
In an interview published in Politico on July 28, 2010 Assemblyman Van Tran, who recently enthusiastically accepted the endorsement of the right-wing Republican TEA Party Express, challenged Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez over her credentials regarding human rights in Vietnam. Tran told Politico’s Kasie Hunt:
“There’s a big debate in the community whether she’s effective or not – whether she’s doing it for lip service or for votes, because the big question is, after 14 years in the House, what substantial and tangible results can she show in terms of advancing Vietnamese democracy and human rights? Show us your accomplishments _ what bills, what legislation, what political prisoners?â€
Well, besides the fact that Congresswoman Sanchez has a case worker and field representative working full time to address the needs of her Vietnamese-American constituents, she is also co-chair of the Vietnam Human Rights Caucus in Congress and is an original co-sponsor of the Vietnam Human Rights Act.

So I asked her Chief of Staff Adrienne Elrod to comment on Tran’s assertions.
“Congresswoman Sanchez has been an effective voice for the Vietnamese community since she was sworn into office, and is recognized as one of the strongest advocates for the Vietnamese-American community in Congress. As co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam she has played a critical role in highlighting Vietnam’s human rights violations.â€
“Congresswoman Sanchez’s continued advocacy has led to the release of six Vietnamese-Americans imprisoned in Vietnam;†Elrod said. “She continues to pressure the U.S. Government to put Vietnam back on the Country’s of Particular Concern list and passed a bill in this Congress urging Vietnam to release imprisoned bloggers and respect internet freedom.â€
So again we have more talk from Van Tran and with no facts to back it up.
During his six years in the California State Assembly Van Tran has done absolutely nothing for the constituents of his Assembly District. He has failed to pass any significant legislation and has opposed every effort in the state legislature to enact legislation that supports the working class district he had been elected to represent.
Van Tran has however managed to embarrass himself and his constituents by trying to disrupt the DUI investigation of his campaign aide Westminster Andy Quach. The incident almost resulted in Assemblyman Tran’s arrest. Mr. Weak Tea has received the endorsement of the TEA Party Express, a right-wing group and claimed at a TEA Party rally in Santa Ana that federal health care reform was both “socialism and communism.†We really don”t need a TEA Party nut-job who doesn’t understand that requiring people to have private insurance so that the government isn’t left holding the bill for medical care is neither communist and socialist. If anything, mandating that people hold “private” health insurance is government mandated corporate welfare.
With his suggestion that Congresswoman Sanchez has not an effective as an advocate for the Vietnamese-American community and human rights in Vietnam, Assemblyman Van Tran has shown he has only an empty TEA-bag to put in his cup of hot water. This makes for a really weak cup of tea.