The US House of Representatives has issued an official document on theoccasion of the 20 th anniversary of the normalisation of ties withVietnam, a rare move by the US Congress in its external relations withcountries.

At a ceremony to celebrate the anniversary inWashington on February 10, Senator Jeff Falake presented the document toVietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong in the witness ofPresident pro tempore of the Senate, Senator Patrick Leahy, Secretary ofState John Kerry and Senators John McCain and Tom Harkin.

The document noted that the US’s lifting of embargo on Vietnam onFebruary 3, 1994 has ushered in a new period in the bilateral ties,paving the way for the establishment of the full diplomatic relations inJuly 1995.

It made it clear that the Vietnam – US ties havecome a long way over the past 20 years and the two governments andpeoples are continually pushing them forward.

While in theUS last July, President Truong Tan Sang met and held wide-rangingdiscussions with five Senators and five Congressmen. Both sides werecommitted to further strengthening bilateral ties.

Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, who initiated the introduction of thedocument, said he was impressed with Vietnamese leaders’ vision andcontributions to the development of bilateral ties at his meetings withPresident Truong Tan Sang last July and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dungin December, 2012.

He said he believes their mutual relationship will further flourish in the future.-VNA