231
(6) Socialist Party-controlled election commis-
sions and government authorities thwarted the peo-
ple’s will by annulling free elections in the cities of
Belgrade, Nis, Smederevska Palanka, and several
other cities where opposition party candidates won
fair elections.
(7) Countries belonging to the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Jan-
uary 3, 1997, called upon President Milosevic and all
the political forces in the Republic of Serbia to honor
the people’s will and honor the election results.
(8) Hundreds of thousands of Serbs marched in
the streets of Belgrade on a daily basis from Novem-
ber 20, 1996, through February 1997, demanding the
implementation of the election results and greater de-
mocracy in the country.
(9) The partial reinstatement of opposition
party victories in January 1997 and the subsequent
enactment by the Serbian legislature of a special law
implementing the results of all the 1996 municipal
elections does not atone for the Milosevic regime’s
trampling of rule of law, orderly succession of power,
and freedom of speech and of assembly.
(10) The Serbian authorities have sought to con-
tinue to hinder the growth of a free and independent
232
news media in the Republic of Serbia, in particular
the broadcast news media, and harassed journalists
performing their professional duties.
(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the
Congress that—
(1) the United States, the Organization for Secu-
rity and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the
international community should continue to press the
Government of the Republic of Serbia to ensure the
implementation of free, fair, and honest presidential
and parliamentary elections in 1997, and to fully
abide by their outcome;
(2) the United States, the OSCE, the inter-
national community, nongovernmental organizations,
and the private sector should continue to promote the
building of democratic institutions and civic society
in the Republic of Serbia, help strengthen the inde-
pendent news media, and press for the Government of
the Republic of Serbia to respect the rule of law; and
(3) the normalization of relations between the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the United States
requires, among other things, that President Milosevic
and the leadership of Serbia—
233
(A) ensure the implementation of free, fair,
and honest presidential and parliamentary elec-
tions in 1997;
(B) abide by the outcome of such elections;
and
(C) promote the building of democratic in-
stitutions, including strengthening the independ-
ent news media and respecting the rule of law.
SEC. 1715. RELATIONS WITH VIETNAM.
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con-
gress that—
(1) the development of a cooperative bilateral re-
lationship between the United States and the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam should facilitate maximum
progress toward resolving outstanding POW/MIA is-
sues, promote the protection of human rights includ-
ing universally recognized religious, political, and
other freedoms, contribute to regional stability, and
encourage continued development of mutually bene-
ficial economic relations;
(2) the satisfactory resolution of United States
concerns with respect to outstanding POW/MIA,
human rights, and refugee issues is essential to the
full normalization of relations between the United
States and Vietnam;
234
(3) the United States should upgrade the prior-
ity afforded to the ongoing bilateral human rights di-
alog between the United States and Vietnam by re-
quiring the Department of State to schedule the next
dialog with Vietnam, and all subsequent dialogs, at a
level no lower than that of Assistant Secretary of
State;
(4) during any future negotiations regarding the
provision of Overseas Private Investment Corporation
insurance to American companies investing in Viet-
nam and the granting of Generalized System of Pref-
erence status for Vietnam, the United States Govern-
ment should strictly hold the Government of Vietnam
to internationally recognized worker rights standards,
including the right of association, the right to orga-
nize and bargain collectively, and the prohibition on
the use of any forced or compulsory labor; and
(5) the Department of State should consult with
other governments to develop a coordinated multilat-
eral strategy to encourage Vietnam to invite the Unit-
ed Nations Special Rapporteur on Religious Intoler-
ance to visit Vietnam to carry out inquiries and
make recommendations.
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—In order to provide Con-
gress with the necessary information by which to evaluate
235
the relationship between the United States and Vietnam,
the Secretary shall report to the appropriate congressional
committees, not later than 90 days after the enactment of
this Act and every 180 days thereafter during fiscal years
1998 and 1999, on the extent to which—
(1) the Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam is cooperating with the United States in
providing the fullest possible accounting of all unre-
solved POW/MIA cases and the recovery and repatri-
ation of American remains;
(2) the Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam has made progress toward the release of all
political and religious prisoners, including but not
limited to Catholic, Protestant, and Buddhist clergy;
(3) the Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam is cooperating with requests by the United
States to obtain full and free access to persons of hu-
manitarian interest to the United States for inter-
views under the Orderly Departure (ODP) and Reset-
tlement 
Opportunities 
for 
Vietnamese 
Refugees
(ROVR) programs, and in providing exit visas for
such persons;
(4) the Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam has taken vigorous action to end extortion,
236
bribery, and other corrupt practices in connection
with such exit visas; and
(5) the Government of the United States is mak-
ing vigorous efforts to interview and resettle former
reeducation camp victims, their immediate families
including, but not limited to, unmarried sons and
daughters, former United States Government employ-
ees, and other persons eligible for the ODP program,
and to give such persons the full benefit of all appli-
cable United States laws including, but not limited
to, sections 599D and 599E of the Foreign Oper-
ations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Ap-
propriations Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–167).
SEC. 1716. STATEMENT CONCERNING RETURN OF OR COM-
PENSATION 
FOR 
WRONGLY 
CONFISCATED
FOREIGN PROPERTIES.
The Congress—
(1) welcomes the efforts of many post-Communist
countries to address the complex and difficult question
of the status of plundered properties;
(2) urges countries which have not already done
so to return plundered properties to their rightful
owners or, as an alternative, pay compensation, in
accordance with principles of justice and in a man-
ner that is just, transparent, and fair;
237
(3) calls for the urgent return of property for-
merly belonging to Jewish communities as a means of
redressing the particularly compelling problems of
aging and destitute survivors of the Holocaust;
(4) calls on the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithua-
nia, Romania, Slovakia, and any other country with
restrictions which require those whose properties have
been wrongly plundered by Nazi or Communist re-
gimes to reside in or have the citizenship of the coun-
try from which they now seek restitution or com-
pensation to remove such restrictions from their res-
titution or compensation laws;
(5) calls upon foreign financial institutions, and
the states having legal authority over their operation,
that possess wrongfully and illegally obtained prop-
erty confiscated from Holocaust victims, from resi-
dents of former Warsaw Pact states who were forbid-
den by Communist law from obtaining restitution of
such property, and from states that were occupied by
Nazi, Fascist, or Communist forces, to assist and to
cooperate fully with efforts to restore this property to
its rightful owners; and
(6) urges post-Communist countries to pass and
effectively implement laws that provide for restitution
of, or compensation for, plundered property.
238
DIVISION C—FUNDING LEVELS
SEC. 2001. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR CER-
TAIN PROGRAMS.
Subject to section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961, there are authorized to be appropriated to the
President for fiscal year 1998, $116,878,000. Amounts
made available pursuant to such authorization shall be
transferred to and merged with funds made available to ac-
counts authorized to be appropriated by this Act (and
amendments made by this Act) that are below the Presi-
dent’s fiscal year 1998 request. Amounts transferred and
merged under this subsection may not increase an appro-
priation account above the President’s fiscal year 1998 re-
quest.