I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2140 

To promote freedom, human rights, and the rule of law as part of United 

States-Vietnam relations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

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

Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. ROYCE, and 

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

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To promote freedom, human rights, and the rule of law 

as part of United States-Vietnam relations. 

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 2015’’. 

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. Easing of restrictions for Vietnam under the Arms Export Control Act. 


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Sec. 5. United States public diplomacy. 

Sec. 6. Religious freedom and human trafficking. 

Sec. 7. Annual report. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 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 $36,000,000,000 in 2014. 

8 (2) The Government of Vietnam’s transition to9 ward greater economic liberalization and trade has 

10 not been matched by greater political freedom and 

11 substantial improvements in basic human rights for 

12 Vietnamese citizens, including freedom of religion, 

13 expression, 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 


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1 role as a forum for highlighting local concerns, cor2 ruption, and inefficiency, the National Assembly re3 mains subject to the direction of the CPV and the 

4 CPV maintains control over the selection of can5 didates in national and local elections. 

6 (6) The Government of Vietnam forbids public 

7 challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state, re8 stricts freedoms of opinion, the press, and associa9 tion and tightly limits access to the Internet and 

10 telecommunication. 

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

12 January 11, 2007, the Government of Vietnam arbi13 trarily arrested and detained numerous individuals 

14 for their peaceful advocacy of religious freedom, de15 mocracy, and human rights, including Father 

16 Nguyen Van Ly, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, Pastor 

17 Duong Kim Khai, labor organizers Nguyen Hoang 

18 Quoc Hung and Doan Huy Chuong, and bloggers 

19 Nguyen Huu Vinh, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, and Ta 

20 Phong Tan. 

21 (8) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

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

23 or otherwise restrict persons for the peaceful expres24 sion of dissenting political or religious views. 


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1 (9) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

2 detain labor leaders and restricts the right to orga3 nize independently. 

4 (10) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

5 limit the freedom of religion, restrict the operations 

6 of independent religious organizations, force people 

7 of faith to renounce their faith, expropriate lands 

8 and properties belonging to independent churches, 

9 and persecute believers whose religious activities the 

10 Government regards as a potential threat to its mo11 nopoly on power. 

12 (11) According to the United Nations Special 

13 Rapporteur on freedom of religion or of belief, who 

14 recently conducted a mission to Vietnam, ‘‘autonomy 

15 and activities of independent religious or belief com16 munities, that is, unrecognized communities, remain 

17 restricted and unsafe, with the rights to freedom of 

18 religion or belief of such communities grossly vio19 lated in the face of constant surveillance, intimida20 tion, harassment and persecution’’. 

21 (12) Despite reported progress in church open22 ings and legal registrations of religious venues, the 

23 Government of Vietnam has halted most positive ac24 tions and increasingly cracked down on independent 

25 religious communities since the Department of State 


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1 lifted the ‘‘country of particular concern’’ (CPC) 

2 designation for Vietnam in November 2006. 

3 (13) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant 

4 congregations, particularly Montagnards in the Cen5 tral Highlands and Hmong in the Northwest Moun6 tainous Regions, suffer severe abuses because of ac7 tions by the Government of Vietnam, which have in8 cluded forced renunciations of faith, arrest and har9 assment, the withholding of social programs pro10 vided for the general population, confiscation and 

11 destruction of property, subjection to severe beat12 ings, and reported deaths. 

13 (14) There has been a pattern of violent re14 sponses by the Government to peaceful prayer vigils 

15 and demonstrations by Catholics for the return of 

16 Government-confiscated church properties. Pro17 testers have been harassed, beaten, and detained 

18 and church properties have been destroyed. Catholics 

19 also continue to face some restrictions on selection 

20 of clergy, the establishment of seminaries and semi21 nary candidates, and individual cases of travel and 

22 church registration. Catholicism is not recognized in 

23 the provinces of Dien Bien, Son La, and Lai Chau. 

24 (15) In May 2010 the village of Con Dau, a 

25 Catholic parish in Da Nang, faced escalated violence 


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1 during a funeral procession as police attempted to 

2 prohibit a religious burial in the village cemetery; 

3 more than 100 villagers were injured, 62 were ar4 rested, five were tortured, and at least three died. 

5 The situation has remained unresolved. 

6 (16) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 

7 (UBCV) suffers persecution as the Government of 

8 Vietnam continues to restrict contacts and move9 ment of senior UBCV clergy for refusing to join the 

10 state-sponsored Buddhist organization, the Govern11 ment restricts expression and assembly, and the 

12 Government continues to harass and threaten UBCV 

13 monks, nuns, and youth leaders. 

14 (17) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

15 suppress the activities of other religious adherents, 

16 including Cao Dai and Hoa Hao Buddhists who lack 

17 official recognition or have chosen not to affiliate 

18 with the state-sanctioned groups, including through 

19 the use of detention, imprisonment, and strict Gov20 ernment oversight. 

21 (18) Many Montagnards and others are still 

22 serving long prison sentences for their involvement 

23 in peaceful demonstrations in 2001, 2002, 2004, 

24 and 2008. Montagnards continue to face threats, de25 tention, beatings, forced renunciation of faith, propVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2140.IH H2140

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1 erty destruction, restricted movement, and reported 

2 deaths at the hands of Government officials. 

3 (19) Ethnic minority Hmong in Northern Viet4 nam, the Northwest Highlands, and the Central 

5 Highlands of Vietnam also suffers restrictions, con6 fiscation of property, abuses, and persecution by the 

7 Government of Vietnam. Many of their leaders have 

8 been sentenced to prison terms. 

9 (20) The Government of Vietnam restricts 

10 Khmer Krom expression, assembly, and association, 

11 has confiscated nearly all the Theravada Buddhist 

12 temples, controls all Khmer Krom Buddhist religious 

13 organizations, prohibits most peaceful protests, and 

14 imprisons many Khmer Krom Buddhist monks who 

15 worked to preserve the Khmer Krom culture. 

16 (21) People arrested in Vietnam because of 

17 their political or religious affiliations and activities 

18 often are not accorded due legal process as they lack 

19 full access to lawyers of their choice, may experience 

20 closed trials, have often been detained for years 

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

22 torture to admit crimes they did not commit or to 

23 falsely denounce their own leaders. 

24 (22) Vietnam continues to be a source country 

25 for the commercial sexual exploitation and forced 


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

2 women legally entering into international labor con3 tracts who subsequently face conditions of debt 

4 bondage or forced labor, and is a destination country 

5 for child trafficking and continues to have internal 

6 human trafficking. 

7 (23) There are many reports of Vietnamese of8 ficials and employees participating in, facilitating, 

9 condoning, or otherwise being complicit in severe 

10 forms of human trafficking. Victims of human traf11 ficking who speak out against traffickers in the gov12 ernment-run labor export program receive threats of 

13 punishment by government authorities. 

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) The Government of Vietnam reportedly is 

17 detaining tens of thousands of people, with some as 

18 young as 12 years old, in government-run drug de19 tention centers and treating them as slave laborers. 

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

21 online petition calling on the Administration to not 

22 expand trade with communist Vietnam at the ex23 pense of human rights. 

24 (28) Each year close to a thousand Vietnamese25 American advocates from across the country convene 


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1 in Washington, DC, to call on the administration to 

2 attach human rights conditions to trade and security 

3 agreements with Vietnam. 

4 (29) Congress has passed numerous resolutions 

5 condemning human rights abuses in Vietnam, indi6 cating that although there has been an expansion of 

7 relations with the Government of Vietnam, it should 

8 not be construed as approval of the ongoing and se9 rious violations of fundamental human rights in 

10 Vietnam. 

11 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON INCREASED NONHUMANITARIAN 

12 ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIET13 NAM. 

14 (a) ASSISTANCE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub16 sections (b), the Federal Government may not pro17 vide nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government 

18 of Vietnam, or to any organization working within 

19 Vietnam under an agreement signed with a Govern20 ment of Vietnam entity, agency, or organization dur21 ing any fiscal year in an amount that exceeds the 

22 amount of such assistance provided for fiscal year 

23 2014 unless— 

24 (A) with respect to the limitation for fiscal 

25 year 2014, the President determines and cerVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2140.IH H2140

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1 tifies to Congress, not later than 30 days after 

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

3 requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) 

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

5 month period ending on the date of the certifi6 cation; and 

7 (B) with respect to the limitation for sub8 sequent fiscal years, the President determines 

9 and certifies to Congress, in the most recent 

10 annual report submitted pursuant to section 7, 

11 that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) 

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

13 during the 12-month period covered by the re14 port. 

15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this 

16 paragraph are the following: 

17 (A) The Government of Vietnam has made 

18 substantial progress toward releasing all polit19 ical and religious prisoners from imprisonment, 

20 house arrest, and other forms of detention, in21 cluding journalists and bloggers, independent 

22 labor union members, democracy and free 

23 speech advocates and those detained for engag24 ing in religious activity or peaceful protests 

25 against religious freedom restrictions. 


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1 (B) The Government of Vietnam has made 

2 substantial progress toward ensuring freedom 

3 of expression, particularly ending censorship of 

4 the Internet by the government and the repeal5 ing of laws that restrict Internet freedom. 

6 (C) The Government of Vietnam has made 

7 substantial progress toward respecting the right 

8 to freedom of religion, including the right to 

9 participate in religious activities and institu10 tions without interference, harassment, or in11 volvement of the Government, for all of Viet12 nam’s diverse religious communities. 

13 (D) The Government of Vietnam has made 

14 substantial progress toward Internet freedom, a 

15 complete end to censorship, the repeal of laws 

16 restricting internet usage and the punishment 

17 of anti-state comments online, the blockage of 

18 content from dissidents within Vietnam and 

19 from abroad, and efforts by pro-government 

20 forces to disrupt, hack, and block websites and 

21 operations of Vietnamese groups abroad. 

22 (E) The Government of Vietnam has made 

23 substantial progress toward respecting the right 

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1 pendent of government oversight and control 

2 and the right to participate in nonviolent dem3 onstrations, rallies, or civil society organiza4 tions, in accordance with international stand5 ards and treaties to which Vietnam is a party. 

6 (F) Neither any official of the Government 

7 of Vietnam nor any agency or entity wholly or 

8 partly owned by the Government of Vietnam 

9 was complicit in the trafficking in persons and 

10 the Government of Vietnam took all necessary 

11 and appropriate steps to end any such com12 plicity and hold such official, agency, or entity 

13 fully accountable for its conduct. 

14 (G) The Government of Vietnam has made 

15 substantial progress toward allowing Viet16 namese nationals free and open access to 

17 United States refugee programs. 

18 (H) The Government of Vietnam has made 

19 substantial progress toward respecting the 

20 internationally guaranteed human rights of 

21 members of all ethnic and minority groups. 

22 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

23 (1) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE IN THE NA24 TIONAL INTEREST.—Notwithstanding the failure of 

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1 ments of subsection (a)(2), the President may waive 

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

3 if the President determines that the provision to the 

4 Government of Vietnam of increased nonhumani5 tarian assistance would promote the purpose of this 

6 Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the 

7 United States. 

8 (2) EXERCISE OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The 

9 President may exercise the authority under para10 graph (1) with respect to— 

11 (A) all United States nonhumanitarian as12 sistance to Vietnam; or 

13 (B) one or more programs, projects, or ac14 tivities of such assistance. 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—The 

17 term ‘‘nonhumanitarian assistance’’ means— 

18 (A) any assistance under the Foreign As19 sistance Act of 1961 (including programs under 

20 title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat21 ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor22 poration), other than— 

23 (i) disaster relief assistance, including 

24 any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of 

25 that Act; 


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1 (ii) assistance which involves the pro2 vision of food (including monetization of 

3 food) or medicine; 

4 (iii) assistance for environmental re5 mediation of dioxin-contaminated sites and 

6 related health activities; 

7 (iv) assistance for demining and 

8 unexploded ordnance (UXO) remediation, 

9 and related health and educational activi10 ties; 

11 (v) assistance to combat severe forms 

12 of trafficking in persons; 

13 (vi) assistance to combat diseases; 

14 (vii) assistance for refugees; 

15 (viii) assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, 

16 including any assistance under section 

17 104A of that Act; and 

18 (ix) assistance to prevent child labor; 

19 and 

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

21 the Arms Export Control Act. 

22 (2) SEVERE FORM OF TRAFFICKING IN PER23 SONS.—The term ‘‘severe form of trafficking in per24 sons’’ means any activity described in section 103(8) 

25 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 


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

2 7102(8)). 

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

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

5 with respect to the provision of nonhumanitarian assist6 ance to the Government of Vietnam for fiscal year 2016 

7 and subsequent fiscal years. 

8 SEC. 4. EASING OF RESTRICTIONS FOR VIETNAM UNDER 

9 THE ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that it shall be the policy 

11 of the United States that further easing of the prohibition 

12 on the sale of lethal military equipment to the Government 

13 of Vietnam under the Arms Export Control Act shall re14 quire the Government of Vietnam to take additional, sig15 nificant, and sustained steps to advance human rights pro16 tections, specifically internationally recognized norms of 

17 civil and political rights, through legal reforms, the release 

18 of prisoners of conscience, the establishment of inde19 pendent labor unions, and guarantees to the freedom of 

20 religion and expression, including Internet freedom. 

21 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY. 

22 (a) RADIO FREE ASIA TRANSMISSIONS TO VIET23 NAM.—It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

24 should take measures to overcome the jamming of Radio 

25 Free Asia by the Government of Vietnam and that the 


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1 Broadcasting Board of Governors should not cut staffing, 

2 funding, or broadcast hours for the Vietnamese language 

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

4 which shall be done without reducing any other broadcast 

5 language services. 

6 (b) UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL

7 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH VIETNAM.—It is the sense 

8 of Congress that any programs of educational and cultural 

9 exchange between the United States and Vietnam should 

10 actively promote progress toward freedom and democracy 

11 in Vietnam by providing opportunities to Vietnamese na12 tionals from a wide range of occupations and perspectives 

13 to see freedom and democracy in action and, also, by en14 suring that Vietnamese nationals who have already dem15 onstrated a commitment to these values are included in 

16 such programs. Cultural programs should recognize and 

17 find ways to assist Vietnam’s religious and ethnic diver18 sity. 

19 SEC. 6. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

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

21 sense of Congress that Vietnam should be designated as 

22 a country of particular concern for religious freedom pur23 suant to section 402(b) of the International Religious 

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


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1 (b) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF

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

3 the Government of Vietnam does not fully comply with the 

4 minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and 

5 is not making significant efforts to bring itself into compli6 ance, and this determination should be reflected in the an7 nual report to Congress required pursuant to section 

8 110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

9 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)). 

10 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT. 

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

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

13 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress 

14 a report on the following: 

15 (1) The determination and certification of the 

16 President that the requirements of subparagraphs 

17 (A) through (H) of section 3(a)(2) have been met, 

18 if applicable. 

19 (2) If the President has waived the application 

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

21 reporting period— 

22 (A) the national interest with respect to 

23 which such a waiver was based; 


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1 (B) the amount of increased nonhumani2 tarian assistance provided to the Government of 

3 Vietnam; and 

4 (C) a description of the type and amount 

5 of commensurate assistance provided pursuant 

6 to section 3(b)(1). 

7 (3) Efforts by the United States Government to 

8 promote access by the Vietnamese people to Radio 

9 Free Asia transmissions. 

10 (4) Efforts to ensure that programs with Viet11 nam promote the policy set forth in section 102 of 

12 the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Pol13 icy Provisions Act of 1996 regarding participation in 

14 programs of educational and cultural exchange. 

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

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

17 otherwise persecuted by the Government of Vietnam 

18 due to their pursuit of internationally recognized 

19 human rights. In compiling such lists, the Secretary 

20 shall exercise appropriate discretion, including con21 cerns regarding the safety and security of, and ben22 efit to, the persons who may be included on the lists 

23 and their families. In addition, the Secretary shall 

24 include a list of such persons and their families who 


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1 may qualify for protections under United States ref2 ugee programs. 

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

4 of law in Vietnam, including— 

5 (A) progress toward the development of in6 stitutions of democratic governance; 

7 (B) processes by which statutes, regula8 tions, rules, and other legal acts of the Govern9 ment of Vietnam are developed and become 

10 binding within Vietnam; 

11 (C) the extent to which statutes, regula12 tions, rules, administrative and judicial deci13 sions, and other legal acts of the Government of 

14 Vietnam are published and are made accessible 

15 to the public; 

16 (D) the extent to which administrative and 

17 judicial decisions are supported by statements 

18 of reasons that are based upon written statutes, 

19 regulations, rules, and other legal acts of the 

20 Government of Vietnam; 

21 (E) the extent to which individuals are 

22 treated equally under the laws of Vietnam with23 out regard to citizenship, race, religion, political 

24 opinion, or current or former associations; 


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1 (F) the extent to which administrative and 

2 judicial decisions are independent of political 

3 pressure or governmental interference and are 

4 reviewed by entities of appellate jurisdiction; 

5 and 

6 (G) the extent to which laws in Vietnam 

7 are written and administered in ways that are 

8 consistent with international human rights 

9 standards, including the rights enumerated in 

10 the International Covenant on Civil and Polit11 ical Rights. 

12 (b) CONTACTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—In 

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

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

15 nongovernmental organizations and human rights advo16 cates (including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights 

17 advocates in Vietnam), including receiving reports and up18 dates from such organizations and evaluating such re19 ports. The Secretary shall also seek to consult with the 

20 United States Commission on International Religious 

21 Freedom for appropriate sections of the report. 

Æ 


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