What are the procedures of voting on PNTR in the US Congress?
Ambassador Michael Marine: There are two stages for the Congress to review and approve of PNTR. Both the Senate and the House must pass the bill on PNTR. First, Senators and House representatives who support the bill must submit it to the Congress. The second stage involves defending (hearings). Witnesses will present, before the Senate and House of Representatives, their viewpoints and opinions concerning the bill submitted to the Congress. At the same time, during the process, many US citizens will either express their opinions through letters, emails or meet Congressmen face-to-face (telephone calls) to voice their opinions on the bill. At present, there is a very strong alliance of US enterprises supporting the Congress approval of PNTR for Vietnam. There is another group of exiled interests in the U.S. who have expressed their opposition. Besides, there are other interest groups in fields like the garment industry, etc. who have expressed their opposition. The US Congress has a ve
