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 consider-
ation 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 pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vietnam Human 
Rights Sanctions Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Vietnam remains a one-party state, ruled 
and controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam, 
which continues to deny the right of citizens to 
change their government. 
(2) According to the Department of State’s 
2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 
Vietnam’s ‘‘most significant human rights problems 
. . . continued to be severe government restrictions 
on citizens’ political rights, particularly their right to 
change their government; increased measures to 
limit citizens’ civil liberties; and corruption in the ju-
dicial system and police’’. 
(3) Furthermore, the Department of State doc-
uments that ‘‘arbitrary arrest and detention, par-
ticularly for political activists, remained a problem’’, 
with the Government of Vietnam sentencing ‘‘at 
least 35 arrested activists during [2012] to a total 
of 131 years in jail and 27 years of probation for 
exercising their rights’’. 
(4) The Government of Vietnam forbids public 
challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state, re-
stricts freedoms of opinion, the press, assembly, and 
association, and tightly limits access to the Internet 
and telecommunication. 
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(5) The Government of Vietnam continues to 
limit freedom of religion, pressure all religious 
groups to come under the control of government and 
party-controlled management boards, and restrict 
the operation of independent religious organizations, 
including the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 
and members of unsanctioned Mennonite, Cao Dai, 
Theravada Buddhist, and Hoa Hao Buddhist reli-
gious groups and independent Protestant house 
churches, primarily in the central and northern high-
lands. Religious leaders who do not conform to the 
Government’s demands are often harassed, arrested, 
imprisoned, or put under house arrest. 
(6) Enhancement of relations between the 
United States and Vietnam has provided an oppor-
tunity for a human rights dialogue, but is unlikely 
to lead to future progress on human rights issues in 
Vietnam unless the United States makes clear that 
such progress is an essential prerequisite for further 
enhancements in the bilateral relationship. 
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