I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3190

To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2005

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of 

California, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. 

WOLF, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PENCE, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. CROWLEY, and Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ

of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2005’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Purpose. 

TITLE I—PROHIBITION ON NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO 

THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM 
2

•HR 3190 IH 

Sec. 101. Bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance. 

TITLE II—ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM 

Sec. 201. Assistance. 

TITLE III—UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 

Sec. 301. Radio Free Asia transmissions to Vietnam. 

Sec. 302. United States educational and cultural exchange programs with Vietnam. 

TITLE IV—UNITED STATES REFUGEE POLICY 

Sec. 401. Refugee resettlement for nationals of Vietnam. 

TITLE V—ANNUAL REPORT ON PROGRESS TOWARD FREEDOM 

AND DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM 

Sec. 501. Annual report.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The relationship between the United States 

4 and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown 

5 substantially over the past 10 years, with annual 

6 trade between the two countries reaching over $6 

7 billion per year. 

8 (2) The Government of Vietnam’s transition to9 ward greater economic freedom and trade has not 

10 been matched by greater political freedom and sub11 stantial improvements in human rights. 

12 (3) Vietnam remains a one party state, ruled 

13 and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam 

14 (CPV), which continues to deny the right of citizens 

15 to change their government. 

16 (4) Although in recent years the National As17 sembly of Vietnam has played an increasingly active 
3

•HR 3190 IH 

1 role as a forum for highlighting local concerns, cor2 ruption, and inefficiency, the National Assembly re3 mains subject to the direction of the Communist 

4 Party of Vietnam and the CPV maintains control 

5 over the selection of candidates in national and local 

6 elections. 

7 (5) The Government of Vietnam forbids public 

8 challenge to the legitimacy of the one party state, re9 stricts freedoms of opinion, the press, and associa10 tion and tightly limits access to the Internet and 

11 telecommunication. 

12 (6) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

13 detain and imprison persons for the peaceful expres14 sion of dissenting religious and political views, in15 cluding Pham Hong Son, Nguyen Vu Binh, Nguyen 

16 Khac Toan, Brother Nguyen Thien Phung, Rev17 erend Than Van Truong and Pastor Nguyen Hong 

18 Quang, among others. 

19 (7) While the Government of Vietnam recently 

20 released a handful of political and religious pris21 oners, including Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Professor 

22 Nguyen Dinh Huy, Father Nguyen Van Ly, and 

23 Venerable Thich Thien Minh, these individuals re24 main under close surveillance by the Government of 
4

•HR 3190 IH 

1 Vietnam, which has included house detention or po2 lice surveillance. 

3 (8)(A) The Government of Vietnam limits free4 dom of religion and restricts the operation of reli5 gious organizations, allowing only religious organiza6 tions officially approved by the Government of Viet7 nam, but often restricting their selection and train8 ing of religious leaders as well as their activities. 

9 (B) On September 15, 2004, Vietnam was de10 clared a Country of Particular Concern by the De11 partment of State for its severe violations of reli12 gious freedom, and despite an agreement concluded 

13 with the Department of State in May 2005 commit14 ting to greater religious freedom, the Government of 

15 Vietnam continues to commit serious human rights 

16 abuses in this area. 

17 (C) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant 

18 congregations in the Northwest and Central High19 lands of Vietnam suffer severe abuses because of ac20 tions by the Government of Vietnam, which have in21 cluded forced renunciations of faith, the closure and 

22 destruction of churches, the arrest and harassment 

23 of pastors, and the withholding of social programs 

24 provided for the general population, and in a few 
5

•HR 3190 IH 

1 cases credible reports indicate that minority religious 

2 leaders have been beaten and even killed. 

3 (D) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 

4 (UBCV) suffers severe persecution as the Govern5 ment of Vietnam confiscated its temples and per6 secuted its clergy for refusing to join the state-spon7 sored Buddhist organizations and continually has 

8 detained and confined senior UBCV clergy, includ9 ing the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, the 

10 Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Venerable 

11 Thich Tue Sy, and others. 

12 (E) The Catholic Church continues to face sig13 nificant restrictions on the training and ordination 

14 of priests and bishops, resulting in numbers insuffi15 cient to support the growing Catholic population in 

16 Vietnam and officials of the Government of Vietnam 

17 continue to limit the Catholic Church’s conduct of 

18 religious education classes and charitable activities. 

19 (F) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

20 suppress the activities of other religious adherents, 

21 including Cao Dai, Baha’i, and Hoa Hao who lack 

22 official recognition or have chosen not to affiliate 

23 with the state-sanctioned groups, including through 

24 the use of detention and imprisonment. 
6

•HR 3190 IH 

1 (9) The Government of Vietnam controls all 

2 print and electronic media, including access to the 

3 Internet, jams the signals of some foreign radio sta4 tions, including Radio Free Asia, and has detained, 

5 convicted, and imprisoned individuals who have post6 ed or sent democracy-related materials via the Inter7 net. 

8 (10)(A) Indigenous Montagnards in the Central 

9 Highlands of Vietnam continue to face particularly 

10 severe persecution, with numerous cases of arbitrary 

11 arrests and detentions and reports that many 

12 Montagnards have gone into hiding, fearing arrest, 

13 interrogation, or physical abuse by Government au14 thorities. 

15 (B) During Easter weekend in April 2004, 

16 thousands of Montagnards gathered to protest their 

17 treatment by the Government of Vietnam, including 

18 the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing restric19 tions on religious activities, and credible reports in20 dicate that the protests were met with a violent re21 sponse as many demonstrators were arrested, in22 jured, or are in hiding, and that others were killed. 

23 (C) Hundreds of Montagnards continue to flee 

24 to neighboring countries, over 700 Montagnards re25 side in different refugee camps operated by the 
7

•HR 3190 IH 

1 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 

2 Cambodia, and numerous Montagnards have been 

3 involuntarily repatriated to Vietnam by the Govern4 ment of Cambodia, in violation of international law. 

5 (11) Ethnic minority Hmong in the Northwest 

6 Highlands of Vietnam also suffer persecution by the 

7 Government of Vietnam, but as with the Central 

8 Highlands region, access to the Northwest High9 lands by diplomats, nongovernmental organizations, 

10 journalists, and other foreigners is severely re11 stricted, making it difficult to verify conditions. 

12 (12)(A) People arrested in Vietnam because of 

13 their political or religious affiliations and activities 

14 often are not accorded due legal process as they lack 

15 full access to lawyers of their choice, experience 

16 closed trials, have often been detained for years 

17 without trial, and have been subjected to the use of 

18 torture to admit to crimes they did not commit or 

19 to falsely denounce their own leaders. 

20 (B) Members of the Mennonite Church such as 

21 Pham Ngoc Thach, Nguyen Van Phuong, Nguyen 

22 Thanh Nhan, and Nguyen Huu Nghia were repeat23 edly tortured prior to their sentencing and authori24 ties have also reportedly increasingly resorted to psy25 chiatric torture against religious prisoners such as 
8

•HR 3190 IH 

1 Ms. Le Thi Hong Lien and Pastor Than Van 

2 Truong. 

3 (13)(A) United States refugee resettlement pro4 grams, including the Orderly Departure Program 

5 (ODP), the Resettlement Opportunities for Return6 ing Vietnamese (ROVR) program, general resettle7 ment of boat people from refugee camps throughout 

8 Southeast Asia, the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 

9 1988, and the Priority One Refugee resettlement 

10 category have helped rescue Vietnamese nationals 

11 who have suffered persecution on account of their 

12 associations with the United States as well as Viet13 namese nationals who have been persecuted because 

14 of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or 

15 membership in a particular social group. 

16 (B) While previous programs have served their 

17 purposes well, a significant number of eligible refu18 gees from Vietnam were unfairly denied or excluded, 

19 including Amerasians, in some cases by vindictive or 

20 corrupt Vietnamese officials who controlled access to 

21 the programs, and in others by United States per22 sonnel who imposed unduly restrictive interpreta23 tions of program criteria. In addition, the Govern24 ment of Vietnam has denied passports to persons 
9

•HR 3190 IH 

1 that the United States has found eligible for refugee 

2 admission. 

3 (C) The Department of State has agreed to ex4 tend the September 30, 1994, registration deadline 

5 for former United States employees, ‘‘re education’’ 

6 survivors, and surviving spouses of those who did 

7 not survive ‘‘re-education’’ camps to sign up for 

8 United States refugee programs, as well as to re9 sume the Vietnamese In Country Priority One Pro10 gram in Vietnam to provide protection to victims of 

11 persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, 

12 political opinion, or membership in a particular so13 cial group who otherwise have no access to the Or14 derly Departure Program. 

15 (D) The former United States Immigration and 

16 Naturalization Service agreed to resume the proc17 essing of former United States employees under the 

18 U11 program, which had been unilaterally sus19 pended by the United States Government, as well as 

20 to review the applications of Amerasians, children of 

21 American servicemen left behind in Vietnam after 

22 the war ended in April 1975, for resettlement to the 

23 United States under the Amerasian Homecoming 

24 Act of 1988. 
10

•HR 3190 IH 

1 (14) Congress has passed numerous resolutions 

2 condemning human rights abuses in Vietnam, indi3 cating that although there has been an expansion of 

4 relations with the Government of Vietnam, it should 

5 not be construed as approval of the ongoing and se6 rious violations of fundamental human rights in 

7 Vietnam. 

8 (15) Enhancement of relations between the 

9 United States and Vietnam has provided an oppor10 tunity for a human rights dialogue and could lead to 

11 future progress on human rights issues in Vietnam. 

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

13 The purpose of this Act is to promote the develop14 ment of freedom and democracy in Vietnam. 

15 TITLE I—PROHIBITION ON NON16 HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE 

17 TO THE GOVERNMENT OF 

18 VIETNAM 

19 SEC. 101. BILATERAL NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE. 

20 (a) ASSISTANCE.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub22 section (b), United States nonhumanitarian assist23 ance may not be provided to the Government of 

24 Vietnam—
11

•HR 3190 IH 

1 (A) for fiscal year 2006 unless not later 

2 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of 

3 this Act the President determines and certifies 

4 to Congress that the requirements of subpara5 graphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2) have 

6 been met during the 12-month period ending on 

7 the date of the certification; and 

8 (B) for each subsequent fiscal year unless 

9 the President determines and certifies to Con10 gress in the most recent annual report sub11 mitted pursuant to section 501 that the re12 quirements of subparagraphs (A) through (E) 

13 of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-

14 month period covered by the report. 

15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this 

16 paragraph are that—

17 (A) the Government of Vietnam has made 

18 substantial progress toward releasing all polit19 ical and religious prisoners from imprisonment, 

20 house arrest, and other forms of detention; 

21 (B)(i) the Government of Vietnam has 

22 made substantial progress toward respecting 

23 the right to freedom of religion, including the 

24 right to participate in religious activities and in-
12

•HR 3190 IH 

1 stitutions without interference by or involve2 ment of the Government; and 

3 (ii) has made substantial progress toward 

4 returning estates and properties confiscated 

5 from the churches; 

6 (C) the Government of Vietnam has made 

7 substantial progress toward allowing Viet8 namese nationals free and open access to 

9 United States refugee programs; 

10 (D) the Government of Vietnam has made 

11 substantial progress toward respecting the 

12 human rights of members of ethnic minority 

13 groups in the Central Highlands or elsewhere in 

14 Vietnam; and 

15 (E)(i) neither any official of the Govern16 ment of Vietnam nor any agency or entity whol17 ly or partly owned by the Government of Viet18 nam was complicit in a severe form of traf19 ficking in persons; or 

20 (ii) the Government of Vietnam took all 

21 appropriate steps to end any such complicity 

22 and hold such official, agency, or entity fully 

23 accountable for its conduct. 

24 (b) EXCEPTION.—
13

•HR 3190 IH 

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not 

2 apply for any fiscal year with respect to the provi3 sion of United States nonhumanitarian assistance 

4 for any program or activity for which such assist5 ance was provided to the Government of Vietnam for 

6 fiscal year 2005 in an amount not to exceed the 

7 amount so provided for fiscal year 2005. 

8 (2) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NA9 TIONAL INTEREST.—Notwithstanding the failure of 

10 the Government of Vietnam to meet the require11 ments of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive 

12 the application of subsection (a) for any fiscal year 

13 if the President determines that the provision to the 

14 Government of Vietnam of increased United States 

15 nonhumanitarian assistance would promote the pur16 poses of this Act or is otherwise in the national in17 terest of the United States. 

18 (3) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

19 President may exercise the authority under para20 graph (2) with respect to—

21 (A) all United States nonhumanitarian as22 sistance to Vietnam; or 

23 (B) one or more programs, projects, or ac24 tivities of such assistance. 

25 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
14

•HR 3190 IH 

1 (1) SEVERE FORM OF TRAFFICKING IN PER2 SONS.—The term ‘‘severe form of trafficking in per3 sons’’ means any activity described in section 103(8) 

4 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

5 (Public Law 106–386 (114 Stat. 1470); 22 U.S.C. 

6 7102(8)). 

7 (2) UNITED STATES NONHUMANITARIAN AS8 SISTANCE.—The term ‘‘United States nonhumani9 tarian assistance’’ means—

10 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As11 sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under 

12 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat13 ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor14 poration), other than—

15 (i) disaster relief assistance, including 

16 any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of 

17 that Act; 

18 (ii) assistance which involves the pro19 vision of food (including monetization of 

20 food) or medicine; and 

21 (iii) assistance for refugees; and 

22 (B) sales, or financing on any terms, under 

23 the Arms Export Control Act. 
15

•HR 3190 IH 

1 TITLE II—ASSISTANCE TO SUP2 PORT DEMOCRACY IN VIET3 NAM 

4 SEC. 201. ASSISTANCE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to 

6 provide assistance, through appropriate nongovernmental 

7 organizations, for the support of individuals and organiza8 tions to promote internationally recognized human rights 

9 in Vietnam. 

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry 

12 out subsection (a) $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

13 2006 and 2007. 

14 TITLE III—UNITED STATES 

15 PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 

16 SEC. 301. RADIO FREE ASIA TRANSMISSIONS TO VIETNAM. 

17 (a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.—It is the pol18 icy of the United States to take such measures as are nec19 essary to overcome the jamming of Radio Free Asia by 

20 the Government of Vietnam. 

21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi22 tion to such amounts as are otherwise authorized to be 

23 appropriated for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, 

24 there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the 
16

•HR 3190 IH 

1 policy under subsection (a) $9,100,000 for the fiscal year 

2 2006 and $1,100,000 for the fiscal year 2007. 

3 SEC. 302. UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL 

4 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH VIETNAM. 

5 It is the policy of the United States that programs 

6 of educational and cultural exchange with Vietnam should 

7 actively promote progress toward freedom and democracy 

8 in Vietnam by providing opportunities to Vietnamese na9 tionals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives 

10 to see freedom and democracy in action and, also, by en11 suring that Vietnamese nationals who have already dem12 onstrated a commitment to these values are included in 

13 such programs. 

14 TITLE IV—UNITED STATES 

15 REFUGEE POLICY 

16 SEC. 401. REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT FOR NATIONALS OF 

17 VIETNAM. 

18 (a) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.—It is the pol19 icy of the United States to offer refugee resettlement to 

20 nationals of Vietnam (including members of the 

21 Montagnard ethnic minority groups) who were eligible for 

22 the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), Resettlement Op23 portunities for Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR), the 

24 Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, or any other United 

25 States refugee program and who were deemed ineligible 
17

•HR 3190 IH 

1 due to administrative error or who for reasons beyond the 

2 control of such individuals (including insufficient or con3 tradictory information or the inability to pay bribes de4 manded by officials of the Government of Vietnam) were 

5 unable or failed to apply for such programs in compliance 

6 with deadlines imposed by the Department of State. 

7 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITY.—Of the amounts au8 thorized to be appropriated to the Department of State 

9 for Migration and Refugee Assistance for each of the fiscal 

10 years 2006, 2007, and 2008, such sums as may be nec11 essary are authorized to be made available for the protec12 tion (including resettlement in appropriate cases) of Viet13 namese refugees and asylum seekers, including 

14 Montagnards in Cambodia. 

15 TITLE V—ANNUAL REPORT ON 

16 PROGRESS TOWARD FREE17 DOM AND DEMOCRACY IN 

18 VIETNAM 

19 SEC. 501. ANNUAL REPORT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act and every 12 months 

22 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Con23 gress a report on the following: 

24 (1)(A) The determination and certification of 

25 the President that the requirements of subpara-
18

•HR 3190 IH 

1 graphs (A) through (D) of section 101(a)(2) have 

2 been met, if applicable. 

3 (B) The determination of the President under 

4 section 101(b)(2), if applicable. 

5 (2) Efforts by the United States Government to 

6 secure transmission sites for Radio Free Asia in 

7 countries in close geographical proximity to Vietnam 

8 in accordance with section 301(a). 

9 (3) Efforts to ensure that programs with Viet10 nam promote the policy set forth in section 302 and 

11 with section 102 of the Human Rights, Refugee, and 

12 Other Foreign Policy Provisions Act of 1996 regard13 ing participation in programs of educational and cul14 tural exchange. 

15 (4) Steps taken to carry out the policy under 

16 section 401(a). 

17 (5) Lists of persons believed to be imprisoned, 

18 detained, or placed under house arrest, tortured, or 

19 otherwise persecuted by the Government of Vietnam 

20 due to their pursuit of the rights described in para21 graph (5). In compiling such lists, the Secretary 

22 shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con23 cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben24 efit to, the persons who may be included on the lists 

25 and their families. In addition, the Secretary shall 
19

•HR 3190 IH 

1 include a list of such persons and their families who 

2 may qualify for protection under United States ref3 ugee programs. 

4 (6) A description of the development of the rule 

5 of law in Vietnam, including, but not limited to—

6 (A) progress toward the development of in7 stitutions of democratic governance; 

8 (B) processes by which statutes, regula9 tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern10 ment of Vietnam are developed and become 

11 binding within Vietnam; 

12 (C) the extent to which statutes, regula13 tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci14 sions, and other legal acts of the Government of 

15 Vietnam are published and are made accessible 

16 to the public; 

17 (D) the extent to which administrative and 

18 judicial decisions are supported by statements 

19 of reasons that are based upon written statutes, 

20 regulations, rules and other legal acts of the 

21 Government of Vietnam; 

22 (E) the extent to which individuals are 

23 treated equally under the laws of Vietnam with24 out regard to citizenship, race, religion, political 

25 opinion, or current or former associations; 
20

•HR 3190 IH 

1 (F) the extent to which administrative and 

2 judicial decisions are independent of political 

3 pressure or governmental interference and are 

4 reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; 

5 and 

6 (G) the extent to which laws in Vietnam 

7 are written and administered in ways that are 

8 consistent with international human rights 

9 standards, including the requirements of the 

10 International Covenant on Civil and Political 

11 Rights. 

12 (b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—In 

13 preparing the report under subsection (a), the Secretary 

14 shall, as appropriate, seek out and maintain contacts with 

15 nongovernmental organizations and human rights advo16 cates (including Vietnamese-Americans, human rights ad17 vocates in Vietnam), including receiving reports and up18 dates from such organizations and evaluating such re19 ports. The Secretary shall also seek to consult with the 

20 United States Commission on Religious Freedom for ap21 propriate sections of the report.

Æ