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TO PROMOTE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM; AND

CONCERNING EFFORTS TO PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN RELIEF

TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT AND AVERT FAMINE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA, PARTICULARLY SOMALIA,

ETHIOPIA, DJIBOUTI, AND KENYA

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, 

AND HUMAN RIGHTS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 1410 and H. Res. 361

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Serial No. 112–124

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

RON PAUL, Texas 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

CONNIE MACK, Florida 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

DAVID RIVERA, Florida 

MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina 

ROBERT TURNER, New York 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

DENNIS CARDOZA, California 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania 

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut 

FREDERICA WILSON, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

YLEEM D.S. POBLETE, Staff Director 

RICHARD J. KESSLER, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

ROBERT TURNER, New York 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

KAREN BASS, California 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF 

H.R. 1410, To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam ................................ 3

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1410 offered by the 

Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global 

Health, and Human Rights ............................................................................. 23

H. Res. 361, Concerning efforts to provide humanitarian relief to mitigate 

the effects of drought and avert famine in the Horn of Africa, particularly 

Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya ............................................................. 42

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 361 offered by the 

Honorable Donald M. Payne, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of New Jersey .......................................................................................... 48

APPENDIX 

Markup notice .......................................................................................................... 60

Markup minutes ...................................................................................................... 61

(1)

TO PROMOTE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM; AND 

CONCERNING EFFORTS TO PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN RELIEF TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT AND 

AVERT FAMINE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA, PARTICULARLY 

SOMALIA, ETHIOPIA, DJIBOUTI, AND KENYA 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,

AND HUMAN RIGHTS

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:38 p.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith 

(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. SMITH. The subcommittee will come to order. 

Pursuant to notice, the subcommittee meets this afternoon to 

mark up H.R. 1410, the Vietnam Human Rights Act, and H. Res. 

361, concerning efforts to provide humanitarian relief to mitigate 

the effects of drought and to avert famine in the Horn of Africa, 

particularly in Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya. 

As our members are aware, these measures enjoy strong bipartisan support. And there are, right now, competing hearings and 

other events taking place this afternoon, including other markups. 

And I thank my colleagues for coming who are in the midst of another markup. Thus, it is the intent of the Chair to consider these 

bills en bloc and by unanimous consent, including the substitute 

amendments sent to you on Monday. 

I want to say that we have worked very cooperatively with the 

minority. It has been a very good cooperation on both bills. We 

have vetted virtually every paragraph, every sentence, and every 

word, and now we have before us a finished product. All members 

have copies of those documents before them. 

And then after we have concluded our expedited consideration, I 

will be glad to recognize Ms. Bass, of course myself, and any other 

member of the committee who would like to speak to either or both 

of the measures before us. All members are given leave to insert 

written remarks into the record, should they choose to do so. 

Seeing that a quorum is present, and without objection, the following measures are considered as read; the following amendments, which members have before them, are deemed adopted; and 

the measures, as amended, are reported favorably to the full Committee on Foreign Affairs: H.R. 1410, the Vietnam Human Rights 

Act; the Smith amendment, No. 68, to H.R. 1410, which is the 

amendment in the nature of a substitute provided to your offices 

2

on Monday; and H. Res. 361, concerning efforts to provide humanitarian relief to mitigate the effects of drought and avert famine in 

the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and 

Kenya. 

We will include the Payne amendment, No. 46, offered by my 

friend and colleague, Ms. Bass, on behalf of Ranking Member 

Payne, who I would point out is very ill and cannot be here today. 

And this is an amendment in the nature of a substitute, which was 

also sent to each office on Monday. 

Hearing no objection, it is so ordered. The amended bills are 

adopted. And, without objection, the staff is directed to make technical and conforming changes. 

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Mr. SMITH. Now that we have completed that portion, I would 

like to—and I thank my colleagues for coming from their markups 

to be here for it, and please stay as long as you can—but I would 

like to now speak to the first bill and then yield to my good friend 

and my colleague, Ms. Bass, to speak to the Payne bill. 

I say to my colleagues, as the subcommittee heard from several 

of our witnesses at a hearing on January 24th, last month, the Vietnamese Government continues to be an egregious violator of a 

broad array of human rights. The testimony we heard confirmed 

that religious, political, and ethnic persecution continue and, in 

many cases, is actually increasing, and that Vietnamese officials 

continue to lay out the welcome mat for forced labor as well as sex 

traffickers. 

In particular, we heard from a Vietnamese woman who courageously fought for her own rights and those of her co-workers when 

they were trafficked to Jordan with the complicity of the Vietnamese Government officials. 

We also heard from Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, the executive director of Boat People SOS, who recently traveled to Thailand to investigate human rights violations in Vietnam. Dr. Thang provided extensive details about current labor trafficking, forced labor, and 

disturbing denials by the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees of 

Vietnamese labor and sex trafficking victims. 

In addition, our witnesses provided deeply disturbing photographs, evidence of torture, and showed a video of the Vietnamese 

military destroying an entire village of Hmong Christians. 

It is imperative that the United States Government send an unequivocal message to the Vietnamese regime that it must end its 

human rights abuses against its own citizens. For this reason, I reintroduced the Vietnam Human Rights Act and I have brought it 

before the committee for consideration today. 

The Foreign Affairs Committee adopted my amendments on the 

promotion of human rights in Vietnam to H.R. 2583, the Foreign 

Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 last July, and 

much of that is reflected in this bill today. I note parenthetically 

that the House has twice passed the Vietnam Human Rights Act. 

Sadly, it has languished and then died in the Senate, but we have 

every intention of making sure that this legislation is not treated 

so this time. 

The purpose of H.R. 1410 is to promote the development of freedom and democracy in Vietnam. It seeks to do so primarily by stipulating that the United States can increase its assistance to Vietnam above Fiscal Year 2011 levels only when the President is able 

to certify that the Government of Vietnam has made substantial 

progress in establishing a democracy and promoting human rights, 

including: Respecting freedom of religion and releasing all religious 

prisoners; respecting rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and 

associations; releasing all political prisoners, independent journalists, and labor activists; repealing and revising laws that criminalize peaceful dissent, independent media, unsanctioned religious 

activities, and nonviolent demonstrations in accordance with international human rights standards; respecting the human rights of 

members of all ethnic groups; and taking all appropriate steps, inVerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:56 Apr 03, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\020812M\72790 HFA PsN: SHIRL
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cluding prosecution of government officials, to end any government 

complicity in human trafficking. 

In addition to such a certification, the United States would have 

to increase funding for human rights and rule of law programming 

in Vietnam in an amount equal to or greater than the increase in 

non-humanitarian assistance. The legislation includes a waiver of 

the increase certification requirement for any year in which the 

President determines that increased non-humanitarian assistance 

to Vietnam would promote the purpose of the act or would otherwise be in the national interest of the United States of America. 

The bill would not prevent increased funding to the Vietnamese 

Government for disaster relief, food, medicine, refugees, and efforts 

to combat HIV/AIDS. 

I want to thank my colleagues for supporting this legislation. We 

have a very large number of bipartisan co-sponsors on the bill. And 

I just, again, want to thank my colleagues for their support of the 

bill. 

I would like to yield to Ms. Bass for her comments, especially on 

H. Res. 361. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you, Chairman Smith. I want to join you in 

wishing my colleague, Mr. Payne, best wishes. I hope he gets better 

soon. And I am happy to enter these remarks on his behalf. 

Two weeks ago, this subcommittee held a hearing on the human 

rights situation in Vietnam. At that hearing, we heard how, under 

the authoritarian rule of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the repression of activists and dissidents has recently intensified. 

Through unlawful arrests and detainment, the government has 

suppressed its people’s right to expression, assembly, and association. 

NGOs have reported that detainees are subject to forced labor, 

torture, and even death. In 2011 alone, 21 people died in police custody. Ethnic minorities, such as the Montagnards and Hmong, have 

faced abuse and discrimination. Religious minorities are also persecuted. 

This bill is in response to these human rights abuses and would 

condition additional U.S. aid to Vietnam on improvement in these 

areas. While the U.S. should not support government-sponsored oppression, I am concerned that by putting conditions on foreign aid, 

we risk harming the innocent people this bill aims to help. 

Additionally, I fail to see how Vietnam is an exception. If we are 

to apply more stringent human rights conditions to U.S. aid, then 

those conditions should be applied across the board instead of singling out any one nation. 

That being said, this bill does not end aid to Vietnam but, rather, freezes it at the Fiscal Year 2011 level of $125 million and includes 

a Presidential waiver. Therefore, I will vote in favor of this bill and 

encourage my colleagues to do the same. 

I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Ms. Bass. 

I would like to now move on to House Res. 361, sponsored by 

Ranking Member Donald Payne and the amendment in the nature 

of a substitute. 

This resolution calls on the U.S. Government to continue to help 

alleviate the impact of the humanitarian emergency conditions preVerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:56 Apr 03, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\020812M\72790 HFA PsN: SHIRL
56

vailing in East Africa. Our subcommittee held several hearings on 

East Africa’s various humanitarian crises last year, including the 

Somalia hearing in July, the Southern Kordofan hearing in August, 

and the East Africa famine hearing in September. This measure 

before us details the crisis and suggests steps to overcome the tragedy of hunger and disease afflicting the people in the Horn of Africa. 

Despite the easing of famine conditions in central and southern 

Somalia, the drought in East Africa continues to affect more than 

13 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Even 

with the improvements, the food security outlook for the Horn of 

Africa from January to March 2012 remains fragile, according to 

the U.S. Agency for International Development, due to a loss of 

livelihood assets during successive seasons of failed rains, conflict, 

livestock disease, above-normal food and non-food prices, as well as 

flooding. 

The drought in East Africa was part of a persistent weather 

trend in the region. And while drought is one reason for food shortages, it has been exacerbated by stagnating agricultural development and unsustainable forms of livelihood. 

In our July 7th Somalia hearing, Nancy Lindborg, Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, raised the issue of the long-term need for 

changes in livelihoods in the region. H. Res. 361 addresses the 

issue of sustainable use of natural resources as a means of ensuring food security in the region in the long term. 

In Somalia, the hardest-hit country in the region, the terrorist 

group al-Shabaab has obstructed delivery of humanitarian assistance and directly threatened aid agencies. It is also interrogating 

aid workers and has accused them of spying for the West or proselytizing. Maritime piracy and the hijacking of aid shipments has 

also hindered the provision of aid. The result was an estimated 2.2 

million people in southern Somalia, representing some 60 percent 

of those who remained in the country at one point, in need of aid, 

but out of reach of most aid agencies. 

H. Res. 361 calls on all parties in the conflict in Somalia, including al-Shabaab, to allow unrestricted access to international and 

local nongovernmental humanitarian organizations, especially for 

the benefit of the most vulnerable among them. 

This resolution acknowledges the more than $870 million the 

United States Government has devoted to meeting the emergency 

needs in East Africa and urges other donors in international and 

local nongovernmental agencies to join us in the development activities on behalf of the people of the Horn of Africa. 

H. Res. 361 is a very important piece of legislation, and I know 

my colleagues, as we go to the full committee and to the floor, will 

support it, and I hope it will be unanimous. 

Ms. Bass? 

Ms. BASS. Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Payne’s amendment in the nature of a substitute to House 

Resolution 361 updates the resolution to reflect the current situation in the Horn of Africa and calls on U.S. donors and local and 

international NGOs to continue their support of the people of SoVerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:56 Apr 03, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\020812M\72790 HFA PsN: SHIRL
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malia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti affected by the humanitarian 

crisis. 

Last year, the Horn of Africa experienced the worst drought in 

60 years. Due to decades of internal conflict, poor infrastructure, 

and a myriad of other factors, the region was ill-equipped to handle 

a drought of this magnitude. What followed was one of the most 

severe humanitarian crises of our time. At the height of the crisis, 

6 regions of Somalia were declared a famine, 750,000 people were 

at risk of death, millions were forced to flee their homes, and tens 

of thousands of children died of malnourishment. 

Given al-Shabaab’s control over much of Somalia, aid organizations were unable to reach many of those affected. The amendment 

also acknowledges the deteriorating security situation at refugee 

camps in Dadaab in Kenya and Dolo Ado in Ethiopia which has resulted in the limited delivery of humanitarian assistance. The situation is particularly worrying, complex, and tenuous in the Dadaab 

refugee camps, where the threat of improvised explosive devices, 

kidnappings, vehicle hijackings, and banditry remains high. 

This resolution also recognizes the sacrifices that aid workers 

make every day as they risk their own lives while trying to save 

the lives of others. With the U.S. leadership, the international community responded. I commend the Obama administration for their 

commitment of over $870 million to implement emergency and 

long-term interventions to address the crisis. 

The resolution encourages continued coordinated long-term interventions that build up the resilience of local populations and link 

relief with development. 

Agriculture is a key factor in establishing long-term peace and 

stability in the region. Adequate rainfall between October and December 2011, coupled with agricultural and humanitarian interventions, allowed farmers to produce and buy more food. As part of 

this emergency response and with support from the U.S., the 

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization distributed 

seeds and fertilizer to Somali farmers. 

This mixture of agriculture and humanitarian intervention has 

contributed to a significant reduction in local cereal prices in most 

of the vulnerable areas in the south, improving purchasing power 

for poor households. 

Last week, the United Nations lifted the famine declaration, but 

a severe humanitarian crisis persists. Despite favorable rains and 

successful interventions, 31 percent of the Somali population remains in crisis. 

Thank you very much. I yield back. 

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Buerkle? 

Ms. BUERKLE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to commend your leadership and the entire committee’s bipartisan effort 

to promote humanitarian efforts. And I look forward to this getting 

to the House floor and having bipartisan support. 

I thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. I want to thank Ms. Buerkle. I want to thank Ms. 

Bass. I want to thank staffs on both sides of the aisle for their expertise and cooperation in working on these bills. Thank you. 

Without objection, the hearing is adjourned. And I thank you 

again for your attendance and for your support. 

58

[Whereupon, at 2:50 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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