IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 415

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Socialist 

Republic of Vietnam needs to do more to resolve claims for confiscated 

real and personal property, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2005

Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California (for herself and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the Socialist Republic of Vietnam needs to do more to 

resolve claims for confiscated real and personal property, 

and for other purposes.

Whereas during the establishment of the Socialist Republic of 

Vietnam as a 1-party state ruled and controlled by the 

Vietnamese Communist Party, uncompensated confiscation of real and personal property from Vietnamese citizens was a widespread occurrence; 

Whereas the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 

continues to use the confiscation of land as a tool of repression against certain ethnic minorities, such as the 

Montagnards of the Central Highlands region; 
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•HRES 415 IH 

Whereas Article 23 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam provides that ‘‘[t]he lawful property of 

individuals and organizations shall not be nationalized’’; 

Whereas according to the Department of State, more work is 

necessary to adequately protect property rights in Vietnam; and 

Whereas the people of the United States are firmly committed to freedom, democracy, and basic human rights 

for the citizens of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: 

Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That—

2 (1) The House of Representatives—

3 (A) welcomes recent attempts by the Gov4 ernment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to 

5 establish private land use rights for some of its 

6 citizens, and hopes that these rights are quickly 

7 expanded to encompass all Vietnamese citizens; 

8 (B) calls on the Government of the Social9 ist Republic of Vietnam to more fully recognize 

10 its responsibility to provide equitable, prompt, 

11 and fair restitution of property that was con12 fiscated by the government; 

13 (C) calls on the Government of the Social14 ist Republic of Vietnam to direct local officials, 

15 particularly in the Central Highlands region, to 

16 promptly investigate and resolve complaints 
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•HRES 415 IH 

1 about discriminatory and uncompensated con2 fiscation of land; 

3 (D) urges the Government of the Socialist 

4 Republic of Vietnam to form a national com5 mission for processing restitution claims, and to 

6 obligate local government officials, bodies, and 

7 agencies to provide all necessary documentation 

8 and cooperation to facilitate the implementation 

9 of decisions issued by the national commission; 

10 and 

11 (E) strongly urges the Government of the 

12 Socialist Republic of Vietnam—

13 (i) to ensure that implementation of 

14 land use reforms by local officials does not 

15 result in increased inequity in access to 

16 land, particularly for the poor and for 

17 those out of favor with the Communist 

18 Party; and 

19 (ii) to ensure that the government 

20 provides fair, prompt, and equitable res21 titution to former landowners for the prop22 erty rights of all confiscated lands; and 

23 (2) it is the sense of the House of Representa24 tives that—
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•HRES 415 IH 

1 (A) the President should specifically con2 sider land use rights for individuals in deter3 mining whether the Socialist Republic of Viet4 nam is a country of particular concern for reli5 gious freedom under section 402(b)(1)(A) of 

6 the International Religious Freedom Act of 

7 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)(A)); and 

8 (B) the President should direct the Sec9 retary of State to include, in the Secretary of 

10 State’s annual Country Reports on Human 

11 Rights Practices submitted to the Congress 

12 under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the 

13 status of land use rights and restitution claims 

14 in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Æ