I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4254 

To impose sanctions on individuals who are complicit in human rights abuses 

committed against nationals of Vietnam or their family members, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2014 

Mr. ROYCE (for himself, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. WOLF, and Ms. LORETTA

SANCHEZ of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees 

on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Financial Services, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions on individuals who are complicit in 

human rights abuses committed against nationals of 

Vietnam or their family members, and for other purposes. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vietnam Human 

5 Rights Sanctions Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Vietnam remains a one-party state, ruled 

4 and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam, 

5 which continues to deny the right of citizens to 

6 change their government. 

7 (2) According to the Department of State’s 

8 2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 

9 Vietnam’s ‘‘most significant human rights problems 

10 . . . continued to be severe government restrictions 

11 on citizens’ political rights, particularly their right to 

12 change their government; increased measures to 

13 limit citizens’ civil liberties; and corruption in the ju14 dicial system and police’’. 

15 (3) Furthermore, the Department of State doc16 uments that ‘‘arbitrary arrest and detention, par17 ticularly for political activists, remained a problem’’, 

18 with the Government of Vietnam sentencing ‘‘at 

19 least 35 arrested activists during [2012] to a total 

20 of 131 years in jail and 27 years of probation for 

21 exercising their rights’’. 

22 (4) The Government of Vietnam forbids public 

23 challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state, re24 stricts freedoms of opinion, the press, assembly, and 

25 association, and tightly limits access to the Internet 

26 and telecommunication. 


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1 (5) The Government of Vietnam continues to 

2 limit freedom of religion, pressure all religious 

3 groups to come under the control of government and 

4 party-controlled management boards, and restrict 

5 the operation of independent religious organizations, 

6 including the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 

7 and members of unsanctioned Mennonite, Cao Dai, 

8 Theravada Buddhist, and Hoa Hao Buddhist reli9 gious groups and independent Protestant house 

10 churches, primarily in the central and northern high11 lands. Religious leaders who do not conform to the 

12 Government’s demands are often harassed, arrested, 

13 imprisoned, or put under house arrest. 

14 (6) Enhancement of relations between the 

15 United States and Vietnam has provided an oppor16 tunity for a human rights dialogue, but is unlikely 

17 to lead to future progress on human rights issues in 

18 Vietnam unless the United States makes clear that 

19 such progress is an essential prerequisite for further 

20 enhancements in the bilateral relationship. 


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1 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN INDIVID2 UALS WHO ARE COMPLICIT IN HUMAN 

3 RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED AGAINST NA4 TIONALS OF VIETNAM OR THEIR FAMILY 

5 MEMBERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (d), the President shall impose sanctions described in sub8 section (c) with respect to each individual on the list re9 quired by subsection (b). 

10 (b) LIST OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE COMPLICIT IN

11 CERTAIN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

14 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com15 mittees a list of individuals who are nationals of 

16 Vietnam that the President determines are complicit 

17 in human rights abuses committed against nationals 

18 of Vietnam or their family members, regardless of 

19 whether such abuses occurred in Vietnam. 

20 (2) UPDATES OF LIST.—The President shall 

21 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

22 an updated list under paragraph (1) as new infor23 mation becomes available and not less frequently 

24 than annually. 

25 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The list required 

26 by paragraph (1) shall be made available to the pubVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:58 Mar 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4254.IH H4254

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1 lic and posted on the Web sites of the Department 

2 of the Treasury and the Department of State. 

3 (4) CONSIDERATION OF DATA FROM OTHER

4 COUNTRIES AND NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZA5 TIONS.—In preparing the list required by paragraph 

6 (1), the President shall consider data already ob7 tained by other countries and nongovernmental orga8 nizations, including organizations in Vietnam, that 

9 monitor the human rights abuses of the Government 

10 of Vietnam. 

11 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de12 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

13 (1) PROHIBITION ON ENTRY AND ADMISSION TO

14 THE UNITED STATES.—An individual whose name 

15 appears on the list required by subsection (b)(1) 

16 may not— 

17 (A) be admitted to, enter, or transit 

18 through the United States; 

19 (B) receive any lawful immigration status 

20 in the United States under the immigration 

21 laws, including any relief under the Convention 

22 Against Torture; or 

23 (C) file any application or petition to ob24 tain such admission, entry, or status. 


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1 (2) FINANCIAL SANCTIONS.—The President 

2 shall impose sanctions authorized pursuant to sec3 tion 203 of the International Emergency Economic 

4 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702) with respect to an in5 dividual whose name appears on the list required by 

6 subsection (b)(1), including blocking of the property 

7 of, and restricting or prohibiting financial trans8 actions and the exportation and importation of prop9 erty by, the individual. 

10 (d) EXCEPTIONS TO COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONAL

11 AGREEMENTS.—The President may, by regulation, au12 thorize exceptions to the imposition of sanctions under this 

13 section to permit the United States to comply with the 

14 Agreement between the United Nations and the United 

15 States of America regarding the Headquarters of the 

16 United Nations, signed June 26, 1947, and entered into 

17 force November 21, 1947, and other applicable inter18 national agreements. 

19 (e) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The provisions of 

20 this section shall cease to have force and effect on the date 

21 on which the President determines and certifies to the ap22 propriate congressional committees that the Government 

23 of Vietnam has— 

24 (1) unconditionally released all political pris25 oners; 


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1 (2) ceased its practices of violence, unlawful de2 tention, torture, and abuse of citizens of Vietnam 

3 while engaging in peaceful political activity; and 

4 (3) conducted a transparent investigation into 

5 the killings, arrest, and abuse of peaceful political 

6 activists in Vietnam and prosecuted those respon7 sible. 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Finance, the Com13 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af14 fairs, and the Committee on Foreign Relations 

15 of the Senate; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Ways and Means, 

17 the Committee on Financial Services, and the 

18 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

19 Representatives. 

20 (2) CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE.—The 

21 term ‘‘Convention Against Torture’’ means the 

22 United Nations Convention Against Torture and 

23 Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 

24 Punishment, done at New York on December 10, 

25 1984. 


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1 (3) IMMIGRATION LAWS; NATIONAL.—The 

2 terms ‘‘immigration laws’’ and ‘‘national’’ have the 

3 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 

4 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

Æ 


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