Reply from State Department

The State Department returned my complaint memorandum and supporting case histories by U. S. mail on Monday with an unsigned pro forma letter that is completely and totally unresponsive to the facts/arguments/criticisms cited in the memo. See reply. In effect, the government is saying with this letter: "we will do anything we want to regardless of what you, anyone else, or the law says.”

The only solution now is a political one. Everyone who cares about this issue has to get in the face of their congressional representatives and stay there until our elected representatives explain why the government seems to care infinitely more about the pain and suffering of foreign terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay than they do about U.S. citizens who are separated from their loved ones by an arrogant and unresponsive U.S. State Department. The abuses have been fully documented, and we have seen what the top people in the State Department think. Now is the time to escalate the issue fully into the political arena.

This same “smarter-than-thou” set in the government will soon be telling us what medical service we and our families can and can not have. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Join the fight. I will be doing my part but I can’t do it alone. My goal will be to make the performance of the Guangzhou U.S. Consulate an issue in the confirmation hearings of the next appointed Ambassador to China. It’s the perfect opportunity to lobby for change at Guangzhou. The Ambassador can make very substantial changes in immigrant visa processing. When I filed a complaint against the Warsaw U.S. Embassy in the late 90's that is very similar to the one filed against Guangzhou, the Ambassador contacted me through one of his top aides, promised significant changes in personnel and organization, delivered on all his promises, and the Warsaw Embassy went from being one of the worst in the world to being one of the best in the world (and so remains).

So, speak up now, or forever be silent.