I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1410 

To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 7, 2011 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, and Mr. ROYCE) 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 2011’’. 

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. Assistance to support democracy in Vietnam. 

Sec. 5. United States public diplomacy. 

Sec. 6. Refugee resettlement for nationals of Vietnam. 

Sec. 7. 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 over $15,300,000,000 in 2009. 

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 23:35 Apr 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410

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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 imprisoned numerous individ12 uals for their peaceful advocacy of religious freedom, 

13 democracy, 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 and Phan 

17 Thanh Hai. 

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 has also failed 

23 to improve labor rights, continues to arrest and har24 ass labor leaders, and restricts the right to organize 

25 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 Northwest highlands, suffer severe abuses be16 cause 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 07:14 Apr 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410

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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, 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) During Easter weekend in April 2004, 

4 thousands of Montagnards gathered to protest their 

5 treatment by the Government of Vietnam, including 

6 the confiscation of tribal lands and ongoing restric7 tions on religious activities. Credible reports indicate 

8 that the protests were met with violent response as 

9 many demonstrators were arrested, injured, or went 

10 into hiding, and that others were killed. Many of 

11 these Montagnards and others are still serving long 

12 sentences for their involvement in peaceful dem13 onstrations in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2008. 

14 Montagnards continue to face threats, detention, 

15 beatings, forced renunciation of faith, property de16 struction, restricted movement, and reported deaths 

17 at the hands of Government officials. 

18 (18) Ethnic minority Hmong in the Northwest 

19 Highlands of Vietnam also suffer restrictions, 

20 abuses, and persecution by the Government of Viet21 nam, and although the Government is now allowing 

22 some Hmong Protestants to organize and conduct 

23 religious activities, some Government officials con24 tinue to deny or ignore additional applications for 

25 registration, and to persecute churches and believers 


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1 who do not wish to affiliate with Government-con2 trolled religious entities. 

3 (19) In 2007, the Government of Vietnam ar4 rested, beat, and defrocked several ethnic Khmer 

5 Buddhists in response to a peaceful religious protest. 

6 The Government continues to restrict Khmer Krom 

7 expression, assembly, association, and controls all re8 ligious organizations and prohibits most peaceful 

9 protests. 

10 (20) The Government of Vietnam controls all 

11 print and electronic media, including access to the 

12 Internet, jams the signals of some foreign radio sta13 tions, including Radio Free Asia, and has detained 

14 and imprisoned individuals who have posted, pub15 lished, sent, or otherwise distributed democracy-re16 lated materials. 

17 (21) People arrested in Vietnam because of 

18 their political or religious affiliations and activities 

19 often are not accorded due legal process as they lack 

20 full access to lawyers of their choice, may experience 

21 closed trials, have often been detained for years 

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

23 torture to admit crimes they did not commit or to 

24 falsely denounce their own leaders. 


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1 (22) Vietnam continues to be a source country 

2 for the commercial sexual exploitation and forced 

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

4 women legally entering into international labor con5 tracts who subsequently face conditions of debt 

6 bondage or forced labor, and is a destination country 

7 for child trafficking and continues to have internal 

8 human trafficking. 

9 (23) Although the Government of Vietnam re10 ports progress in combating human trafficking, it 

11 does not fully comply with the minimum standards 

12 for the elimination of trafficking, and is not making 

13 substantial efforts to comply. 

14 (24) United States refugee resettlement pro15 grams, including the Humanitarian Resettlement 

16 (HR) Program, the Orderly Departure Program 

17 (ODP), Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese 

18 Returnees (ROVR) Program, general resettlement of 

19 boat people from refugee camps throughout South20 east Asia, the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, 

21 and the Priority One Refugee resettlement category, 

22 have helped rescue Vietnamese nationals who have 

23 suffered persecution on account of their associations 

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

25 such associations by their spouses, parents, or other 


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1 family members, as well as other Vietnamese nation2 als who have been persecuted because of race, reli3 gion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in 

4 a particular social group. 

5 (25) While previous programs have served their 

6 purposes well, a significant number of eligible refu7 gees from Vietnam were unfairly denied or excluded, 

8 including Amerasians, in some cases by vindictive or 

9 corrupt Vietnamese officials who controlled access to 

10 the programs, and in others by United States per11 sonnel who imposed unduly restrictive interpreta12 tions of program criteria. In addition, the Govern13 ment of Vietnam has denied passports to persons 

14 who the United States has found eligible for refugee 

15 admission. 

16 (26) Congress has passed numerous resolutions 

17 condemning human rights abuses in Vietnam, indi18 cating that although there has been an expansion of 

19 relations with the Government of Vietnam, it should 

20 not be construed as approval of the ongoing and se21 rious violations of fundamental human rights in 

22 Vietnam. 

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

24 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 dur10 ing fiscal year 2011 unless— 

11 (A) the Federal Government provides as12 sistance, in addition to the assistance author13 ized under section 4, supporting the creation 

14 and facilitation of human rights training, civil 

15 society capacity building, noncommercial rule of 

16 law programming, and exchange programs be17 tween the Vietnamese National Assembly and 

18 the United States Congress at levels commensu19 rate with, or exceeding, any increases in non20 humanitarian assistance to Vietnam; 

21 (B) with respect to the limitation for fiscal 

22 year 2012, the President determines and cer23 tifies to Congress, not later than 30 days after 

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

25 requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) 

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


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1 month period ending on the date of the certifi2 cation; and 

3 (C) with respect to the limitation for sub4 sequent fiscal years, the President determines 

5 and certifies to Congress, in the most recent 

6 annual report submitted pursuant to section 

7 601, that the requirements of subparagraphs 

8 (A) through (G) of paragraph (2) have been 

9 met during the 12-month period covered by the 

10 report. 

11 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this 

12 paragraph are the following: 

13 (A) The Government of Vietnam has made 

14 substantial progress toward releasing all polit15 ical and religious prisoners from imprisonment, 

16 house arrest, and other forms of detention. 

17 (B) The Government of Vietnam has made 

18 substantial progress toward— 

19 (i) respecting the right to freedom of 

20 religion, including the right to participate 

21 in religious activities and institutions with22 out interference, harassment, or involve23 ment of the Government, for all of Viet24 nam’s diverse religious communities; and 


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1 (ii) returning estates and properties 

2 confiscated from the churches and religious 

3 communities. 

4 (C) The Government of Vietnam has made 

5 substantial progress toward respecting the right 

6 to freedom of expression, assembly, and associa7 tion, including the release of independent jour8 nalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor ac9 tivists. 

10 (D) The Government of Vietnam has made 

11 substantial progress toward repealing or revis12 ing laws that criminalize peaceful dissent, inde13 pendent media, unsanctioned religious activity, 

14 and nonviolent demonstrations and rallies, in 

15 accordance with international standards and 

16 treaties to which Vietnam is a party. 

17 (E) The Government of Vietnam has made 

18 substantial progress toward allowing Viet19 namese nationals free and open access to 

20 United States refugee programs. 

21 (F) The Government of Vietnam has made 

22 substantial progress toward respecting the 

23 human rights of members of all ethnic and mi24 nority groups. 


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1 (G) Neither any official of the Government 

2 of Vietnam nor any agency or entity wholly or 

3 partly owned by the Government of Vietnam 

4 was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in 

5 persons, or the Government of Vietnam took all 

6 appropriate steps to end any such complicity 

7 and hold such official, agency, or entity fully 

8 accountable for its conduct. 

9 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

10 (1) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NA11 TIONAL INTEREST.—Notwithstanding the failure of 

12 the Government of Vietnam to meet the require13 ments of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive 

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

15 if the President determines that the provision to the 

16 Government of Vietnam of increased nonhumani17 tarian assistance would promote the purpose of this 

18 Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the 

19 United States. 

20 (2) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

21 President may exercise the authority under para22 graph (1) with respect to— 

23 (A) all United States nonhumanitarian as24 sistance to Vietnam; or 


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1 (B) one or more programs, projects, or ac2 tivities of such assistance. 

3 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—The 

5 term ‘‘nonhumanitarian assistance’’ means— 

6 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As7 sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under 

8 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat9 ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor10 poration), other than— 

11 (i) disaster relief assistance, including 

12 any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of 

13 that Act; 

14 (ii) assistance which involves the pro15 vision of food (including monetization of 

16 food) or medicine; 

17 (iii) assistance for refugees; and 

18 (iv) assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, 

19 including any assistance under section 

20 104A of that Act; and 

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

22 the Arms Export Control Act. 

23 (2) SEVERE FORMS OF TRAFFICKING IN PER24 SONS.—The term ‘‘severe form of trafficking in per25 sons’’ means any activity described in section 103(8) 


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1 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

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

3 7102(8)). 

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

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

6 with respect to the provision of nonhumanitarian assist7 ance to the Government of Vietnam during fiscal year 

8 2012 and subsequent fiscal years. 

9 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN VIET10 NAM. 

11 The President is authorized to provide assistance, 

12 through appropriate nongovernmental organizations and 

13 the Human Rights Defenders Fund, for the support of 

14 individuals and organizations to promote internationally 

15 recognized human rights in Vietnam. 

16 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY. 

17 (a) RADIO FREE ASIA TRANSMISSIONS TO VIET18 NAM.—It is the policy of the United States to take such 

19 measures as are necessary to overcome the jamming of 

20 Radio Free Asia by the Government of Vietnam. 

21 (b) UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL

22 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH VIETNAM.—It is the policy 

23 of the United States that programs of educational and cul24 tural exchange with Vietnam should actively promote 

25 progress toward freedom and democracy in Vietnam by 


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1 providing opportunities to Vietnamese nationals from a 

2 wide range of occupations and perspectives to see freedom 

3 and democracy in action and, also, by ensuring that Viet4 namese nationals who have already demonstrated a com5 mitment to these values are included in such programs. 

6 SEC. 6. REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT FOR NATIONALS OF 

7 VIETNAM. 

8 It is the policy of the United States to offer refugee 

9 resettlement to nationals of Vietnam (including members 

10 of the Montagnard ethnic minority groups) who were eligi11 ble for the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), the Hu12 manitarian Resettlement (HR) Program, the Resettlement 

13 Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR) Pro14 gram, the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, or any 

15 other United States refugee program and who were 

16 deemed ineligible due to administrative error or who for 

17 reasons beyond the control of such individuals (including 

18 insufficient or contradictory information or the inability 

19 to pay bribes demanded by officials of the Government of 

20 Vietnam) were unable or failed to apply for such programs 

21 in compliance with deadlines imposed by the Department 

22 of State. 

23 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

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


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1 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Con2 gress a report on the following: 

3 (1) The determination and certification of the 

4 President that the requirements of subparagraphs 

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

6 if applicable. 

7 (2) Steps taken to carry out section 3(a)(1)(A), 

8 if applicable. 

9 (3) Efforts by the United States Government to 

10 secure transmission sites for Radio Free Asia in 

11 countries in close geographical proximity to Vietnam 

12 in accordance with section 5(a). 

13 (4) Efforts to ensure that programs with Viet14 nam promote the policy set forth in section 5(b) and 

15 with section 102 of the Human Rights, Refugee, and 

16 Other Foreign Policy Provisions Act of 1996 regard17 ing participation in programs of educational and cul18 tural exchange. 

19 (5) Steps taken to carry out the policy under 

20 section 6. 

21 (6) Lists of persons believed to be imprisoned, 

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

23 otherwise persecuted by the Government of Vietnam 

24 due to their pursuit of internationally recognized 

25 human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary 


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1 shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con2 cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben3 efit to, the persons who may be included on the lists 

4 and their families. In addition, the Secretary shall 

5 include a list of such persons and their families who 

6 may qualify for protections under United States ref7 ugee programs. 

8 (7) A description of the development of the rule 

9 of law in Vietnam, including— 

10 (A) progress toward the development of in11 stitutions of democratic governance; 

12 (B) processes by which statutes, regula13 tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern14 ment of Vietnam are developed and become 

15 binding within Vietnam; 

16 (C) the extent to which statutes, regula17 tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci18 sions, and other legal acts of the Government of 

19 Vietnam are published and are made accessible 

20 to the public; 

21 (D) the extent to which administrative and 

22 judicial decisions are supported by statements 

23 of reasons that are based upon written statutes, 

24 regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the 

25 Government of Vietnam; 


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1 (E) the extent to which individuals are 

2 treated equally under the laws of Vietnam with3 out regard to citizenship, race, religion, political 

4 opinion, or current or former associations; 

5 (F) the extent to which administrative and 

6 judicial decisions are independent of political 

7 pressure or governmental interference and are 

8 reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; 

9 and 

10 (G) the extent to which laws in Vietnam 

11 are written and administered in ways that are 

12 consistent with international human rights 

13 standards, including the requirements of the 

14 International Covenant on Civil and Political 

15 Rights. 

16 (b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—In 

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

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

19 nongovernmental organizations and human rights advo20 cates (including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights 

21 advocates in Vietnam), including receiving reports and up22 dates from such organizations and evaluating such re23 ports. The Secretary shall also seek to consult with the 


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1 United States Commission on International Religious 

2 Freedom for appropriate sections of the report. 

Æ 


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