By DONNA DE LA CRUZ
Associated Press Writer
December 1, 2005, 3:18 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith said Thursday that the Vietnamese government should be more forthcoming in providing the United States with better information on American soldiers listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.

"I remain steadfast in my commitment to obtaining a thorough and responsible accounting of the remaining American MIAs," said Smith, who arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday on a four-day congressional trip. "Thirty years after the return of our American troops, nearly 1,400 remain unaccounted for in Vietnam."

Smith said he planned to meet with government officials to discuss releasing more information on unresolved MIA cases. Smith, a ranking Republican on the International Relations Committee, will also discuss human rights and religious freedom with various officials, issues he held hearings on this summer on Capitol Hill.

"There's much to be done on both issues," Smith said during a telephone interview.

Last month, the U.S. State Department listed Vietnam for the second straight year as one of the world's worst violators of religious rights. Vietnamese officials maintain that no one there is jailed or persecuted for their religious beliefs.

Smith said he planned to speak with Vietnamese citizens about whether their country is abiding by a signed binding agreement with the United States to improve its observation of religious freedom.

Smith was the sponsor of the Vietnam Human Rights Act, a measure that would promote human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam that has passed the House in various forms on three separate occasions but has stalled in the Senate.

Smith planned to speak with officials during visits to Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City. Among the officials with whom he planned to meet were Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Van Bang and Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, the archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City.

Smith has served on the International Relations Committee for 23 years and has quietly mounted a bid to succeed Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., to become chairman. Hyde is retiring at the end of this congressional session.