III 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 567 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the possible easing of restrictions on the sale of lethal military equipment to the Government of 

Vietnam. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CORKER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and 

Mr. CARDIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the possible 

easing of restrictions on the sale of lethal military equipment to the Government of Vietnam. 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) Vietnam is an important emerging partner 

3 with which the United States increasingly shares 

4 strategic and economic interests, including improv5 ing bilateral and multilateral capacity for humani6 tarian assistance and disaster relief, upholding the 

7 principles of freedom of navigation and peaceful res8 olution of international disputes, strengthening an 


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•SRES 567 IS 

1 open regional trading order, and maintaining a fa2 vorable balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region; 

3 (2) the Government of Vietnam has recently 

4 taken modest but encouraging steps to improve its 

5 human rights record, including signing the United 

6 Nations Convention Against Torture and other 

7 Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punish8 ment, adopted by the United Nations General As9 sembly December 10, 1984, increasing registrations 

10 for places of worship, taking greater action to com11 bat human trafficking, reviewing the Criminal Code, 

12 and beginning high-level engagement with the 

13 United States and international human rights non14 governmental organizations; 

15 (3) in light of growing challenges in the Asia16 Pacific region and some steps by the Government of 

17 Vietnam to improve its human rights record, the 

18 President should begin a process to ease the United 

19 States prohibition on the sale of lethal military 

20 equipment to Vietnam, which is maintained under 

21 executive authority and can be changed without leg22 islative action, but should not be changed without 

23 consultation with Congress; 

24 (4) easing the prohibition on the sale of lethal 

25 military equipment to Vietnam at this time solely 


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1 with regard to maritime and coastal defense would 

2 further United States national security interests, but 

3 steps beyond this to ease further the prohibition 

4 would require the Government of Vietnam to take 

5 significant and sustained steps to protect human 

6 rights, including releases of prisoners of conscience 

7 and legal reforms; 

8 (5) the United States Government should con9 tinue to support civil society in Vietnam, including 

10 advocates for religious freedom, press freedom, and 

11 labor rights who seek to use peaceful means to build 

12 a strong and prosperous Vietnam that respects 

13 human rights and the rule of law; and 

14 (6) the United States Government should con15 tinue to engage the Government of Vietnam in a 

16 high-level dialogue and specify what steps on human 

17 rights would be necessary for the Government of 

18 Vietnam to take in order to continue strengthening 

19 the bilateral relationship, including to ease further 

20 the prohibition on the sale of lethal military equip21 ment. 

Æ 


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