113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1897 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2013’’. 

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

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and purpose. 

Sec. 3. Prohibition on increased nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government 

of Vietnam. 

Sec. 4. United States public diplomacy. 

Sec. 5. United Nations Human Rights Council. 

Sec. 6. Annual report. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The relationship between the United States 

9 and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown 

10 substantially since the end of the trade embargo in 

11 1994, with annual trade between the two countries 

12 reaching nearly $25,000,000,000 in 2012. 

13 (2) The Government of Vietnam’s transition to14 ward greater economic freedom and trade has not 

15 been matched by greater political freedom and sub16 stantial improvements in basic human rights for Vi17 etnamese citizens, including freedom of religion, ex18 pression, association, and assembly. 

19 (3) The United States Congress agreed to Viet20 nam becoming an official member of the World 

21 Trade Organization in 2006, amidst assurances that 
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1 the Government of Vietnam was steadily improving 

2 its human rights record and would continue to do so. 

3 (4) Vietnam remains a one-party state, ruled 

4 and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam 

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

6 to change their Government. 

7 (5) Although in recent years the National As8 sembly of Vietnam has played an increasingly active 

9 role as a forum for highlighting local concerns, cor10 ruption, and inefficiency, the National Assembly re11 mains subject to the direction of the CPV and the 

12 CPV maintains control over the selection of can13 didates in national and local elections. 

14 (6) The Government of Vietnam forbids public 

15 challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state, re16 stricts freedoms of opinion, the press, and associa17 tion and tightly limits access to the Internet and 

18 telecommunication. 

19 (7) Since Vietnam’s accession to the WTO on 

20 January 11, 2007, the Government of Vietnam arbi21 trarily arrested and detained numerous individuals 

22 for their peaceful advocacy of religious freedom, de23 mocracy, and human rights, including Father 

24 Nguyen Van Ly, human rights lawyers Nguyen Van 

25 Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan, Cu Huy Ha Vu, and Le 
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1 Cong Dinh, and bloggers Nguyen Van Hai, Ta 

2 Phong Tan, and Le Van Son. 

3 (8) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

4 detain, imprison, place under house arrest, convict, 

5 or otherwise restrict persons for the peaceful expres6 sion of dissenting political or religious views. 

7 (9) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

8 detain labor leaders and restricts the right to orga9 nize independently. 

10 (10) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

11 limit the freedom of religion, restrict the operations 

12 of independent religious organizations, and persecute 

13 believers whose religious activities the Government 

14 regards as a potential threat to its monopoly on 

15 power. 

16 (11) Despite reported progress in church open17 ings and legal registrations of religious venues, the 

18 Government of Vietnam has halted most positive ac19 tions since the Department of State lifted the ‘‘coun20 try of particular concern’’ (CPC) designation for 

21 Vietnam in November 2006. 

22 (12) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant 

23 congregations, particularly Montagnards in the Cen24 tral and Northwest Highlands, suffer severe abuses 

25 because of actions by the Government of Vietnam, 
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1 which have included forced renunciations of faith, 

2 arrest and harassment, the withholding of social pro3 grams provided for the general population, confisca4 tion and destruction of property, subjection to severe 

5 beatings, and reported deaths. 

6 (13) There has been a pattern of violent re7 sponses by the Government to peaceful prayer vigils 

8 and demonstrations by Catholics for the return of 

9 Government-confiscated church properties. Pro10 testers have been harassed, beaten, and detained 

11 and church properties have been destroyed. Catholics 

12 also continue to face some restrictions on selection 

13 of clergy, the establishment of seminaries and semi14 nary candidates, and individual cases of travel and 

15 church registration. 

16 (14) In May 2010 the village of Con Dau, a 

17 Catholic parish in Da Nang, faced escalated violence 

18 during a funeral procession as police attempted to 

19 prohibit a religious burial in the village cemetery; 

20 more than 100 villagers were injured, 62 were ar21 rested, five were tortured, and at least three died. 

22 (15) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 

23 (UBCV) suffers persecution as the Government of 

24 Vietnam continues to restrict contacts and move25 ment of senior UBCV clergy for refusing to join the 
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1 state-sponsored Buddhist organization, the Govern2 ment restricts expression and assembly, and the 

3 Government continues to harass and threaten UBCV 

4 monks, nuns, and youth leaders. 

5 (16) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

6 suppress the activities of other religious adherents, 

7 including Cao Dai and Hoa Hao Buddhists who lack 

8 official recognition or have chosen not to affiliate 

9 with the state-sanctioned groups, including through 

10 the use of detention, imprisonment, and strict Gov11 ernment oversight. 

12 (17) Many Montagnards and others are still 

13 serving long prison sentences for their involvement 

14 in peaceful demonstrations in 2001, 2002, 2004, 

15 and 2008. Montagnards continue to face threats, de16 tention, beatings, forced renunciation of faith, prop17 erty destruction, restricted movement, and reported 

18 deaths at the hands of Government officials. 

19 (18) Ethnic minority Hmong in Northern Viet20 nam, the Northwest Highlands, and the Central 

21 Highlands of Vietnam also suffer restrictions, confis22 cation of property, abuses, and persecution by the 

23 Government of Vietnam. 

24 (19) The Government of Vietnam restricts 

25 Khmer Krom expression, assembly, and association, 
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1 has confiscated nearly all the Theravada Buddhist 

2 temples, controls all Khmer Kaon Buddhist religious 

3 organizations and prohibits most peaceful protests. 

4 (20) The Government of Vietnam controls near5 ly all print and electronic media, including access to 

6 the Internet, jams the signals of some foreign radio 

7 stations, including Radio Free Asia, and has de8 tained and imprisoned individuals who have posted, 

9 published, sent, or otherwise distributed democracy10 related materials. 

11 (21) People arrested in Vietnam because of 

12 their political or religious affiliations and activities 

13 often are not accorded due legal process as they lack 

14 full access to lawyers of their choice, may experience 

15 closed trials, have often been detained for years 

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

17 torture to admit crimes they did not commit or to 

18 falsely denounce their own leaders. 

19 (22) Vietnam continues to be a source country 

20 for the commercial sexual exploitation and forced 

21 labor of women and girls, as well as for men and 

22 women legally entering into international labor con23 tracts who subsequently face conditions of debt 

24 bondage or forced labor, and is a destination country 
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1 for child trafficking and continues to have internal 

2 human trafficking. 

3 (23) There are many reports of Vietnamese of4 ficials and employees participating in, facilitating, 

5 condoning, or otherwise being complicit in severe 

6 forms of human trafficking. 

7 (24) United States refugee resettlement pro8 grams, including the Humanitarian Resettlement 

9 (HR) Program, the Orderly Departure Program 

10 (ODP), Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese 

11 Returnees (ROVR) Program, general resettlement of 

12 boat people from refugee camps throughout South13 east Asia, the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, 

14 and the Priority One Refugee resettlement category, 

15 have helped rescue Vietnamese nationals who have 

16 suffered persecution on account of their associations 

17 with the United States or, in many cases, because of 

18 such associations by their spouses, parents, or other 

19 family members, as well as other Vietnamese nation20 als who have been persecuted because of race, reli21 gion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in 

22 a particular social group. 

23 (25) While previous programs have served their 

24 purposes well, a significant number of eligible refu25 gees from Vietnam were unfairly denied or excluded, 
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1 including Amerasians, in some cases by vindictive or 

2 corrupt Vietnamese officials who controlled access to 

3 the programs, and in others by United States per4 sonnel who imposed unduly restrictive interpreta5 tions of program criteria. In addition, the Govern6 ment of Vietnam has denied passports to persons 

7 who the United States has found eligible for refugee 

8 admission. 

9 (26) The Government of Vietnam reportedly is 

10 detaining tens of thousands of people, with some as 

11 young as 12 years old, in government-run drug de12 tention centers and treating them as slave laborers. 

13 (27) In 2012, over 150,000 people signed an 

14 online petition calling on the Administration to not 

15 expand trade with communist Vietnam at the ex16 pense of human rights. 

17 (28) Congress has passed numerous resolutions 

18 condemning human rights abuses in Vietnam, indi19 cating that although there has been an expansion of 

20 relations with the Government of Vietnam, it should 

21 not be construed as approval of the ongoing and se22 rious violations of fundamental human rights in 

23 Vietnam. 

24 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to promote 

25 the development of freedom and democracy in Vietnam. 
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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON INCREASED NONHUMANITARIAN 

2 ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIET3 NAM. 

4 (a) ASSISTANCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub6 section (b), the Federal Government may not pro7 vide nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government 

8 of Vietnam during any fiscal year in an amount that 

9 exceeds the amount of such assistance provided for 

10 fiscal year 2012 unless— 

11 (A) with respect to the limitation for fiscal 

12 year 2014, the President determines and cer13 tifies to Congress, not later than 30 days after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, that the 

15 requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) 

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

17 month period ending on the date of the certifi18 cation; and 

19 (B) with respect to the limitation for sub20 sequent fiscal years, the President determines 

21 and certifies to Congress, in the most recent 

22 annual report submitted pursuant to section 6, 

23 that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) 

24 through (G) of paragraph (2) have been met 

25 during the 12-month period covered by the re26 port. 
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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this 

2 paragraph are the following: 

3 (A) The Government of Vietnam has made 

4 substantial progress toward releasing all polit5 ical and religious prisoners from imprisonment, 

6 house arrest, and other forms of detention. 

7 (B) The Government of Vietnam has made 

8 substantial progress toward— 

9 (i) respecting the right to freedom of 

10 religion, including the right to participate 

11 in religious activities and institutions with12 out interference, harassment, or involve13 ment of the Government, for all of Viet14 nam’s diverse religious communities; and 

15 (ii) returning estates and properties 

16 confiscated from the churches and religious 

17 communities. 

18 (C) The Government of Vietnam has made 

19 substantial progress toward respecting the right 

20 to freedom of expression, assembly, and associa21 tion, including the release of independent jour22 nalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor ac23 tivists. 

24 (D) The Government of Vietnam has made 

25 substantial progress toward repealing or revis-
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1 ing laws that criminalize peaceful dissent, inde2 pendent media, unsanctioned religious activity, 

3 and nonviolent demonstrations and rallies, in 

4 accordance with international standards and 

5 treaties to which Vietnam is a party. 

6 (E) 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 (F) The Government of Vietnam has made 

11 substantial progress toward respecting the 

12 human rights of members of all ethnic and mi13 nority groups. 

14 (G) Neither any official of the Government 

15 of Vietnam nor any agency or entity wholly or 

16 partly owned by the Government of Vietnam 

17 was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in 

18 persons, or the Government of Vietnam took all 

19 appropriate steps to end any such complicity 

20 and hold such official, agency, or entity fully 

21 accountable for its conduct. 

22 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

23 (1) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NA24 TIONAL INTEREST.—Notwithstanding the failure of 

25 the Government of Vietnam to meet the require-
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1 ments of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive 

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

3 if the President determines that the provision to the 

4 Government of Vietnam of increased nonhumani5 tarian assistance would promote the purpose of this 

6 Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the 

7 United States. 

8 (2) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

9 President may exercise the authority under para10 graph (1) with respect to— 

11 (A) all United States nonhumanitarian as12 sistance to Vietnam; or 

13 (B) one or more programs, projects, or ac14 tivities of such assistance. 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—The 

17 term ‘‘nonhumanitarian assistance’’ means— 

18 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As19 sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under 

20 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat21 ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor22 poration), other than— 

23 (i) disaster relief assistance, including 

24 any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of 

25 that Act; 
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1 (ii) assistance which involves the pro2 vision of food (including monetization of 

3 food) or medicine; 

4 (iii) assistance for environmental re5 mediation of dioxin-contaminated sites and 

6 related health activities; 

7 (iv) assistance for demining and 

8 unexploded ordnance (UXO) remediation, 

9 and related health and educational activi10 ties; 

11 (v) assistance to combat severe forms 

12 of trafficking in persons; 

13 (vi) assistance to combat pandemic 

14 diseases; 

15 (vii) assistance for refugees; and 

16 (viii) assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, 

17 including any assistance under section 

18 104A of that Act; and 

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

20 the Arms Export Control Act. 

21 (2) SEVERE FORM OF TRAFFICKING IN PER22 SONS.—The term ‘‘severe form of trafficking in per23 sons’’ means any activity described in section 103(8) 

24 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
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1 (Public Law 106–386 (114 Stat. 1470); 22 U.S.C. 

2 7102(8)). 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

4 on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply 

5 with respect to the provision of nonhumanitarian assist6 ance to the Government of Vietnam for fiscal year 2014 

7 and subsequent fiscal years. 

8 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY. 

9 (a) RADIO FREE ASIA TRANSMISSIONS TO VIET10 NAM.—It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

11 should take measures to overcome the jamming of Radio 

12 Free Asia by the Government of Vietnam and that the 

13 Broadcasting Board of Governors should not cut staffing, 

14 funding, or broadcast hours for the Vietnamese language 

15 services of the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, 

16 which shall be done without reducing any other broadcast 

17 language services. 

18 (b) UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL

19 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH VIETNAM.—It is the sense 

20 of Congress that any programs of educational and cultural 

21 exchange between the United States and Vietnam should 

22 actively promote progress toward freedom and democracy 

23 in Vietnam by providing opportunities to Vietnamese na24 tionals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives 

25 to see freedom and democracy in action and, also, by en-
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1 suring that Vietnamese nationals who have already dem2 onstrated a commitment to these values are included in 

3 such programs. 

4 (c) UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL.— 

5 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State 

6 should strongly oppose, and encourage other members of 

7 the United Nations to oppose, the candidacy of Vietnam 

8 for membership on the United Nations Human Rights 

9 Council for the term beginning in 2014. 

10 SEC. 5. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

11 (a) COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.—It is the 

12 sense of Congress that Vietnam should be designated as 

13 a country of particular concern for religious freedom pur14 suant to section 402(b) of the International Religious 

15 Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)). 

16 (b) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF

17 HUMAN TRAFFICKING.—It is the sense of Congress that 

18 the Government of Vietnam does not fully comply with the 

19 minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and 

20 is not making significant efforts to bring itself into compli21 ance, and this determination should be reflected in the an22 nual report to Congress required pursuant to section 

23 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

24 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)). 
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1 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than six months after 

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

4 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress 

5 a report on the following: 

6 (1) The determination and certification of the 

7 President that the requirements of subparagraphs 

8 (A) through (G) of section 3(a)(2) have been met, 

9 if applicable. 

10 (2) If the President has waived the application 

11 of section 3(a) pursuant to section 3(b) during the 

12 reporting period— 

13 (A) the national interest with respect to 

14 which such a waiver was based; 

15 (B) the amount of increased nonhumani16 tarian assistance provided to the Government of 

17 Vietnam; and 

18 (C) a description of the type and amount 

19 of commensurate assistance provided pursuant 

20 to section 3(b)(1). 

21 (3) Efforts by the United States Government to 

22 promote access by the Vietnamese people to Radio 

23 Free Asia transmissions. 

24 (4) Efforts to ensure that programs with Viet25 nam promote the policy set forth in section 102 of 

26 the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Pol-
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1 icy Provisions Act of 1996 regarding participation in 

2 programs of educational and cultural exchange. 

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

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

5 otherwise persecuted by the Government of Vietnam 

6 due to their pursuit of internationally recognized 

7 human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary 

8 shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con9 cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben10 efit to, the persons who may be included on the lists 

11 and their families. In addition, the Secretary shall 

12 include a list of such persons and their families who 

13 may qualify for protections under United States ref14 ugee programs. 

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

16 of law in Vietnam, including— 

17 (A) progress toward the development of in18 stitutions of democratic governance; 

19 (B) processes by which statutes, regula20 tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern21 ment of Vietnam are developed and become 

22 binding within Vietnam; 

23 (C) the extent to which statutes, regula24 tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci25 sions, and other legal acts of the Government of 
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1 Vietnam are published and are made accessible 

2 to the public; 

3 (D) the extent to which administrative and 

4 judicial decisions are supported by statements 

5 of reasons that are based upon written statutes, 

6 regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the 

7 Government of Vietnam; 

8 (E) the extent to which individuals are 

9 treated equally under the laws of Vietnam with10 out regard to citizenship, race, religion, political 

11 opinion, or current or former associations; 

12 (F) the extent to which administrative and 

13 judicial decisions are independent of political 

14 pressure or governmental interference and are 

15 reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; 

16 and 

17 (G) the extent to which laws in Vietnam 

18 are written and administered in ways that are 

19 consistent with international human rights 

20 standards, including the rights enumerated in 

21 the International Covenant on Civil and Polit22 ical Rights. 

23 (b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—In 

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

25 shall, as appropriate, seek out and maintain contacts with 
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1 nongovernmental organizations and human rights advo2 cates (including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights 

3 advocates in Vietnam), including receiving reports and up4 dates from such organizations and evaluating such re5 ports. The Secretary shall also seek to consult with the 

6 United States Commission on International Religious 

7 Freedom for appropriate sections of the report. 

Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 

2013. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1897 

AN ACT 

To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.