I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1897 

To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2013 

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

and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

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 2013’’. 

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 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. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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

3 (1) The relationship between the United States 

4 and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown 

5 substantially since the end of the trade embargo in 

6 1994, with annual trade between the two countries 

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

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 basic human rights for Vi12 etnamese citizens, including freedom of religion, ex13 pression, association, and assembly. 

14 (3) The United States Congress agreed to Viet15 nam becoming an official member of the World 

16 Trade Organization in 2006, amidst assurances that 

17 the Government of Vietnam was steadily improving 

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

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

20 and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam 

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

22 to change their Government. 

23 (5) Although in recent years the National As24 sembly of Vietnam has played an increasingly active 

25 role as a forum for highlighting local concerns, cor26 ruption, and inefficiency, the National Assembly reVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:30 May 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1897.IH H1897

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1 mains subject to the direction of the CPV and the 

2 CPV maintains control over the selection of can3 didates in national and local elections. 

4 (6) The Government of Vietnam forbids public 

5 challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state, re6 stricts freedoms of opinion, the press, and associa7 tion and tightly limits access to the Internet and 

8 telecommunication. 

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

10 January 11, 2007, the Government of Vietnam arbi11 trarily arrested and detained numerous individuals 

12 for their peaceful advocacy of religious freedom, de13 mocracy, and human rights, including Father 

14 Nguyen Van Ly, human rights lawyers Nguyen Van 

15 Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan, Cu Huy Ha Vu, and Le 

16 Cong Dinh, and bloggers Nguyen Van Hai, Ta 

17 Phong Tan, and Le Van Son. 

18 (8) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

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

20 or otherwise restrict persons for the peaceful expres21 sion of dissenting political or religious views. 

22 (9) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

23 detain labor leaders and restricts the right to orga24 nize independently. 


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1 (10) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

2 limit the freedom of religion, restrict the operations 

3 of independent religious organizations, and persecute 

4 believers whose religious activities the Government 

5 regards as a potential threat to its monopoly on 

6 power. 

7 (11) Despite reported progress in church open8 ings and legal registrations of religious venues, the 

9 Government of Vietnam has halted most positive ac10 tions since the Department of State lifted the ‘‘coun11 try of particular concern’’ (CPC) designation for 

12 Vietnam in November 2006. 

13 (12) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant 

14 congregations, particularly Montagnards in the Cen15 tral and Northwest Highlands, suffer severe abuses 

16 because of actions by the Government of Vietnam, 

17 which have included forced renunciations of faith, 

18 arrest and harassment, the withholding of social pro19 grams provided for the general population, confisca20 tion and destruction of property, subjection to severe 

21 beatings, and reported deaths. 

22 (13) There has been a pattern of violent re23 sponses by the Government to peaceful prayer vigils 

24 and demonstrations by Catholics for the return of 

25 Government-confiscated church properties. ProVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:30 May 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1897.IH H1897

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1 testers have been harassed, beaten, and detained 

2 and church properties have been destroyed. Catholics 

3 also continue to face some restrictions on selection 

4 of clergy, the establishment of seminaries and semi5 nary candidates, and individual cases of travel and 

6 church registration. 

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

8 Catholic parish in Da Nang, faced escalated violence 

9 during a funeral procession as police attempted to 

10 prohibit a religious burial in the village cemetery; 

11 more than 100 villagers were injured, 62 were ar12 rested, five were tortured, and at least three died. 

13 (15) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 

14 (UBCV) suffers persecution as the Government of 

15 Vietnam continues to restrict contacts and move16 ment of senior UBCV clergy for refusing to join the 

17 state-sponsored Buddhist organization, the Govern18 ment restricts expression and assembly, and the 

19 Government continues to harass and threaten UBCV 

20 monks, nuns, and youth leaders. 

21 (16) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

22 suppress the activities of other religious adherents, 

23 including Cao Dai and Hoa Hao Buddhists who lack 

24 official recognition or have chosen not to affiliate 

25 with the state-sanctioned groups, including through 


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1 the use of detention, imprisonment, and strict Gov2 ernment oversight. 

3 (17) Many Montagnards and others are still 

4 serving long prison sentences for their involvement 

5 in peaceful demonstrations in 2001, 2002, 2004, 

6 and 2008. Montagnards continue to face threats, de7 tention, beatings, forced renunciation of faith, prop8 erty destruction, restricted movement, and reported 

9 deaths at the hands of Government officials. 

10 (18) Ethnic minority Hmong in Northern Viet11 nam, the Northwest Highlands, and the Central 

12 Highlands of Vietnam also suffer restrictions, confis13 cation of property, abuses, and persecution by the 

14 Government of Vietnam. 

15 (19) The Government of Vietnam restricts 

16 Khmer Krom expression, assembly, and association, 

17 has confiscated nearly all the Theravada Buddhist 

18 temples, controls all Khmer Kaon Buddhist religious 

19 organizations and prohibits most peaceful protests. 

20 (20) The Government of Vietnam controls near21 ly all print and electronic media, including access to 

22 the Internet, jams the signals of some foreign radio 

23 stations, including Radio Free Asia, and has de24 tained and imprisoned individuals who have posted, 


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1 published, sent, or otherwise distributed democracy2 related materials. 

3 (21) People arrested in Vietnam because of 

4 their political or religious affiliations and activities 

5 often are not accorded due legal process as they lack 

6 full access to lawyers of their choice, may experience 

7 closed trials, have often been detained for years 

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

9 torture to admit crimes they did not commit or to 

10 falsely denounce their own leaders. 

11 (22) Vietnam continues to be a source country 

12 for the commercial sexual exploitation and forced 

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

14 women legally entering into international labor con15 tracts who subsequently face conditions of debt 

16 bondage or forced labor, and is a destination country 

17 for child trafficking and continues to have internal 

18 human trafficking. 

19 (23) There are many reports of Vietnamese of20 ficials and employees participating in, facilitating, 

21 condoning, or otherwise being complicit in severe 

22 forms of human trafficking. 

23 (24) United States refugee resettlement pro24 grams, including the Humanitarian Resettlement 

25 (HR) Program, the Orderly Departure Program 


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1 (ODP), Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese 

2 Returnees (ROVR) Program, general resettlement of 

3 boat people from refugee camps throughout South4 east Asia, the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, 

5 and the Priority One Refugee resettlement category, 

6 have helped rescue Vietnamese nationals who have 

7 suffered persecution on account of their associations 

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

9 such associations by their spouses, parents, or other 

10 family members, as well as other Vietnamese nation11 als who have been persecuted because of race, reli12 gion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in 

13 a particular social group. 

14 (25) While previous programs have served their 

15 purposes well, a significant number of eligible refu16 gees from Vietnam were unfairly denied or excluded, 

17 including Amerasians, in some cases by vindictive or 

18 corrupt Vietnamese officials who controlled access to 

19 the programs, and in others by United States per20 sonnel who imposed unduly restrictive interpreta21 tions of program criteria. In addition, the Govern22 ment of Vietnam has denied passports to persons 

23 who the United States has found eligible for refugee 

24 admission. 


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1 (26) The Government of Vietnam reportedly is 

2 detaining tens of thousands of people, with some as 

3 young as 12 years old, in government-run drug de4 tention centers and treating them as slave laborers. 

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

6 online petition calling on the Administration to not 

7 expand trade with communist Vietnam at the ex8 pense of human rights. 

9 (28) Congress has passed numerous resolutions 

10 condemning human rights abuses in Vietnam, indi11 cating that although there has been an expansion of 

12 relations with the Government of Vietnam, it should 

13 not be construed as approval of the ongoing and se14 rious violations of fundamental human rights in 

15 Vietnam. 

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

17 the development of freedom and democracy in Vietnam. 

18 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON INCREASED NONHUMANITARIAN 

19 ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIET20 NAM. 

21 (a) ASSISTANCE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub23 section (b), the Federal Government may not pro24 vide nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government 

25 of Vietnam during any fiscal year in an amount that 


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1 exceeds the amount of such assistance provided for 

2 fiscal year 2012 unless— 

3 (A) with respect to the limitation for fiscal 

4 year 2014, the President determines and cer5 tifies to Congress, not later than 30 days after 

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

7 requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) 

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

9 month period ending on the date of the certifi10 cation; and 

11 (B) with respect to the limitation for sub12 sequent fiscal years, the President determines 

13 and certifies to Congress, in the most recent 

14 annual report submitted pursuant to section 6, 

15 that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) 

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

17 during the 12-month period covered by the re18 port. 

19 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this 

20 paragraph are the following: 

21 (A) The Government of Vietnam has made 

22 substantial progress toward releasing all polit23 ical and religious prisoners from imprisonment, 

24 house arrest, and other forms of detention. 


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1 (B) The Government of Vietnam has made 

2 substantial progress toward— 

3 (i) respecting the right to freedom of 

4 religion, including the right to participate 

5 in religious activities and institutions with6 out interference, harassment, or involve7 ment of the Government, for all of Viet8 nam’s diverse religious communities; and 

9 (ii) returning estates and properties 

10 confiscated from the churches and religious 

11 communities. 

12 (C) The Government of Vietnam has made 

13 substantial progress toward respecting the right 

14 to freedom of expression, assembly, and associa15 tion, including the release of independent jour16 nalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor ac17 tivists. 

18 (D) The Government of Vietnam has made 

19 substantial progress toward repealing or revis20 ing laws that criminalize peaceful dissent, inde21 pendent media, unsanctioned religious activity, 

22 and nonviolent demonstrations and rallies, in 

23 accordance with international standards and 

24 treaties to which Vietnam is a party. 


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1 (E) The Government of Vietnam has made 

2 substantial progress toward allowing Viet3 namese nationals free and open access to 

4 United States refugee programs. 

5 (F) The Government of Vietnam has made 

6 substantial progress toward respecting the 

7 human rights of members of all ethnic and mi8 nority groups. 

9 (G) Neither any official of the Government 

10 of Vietnam nor any agency or entity wholly or 

11 partly owned by the Government of Vietnam 

12 was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in 

13 persons, or the Government of Vietnam took all 

14 appropriate steps to end any such complicity 

15 and hold such official, agency, or entity fully 

16 accountable for its conduct. 

17 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

18 (1) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NA19 TIONAL INTEREST.—Notwithstanding the failure of 

20 the Government of Vietnam to meet the require21 ments of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive 

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

23 if— 

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1 creased nonhumanitarian assistance would pro2 mote the purpose of this Act or is otherwise in 

3 the national interest of the United States; and 

4 (B) the Federal Government provides as5 sistance, at levels commensurate with, or ex6 ceeding, any increases in nonhumanitarian as7 sistance to Vietnam, that supports— 

8 (i) training about the obligation of the 

9 Government of Vietnam to respect the 

10 rights enumerated in the International 

11 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; 

12 (ii) noncommercial rule of law pro13 gramming; and 

14 (iii) measures to overcome the jam15 ming of Radio Free Asia by the Govern16 ment of Vietnam. 

17 (2) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

18 President may exercise the authority under para19 graph (1) with respect to— 

20 (A) all United States nonhumanitarian as21 sistance to Vietnam; or 

22 (B) one or more programs, projects, or ac23 tivities of such assistance. 

24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—The 

2 term ‘‘nonhumanitarian assistance’’ means— 

3 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As4 sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under 

5 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat6 ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor7 poration), other than— 

8 (i) disaster relief assistance, including 

9 any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of 

10 that Act; 

11 (ii) assistance which involves the pro12 vision of food (including monetization of 

13 food) or medicine; 

14 (iii) assistance for environmental re15 mediation of dioxin-contaminated sites and 

16 related health activities; 

17 (iv) assistance to combat severe forms 

18 of trafficking in persons; 

19 (v) assistance to combat pandemic 

20 diseases; 

21 (vi) assistance for refugees; and 

22 (vii) assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, 

23 including any assistance under section 

24 104A of that Act; and 


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

2 the Arms Export Control Act. 

3 (2) SEVERE FORM OF TRAFFICKING IN PER4 SONS.—The term ‘‘severe form of trafficking in per5 sons’’ means any activity described in section 103(8) 

6 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

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

8 7102(8)). 

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

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

11 with respect to the provision of nonhumanitarian assist12 ance to the Government of Vietnam for fiscal year 2014 

13 and subsequent fiscal years. 

14 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY. 

15 (a) RADIO FREE ASIA TRANSMISSIONS TO VIET16 NAM.—It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

17 should take measures to overcome the jamming of Radio 

18 Free Asia by the Government of Vietnam and that the 

19 Broadcasting Board of Governors should not cut staffing, 

20 funding, or broadcast hours for the Vietnamese language 

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

22 which shall be done without reducing any other broadcast 

23 language services. 

24 (b) UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL

25 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH VIETNAM.—It is the sense 


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1 of Congress that any programs of educational and cultural 

2 exchange between the United States and Vietnam should 

3 actively promote progress toward freedom and democracy 

4 in Vietnam by providing opportunities to Vietnamese na5 tionals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives 

6 to see freedom and democracy in action and, also, by en7 suring that Vietnamese nationals who have already dem8 onstrated a commitment to these values are included in 

9 such programs. 

10 (c) UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL.— 

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

12 should strongly oppose, and encourage other members of 

13 the United Nations to oppose, the candidacy of Vietnam 

14 for membership on the United Nations Human Rights 

15 Council for the term beginning in 2014. 

16 SEC. 5. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

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

18 sense of Congress that Vietnam should be designated as 

19 a country of particular concern for religious freedom pur20 suant to section 402(b) of the International Religious 

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

22 (b) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF

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

24 the Government of Vietnam does not fully comply with the 

25 minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and 


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1 is not making significant efforts to bring itself into compli2 ance, and this determination should be reflected in the an3 nual report to Congress required pursuant to section 

4 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

5 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)). 

6 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT. 

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

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

9 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress 

10 a report on the following: 

11 (1) The determination and certification of the 

12 President that the requirements of subparagraphs 

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

14 if applicable. 

15 (2) If the President has waived the application 

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

17 reporting period— 

18 (A) the national interest with respect to 

19 which such a waiver was based; 

20 (B) the amount of increased nonhumani21 tarian assistance provided to the Government of 

22 Vietnam; and 

23 (C) a description of the type and amount 

24 of commensurate assistance provided pursuant 

25 to section 3(b)(1)(B). 


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1 (3) Efforts by the United States Government to 

2 promote access by the Vietnamese people to Radio 

3 Free Asia transmissions. 

4 (4) Efforts to ensure that programs with Viet5 nam promote the policy set forth in section 102 of 

6 the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Pol7 icy Provisions Act of 1996 regarding participation in 

8 programs of educational and cultural exchange. 

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

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

11 otherwise persecuted by the Government of Vietnam 

12 due to their pursuit of internationally recognized 

13 human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary 

14 shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con15 cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben16 efit to, the persons who may be included on the lists 

17 and their families. In addition, the Secretary shall 

18 include a list of such persons and their families who 

19 may qualify for protections under United States ref20 ugee programs. 

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

22 of law in Vietnam, including— 

23 (A) progress toward the development of in24 stitutions of democratic governance; 


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1 (B) processes by which statutes, regula2 tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern3 ment of Vietnam are developed and become 

4 binding within Vietnam; 

5 (C) the extent to which statutes, regula6 tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci7 sions, and other legal acts of the Government of 

8 Vietnam are published and are made accessible 

9 to the public; 

10 (D) the extent to which administrative and 

11 judicial decisions are supported by statements 

12 of reasons that are based upon written statutes, 

13 regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the 

14 Government of Vietnam; 

15 (E) the extent to which individuals are 

16 treated equally under the laws of Vietnam with17 out regard to citizenship, race, religion, political 

18 opinion, or current or former associations; 

19 (F) the extent to which administrative and 

20 judicial decisions are independent of political 

21 pressure or governmental interference and are 

22 reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; 

23 and 

24 (G) the extent to which laws in Vietnam 

25 are written and administered in ways that are 


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1 consistent with international human rights 

2 standards, including the rights enumerated in 

3 the International Covenant on Civil and Polit4 ical Rights. 

5 (b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—In 

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

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

8 nongovernmental organizations and human rights advo9 cates (including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights 

10 advocates in Vietnam), including receiving reports and up11 dates from such organizations and evaluating such re12 ports. The Secretary shall also seek to consult with the 

13 United States Commission on International Religious 

14 Freedom for appropriate sections of the report. 

Æ 


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