,2000 in Washington, D.C. with 98 representatives of its 52 member-organizations across the world. Many of these representatives are of younger generations of Vietnamese from eleven youth organizations in Australia, Europe, Canada and various parts of the US. It was this youthful make-up that have brought lively and creative inputs to the discussions of how to bring about positive changes in Vietnam.
In the morning of the first day of the conference, a representatives delegation attended a briefing at the White House to listen to the U.S. policies regarding Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. White House officials, Laura Efurd, Ruby Lam, Ravic Husso and Joseph Damond, presented the U.S. stance on the trade relations between the two countries as well as the U.S. concerns for human rights in Vietnam. Members of the Solidarity Conference delegate voiced their inputs to how the U.S. policy can best serve the people of both nations, particularly to foster democracy and the respect for human rights in Vietnam.
At noon, the delegation visited a number of U.S. House Representatives who have openly supported the cause of human rights in Vietnam and recently nominated Venerable Thich Quang Do, a leader of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, for the Nobel Peace Prize. The delegation expressed special thanks and appreciation to the three leaders of this effort: Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, and Rep. Edward R. Royce.
The Conference officially commenced at 3pm with a ceremony at the Caucus Room of the U.S. Congress. This ceremony was sponsored by Congressmen Tom Davis and James Morgan. Among the guest speakers at this function were Congressman Edward R. Royce, Mr. Al Santoli, representing Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Dr. Doan Viet Hoat, and Mr. Heinz Kamm, Chairman of the Humanity and Human Rights Committee in Germany. Mr. Kamm conveyed the thanks of Vietnamese students and workers seeking political asylum in Germany to the Solidarity Conference for its recent successful intervention on their behalf.
On the next two days the conference was held at the George Mason University. Participants discussed various subjects under the theme "Democracy for Vietnam: direction for the year 2000". A joint proclamation was released on the last day of the Conference.