I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2368
To promote freedom and democracy in Viet Nam.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 28, 2001
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Ms.
SANCHEZ, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. WOLF,
and Mr. GILMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committees
on Financial Services, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To promote freedom and democracy in Viet Nam.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Viet Nam Human Rights Act’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Purpose.
TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON VIET
NAM
Sec. 101. Establishment of Congressional-Executive Commission on Viet Nam.
Sec. 102. Functions of the Commission.
Sec. 103. Membership of the Commission.
Sec. 104. Votes of the Commission.
Sec. 105. Expenditure of appropriations.
Sec. 106. Testimony of witnesses, production of evidence; issuance of sub-
poenas; administration of oaths.
Sec. 107. Appropriations for the Commission.
Sec. 108. Staff of the Commission.
Sec. 109. Printing and binding costs.
TITLE II—PROMOTION OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN VIET
NAM
Subtitle A—Prohibition on Nonhumanitarian Assistance to the Government of
Viet Nam
Sec. 201. Bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance.
Sec. 202. Multilateral nonhumanitarian assistance.
Subtitle B—Assistance to Support Democracy in Viet Nam
Sec. 211. Assistance.
Subtitle C—United States Public Diplomacy
Sec. 221. Radio Free Asia transmissions to Viet Nam.
Sec. 222. United States educational and cultural exchange programs with Viet
Nam.
Subtitle D—United States Refugee Policy
Sec. 232. Refugee resettlement for nationals of Viet Nam.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Viet Nam is a one-party state, ruled and
controlled by the Vietnamese Communist Party.
(2) The Government of Viet Nam denies the
people of Viet Nam the right to change their govern-
ment and prohibits independent political, social, and
labor organizations.
(3)(A) The Government of Viet Nam consist-
ently pursues a policy of harassment, discrimination,
and intimidation, and sometimes of imprisonment
and other forms of detention, against those who
peacefully express dissent from government or party
policy.
(B) Recent victims of such mistreatment, which
violates the rights to freedom of expression and as-
sociation recognized in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, include Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, Dr.
Nguyen Thanh Giang, General Tran Do, Most Ven-
erable Thich Huyen Quang, Most Venerable Thich
Quang Do, Father Nguyen Van Ly, numerous lead-
ers of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church and of inde-
pendent Protestant churches, and an undetermined
number of members of the Montagnard ethnic mi-
nority groups who participated in peaceful dem-
onstrations in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam
during February 2001.
(4) The Government of Viet Nam systematically
deprives its citizens of the fundamental right to free-
dom of religion. Although some freedom of worship
is permitted, believers are forbidden to participate in
religious activities except under circumstances rig-
idly defined and controlled by the government:
(A) In 1999 the Government issued a De-
cree Concerning Religious Activities, which de-
clared in pertinent part that ‘‘[a]ll activities
using religious belief in order to oppose the
State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, to
prevent the believers from carrying out civic re-
sponsibilities, to sabotage the union of all the
people, to against the healthy culture of our na-
tion, as well as superstitious activities, will be
punished in conformity with the law’’.
(B) The Unified Buddhist Church of Viet
Nam (UCBV), the largest religious denomina-
tion in the country, has been declared illegal by
the Government, and over the last twenty-five
years its clergy have often been imprisoned and
subjected to other forms of persecution. The
Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church, 83-
year-old Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang,
has been detained for 21 years in a ruined tem-
ple in an isolated area of central Viet Nam.
Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, the Executive
President of the Unified Buddhist Church, has
also been in various forms of detention for
many years, and was recently rearrested and
placed under house arrest after he had pro-
posed to bring Most Venerable Thich Huyen
Quang to Saigon for medical treatment.
(C) The Hoa Hao Buddhist Church was
also declared to be illegal until 1999, when the
Government established an organization which
purports to govern the Hoa Hao. According to
the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom, ‘‘[t]his organization is made
up almost entirely of Communist Party mem-
bers and apparently is not recognized as legiti-
mate by the vast majority of Hoa Haos . . .
[n]evertheless, [this government-sponsored or-
ganization] has sought to control all Hoa Hao
religious activity, particularly at the Hoa Hao
village, which is the center of Hoa Hao religious
life’’. Hoa Hao believers who do not recognize
the legitimacy of the government organization
are denied the right to visit the Hoa Hao vil-
lage, to conduct traditional religious celebra-
tions, or to display Hoa Hao symbols. Many
have been arrested and subjected to administra-
tive detention, and several Hoa Hao have been
sentenced to prison terms for protesting these
denials of religious freedom.
(D) Independent Protestants, most of
whom are members of ethnic minority groups,
are subjected to particularly harsh treatment by
the Government of Viet Nam. According to the
United States Commission on International Re-
ligious Freedom, such treatment includes ‘‘po-
lice raids on homes and house churches, deten-
tion, imprisonment, confiscation of religious and
personal property, physical and psychological
abuse, and fines for engaging in unapproved re-
ligious activities (such as collective worship,
public religious expression and distribution of
religious literature, and performing baptisms,
marriages, or funeral services) . . . [i]n addi-
tion, it is reported that ethnic Hmong Protes-
tants have been forced by local officials to agree
to abandon their faith’’.
(E) Other religious organizations, such as
the Catholic Church, are formally recognized by
the Government but are subjected to pervasive
regulation which violates the right to freedom of
religion. For instance, the Catholic Church is
forbidden to appoint its own bishops without
Government consent, which is frequently de-
nied, to accept seminarians without specific offi-
cial permission, and to profess Catholic doc-
trines which are inconsistent with Government
policy. A Catholic priest, Father Nguyen Van
Ly, was arrested in March 2001 and remains in
detention after submitting written testimony to
the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom.
(F) The Government has also confiscated
numerous churches, temples, and other prop-
erties belonging to religious organizations. The
vast majority of these properties—even those
belonging to religious organizations formally
recognized by the Government—have never
been returned.
(5) Since 1975 the Government of Viet Nam
has persecuted veterans of the Army of the Republic
of Viet Nam and other Vietnamese who had opposed
the Viet Cong insurgency and the North Vietnamese
invasion of South Viet Nam. Such persecution typi-
cally included substantial terms in ‘‘re-education
camps’’, where detainees were often subjected to tor-
ture and other forms of physical abuse, and in which
many died. Re-education camp survivors and their
families were often forced into internal exile in ‘‘New
Economic Zones’’. Many of these former allies of the
United States, as well as members of their families,
continue until the present day to suffer various
forms of harassment and discrimination, including
denial of basic social benefits and exclusion from
higher education and employment.
(6)(A) The Government of Viet Nam has been
particularly harsh in its treatment of members of
the Montagnard ethnic minority groups of the Cen-
tral Highlands of Viet Nam, who were the first line
in the defense of South Viet Nam against invasion
from the North and who fought courageously beside
members of the Special Forces of the United States
Army, suffering disproportionately heavy casualties,
and saving the lives of many of their American and
Vietnamese comrades-in-arms.
(B) Since 1975 the Montagnard peoples have
been singled out for severe repression, in part be-
cause of their past association with the United
States and in part because their strong commitment
to their traditional way of life and to their Christian
religion is regarded as inconsistent with the absolute
loyalty and control demanded by the Communist sys-
tem.
(C) In February 2001 several thousand
Montagnards participated in a series of peaceful
demonstrations throughout the Central Highlands,
demanding religious freedom and restoration of their
confiscated lands, and the Government responded by
closing off the Central Highlands and sending in
military forces, tanks, and helicopter gunships.
(D) Credible reports by refugees who have es-
caped to Cambodia indicate that the Government
has executed some participants in the demonstra-
tions and has subjected others to imprisonment, tor-
ture, and other forms of physical abuse.
(E) The Government of Viet Nam has also
taken steps to prevent further Montagnards from es-
caping, and there are credible reports that Viet-
namese security forces in Cambodia are offering
bounties for the surrender of Montagnard asylum
seekers.
(7) The Government of Viet Nam has also per-
secuted members of other ethnic minority groups, in-
cluding the Khmer Krom from the Mekong Delta,
many of whom fought alongside United States mili-
tary personnel during the Viet Nam war and whose
Hinayana Buddhist religion is not among those rec-
ognized by the Government.
(8) The Government of Viet Nam also engages
in or condones serious violations of the rights of
workers. In August 1997, the United Nations Chil-
dren’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that child labor ex-
ploitation is on the rise in Viet Nam with tens of
thousands of children under 15 years of age being
subjected to such exploitation. The government’s of-
ficial labor export program also has subjected work-
ers, many of whom are women, to involuntary ser-
vitude, debt bondage, and other forms of abuse, and
the reaction of government officials to worker com-
plaints of such abuse has been to threaten the work-
ers with punishment if they do not desist in their
complaints.
(9)(A) United States refugee resettlement pro-
grams for Vietnamese nationals, including the Or-
derly Departure Program (ODP), the Resettlement
Opportunities for Returning Vietnamese (ROVR)
program, and resettlement of boat people from ref-
ugee camps throughout Southeast Asia, were author-
ized by law in order to rescue Vietnamese nationals
who have suffered persecution on account of their
wartime associations with the United States, as well
as those who currently have a well-founded fear of
persecution on account of race, religion, nationality,
political opinion, or membership in a particular so-
cial group.
(B) In general, these programs have served
their purpose well. However, many refugees who
were eligible for these programs were unfairly denied
or excluded, in some cases by vindictive or corrupt
Communist officials who controlled access to the
programs, and in others by United States personnel
who imposed unduly restrictive interpretations of
program criteria. These unfairly excluded refugees
include some of those with the most compelling
cases, including many Montagnard combat veterans
and their families.
(10) The Government of Viet Nam systemati-
cally jams broadcasts by Radio Free Asia, an inde-
pendent broadcast service funded by the United
States in order to provide news and entertainment
to the people of countries in Asia whose governments
deny the right to freedom of expression and of the
press.
(11) In 1995 the Governments of the United
States and Viet Nam announced the ‘‘normaliza-
tion’’ of diplomatic relations. In 1998 then-President
Clinton waived the application of section 402 of the
Trade Act of 1974 (commonly known as the ‘‘Jack-
son-Vanik Amendment’’), which restricts economic
assistance to countries with non-market economies
whose governments also restrict freedom of emigra-
tion. In 1999 the Governments of the United States
and Viet Nam announced ‘‘agreement in principle’’
on a bilateral trade agreement. This agreement was
signed in 2000 and has been presented to Congress
for approval or disapproval.
(12) The Congress and the American people are
united in their determination that the extension or
expansion of trade relations with a country whose
government engages in serious and systematic viola-
tions of fundamental human rights must not be con-
strued as a statement of approval or complacency
about such practices. The promotion of freedom and
democracy around the world—and particularly for
people who have suffered in large part because of
their past associations with the United States and
because they share our values—is and must continue
to be a central objective of United States foreign
policy.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to promote the develop-
ment of freedom and democracy in Viet Nam.
TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL-EXEC-
UTIVE COMMISSION ON VIET
NAM
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL-EXECU-
TIVE COMMISSION ON VIET NAM.
There is established a Congressional-Executive Com-
mission on Viet Nam (in this title referred to as the ‘‘Com-
mission’’).
SEC. 102. FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) 
MONITORING
COMPLIANCE
WITH
HUMAN
RIGHTS.—The Commission shall monitor the acts of the
Government of Viet Nam which reflect compliance with
or violation of human rights, in particular, those contained
in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in-
cluding, but not limited to, effectively affording—
(1) the right to engage in free expression;
(2) the right to peaceful assembly;
(3) religious freedom, including the right to
worship and to participate in religious activities and
institutions free of involvement of and interference
by the government;
(4) the right to liberty of movement and free-
dom to choose a residence within Viet Nam and the
right to leave from and return to Viet Nam;
(5) the right of a criminal defendant—
(A) to be tried in his or her presence, and
to defend himself or herself in person or
through legal assistance of his or her own
choosing;
(B) to be informed, if he or she does not
have legal assistance, of the right set forth in
subparagraph (A);
(C) to have legal assistance assigned to
him or her in any case in which the interests
of justice so require and without payment by
him or her in any such case if he or she does
not have sufficient means to pay for it;
(D) to a fair and public hearing by a com-
petent, independent, and impartial tribunal es-
tablished by the law;
(E) to be presumed innocent until proved
guilty according to law; and
(F) to be tried without undue delay;
(6) the right to be free from torture and other
forms of cruel or unusual punishment;
(7) protection of internationally recognized
worker rights;
(8) freedom from incarceration as punishment
for political opposition to the government;
(9) freedom from incarceration as punishment
for exercising or advocating human rights (including
those described in this section);
(10) freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention,
or exile;
(11) the right to fair and public hearings by an
independent tribunal for the determination of a citi-
zen’s rights and obligations; and
(12) free choice of employment.
(b) VICTIMS LISTS.—The Commission shall compile
and maintain lists of persons believed to be imprisoned,
detained, or placed under house arrest, tortured, or other-
wise persecuted by the Government of Viet Nam due to
their pursuit of the rights described in subsection (a). In
compiling such lists, the Commission shall exercise appro-
priate discretion, including concerns regarding the safety
and security of, and benefit to, the persons who may be
included on the lists and their families.
(c) MONITORING
DEVELOPMENT
OF
RULE
OF
LAW.—The Commission shall monitor the development of
the rule of law in Viet Nam, including, but not limited
to—
(1) progress toward the development of institu-
tions of democratic governance;
(2) processes by which statutes, regulations,
rules, and other legal acts of the Government of Viet
Nam are developed and become binding within Viet
Nam;
(3) the extent to which statutes, regulations,
rules, administrative and judicial decisions, and
other legal acts of the Government of Viet Nam are
published and are made accessible to the public;
(4) the extent to which administrative and judi-
cial decisions are supported by statements of reasons
that are based upon written statutes, regulations,
rules and other legal acts of the Government of Viet
Nam;
(5) the extent to which individuals are treated
equally under the laws of Viet Nam without regard
to citizenship, race, religion, political opinion, or cur-
rent or former associations;
(6) the extent to which administrative and judi-
cial decisions are independent of political pressure or
governmental interference and are reviewed by enti-
ties of appellate jurisdiction; and
(7) the extent to which laws in Viet Nam are
written and administered in ways that are consistent
with international human rights standards, including
the requirements of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights.
(d) BILATERAL COOPERATION.—The Commission
shall monitor and encourage the development of programs
and activities of the United States Government and pri-
vate organizations with a view toward increasing the inter-
change of people and ideas between the United States and
Viet Nam and expanding cooperation in areas that in-
clude, but are not limited to—
(1) increasing enforcement of human rights de-
scribed in subsection (a); and
(2) developing the rule of law in Viet Nam.
(e) CONTACTS WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANI-
ZATIONS.—In performing the functions described in sub-
sections (a) through (d), the Commission shall, as appro-
priate, seek out and maintain contacts with nongovern-
mental organizations, including receiving reports and up-
dates from such organizations and evaluating such re-
ports.
(f) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Commission shall issue
a report to the President and the Congress not later than
12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and not later than the end of each 12-month period there-
after, setting forth the findings of the Commission during
the preceding 12-month period, in carrying out sub-
sections (a) through (c). The Commission’s report may
contain recommendations for legislative or executive ac-
tion.
(g) SPECIFIC INFORMATION IN ANNUAL REPORTS.—
The Commission’s report under subsection (f) shall in-
clude specific information concerning the nature and im-
plementation of laws or policies concerning the rights set
forth in paragraphs (1) through (12) of subsection (a),
and concerning restrictions applied to or discrimination
against persons exercising any of the rights set forth in
such paragraphs.
(h) CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS
ON ANNUAL RE-
PORTS.—(1) The Committee on International Relations of
the House of Representatives shall, not later than 30 days
after the receipt by the Congress of the report referred
to in subsection (f), hold hearings on the contents of the
report, including any recommendations contained therein,
for the purpose of receiving testimony from Members of
Congress, and such appropriate representatives of Federal
departments and agencies, and interested persons and
groups, as the committee deems advisable, with a view to
reporting to the House of Representatives any appropriate
legislation in furtherance of such recommendations. If any
such legislation is considered by the Committee on Inter-
national Relations within 45 days after receipt by the Con-
gress of the report referred to in subsection (f), it shall
be reported by the committee not later than 60 days after
receipt by the Congress of such report.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) are enacted by
the Congress—
(A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of
the House of Representatives, and as such are
deemed a part of the rules of the House, and they
supersede other rules only to the extent that they
are inconsistent therewith; and
(B) with full recognition of the constitutional
right of the House to change the rules (so far as re-
lating to the procedure of the House) at any time,
in the same manner and to the same extent as in
the case of any other rule of the House.
(i) SUPPLEMENTAL
REPORTS.—The Commission
may submit to the President and the Congress reports
that supplement the reports described in subsection (f),
as appropriate, in carrying out subsections (a) through
(c).
SEC. 103. MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—
The Commission shall be composed of 17 members as fol-
lows:
(1) Five Members of the House of Representa-
tives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives. Three members shall be selected from
the majority party and two members shall be se-
lected, after consultation with the minority leader of
the House, from the minority party.
(2) Five Members of the Senate appointed by
the President of the Senate. Three members shall be
selected, after consultation with the majority leader
of the Senate, from the majority party, and two
members shall be selected, after consultation with
the minority leader of the Senate, from the minority
party.
(3) One representative of the Department of
State, appointed by the President of the United
States from among officers and employees of that
Department.
(4) One representative of the Department of
Commerce, appointed by the President of the United
States from among officers and employees of that
Department.
(5) One representative of the Department of
Labor, appointed by the President of the United
States from among officers and employees of that
Department.
(6) Four public representatives, appointed by
the President of the United States, who shall be citi-
zens of the United States not employed by the
United States Government and who have dem-
onstrated expertise in and commitment to human
rights in Viet Nam.
(b) CHAIRMAN AND COCHAIRMAN.—
(1) DESIGNATION OF CHAIRMAN.—At the be-
ginning of each odd-numbered Congress, the Presi-
dent of the Senate, on the recommendation of the
majority leader, shall designate one of the members
of the Commission from the Senate as Chairman of
the Commission. At the beginning of each even-num-
bered Congress, the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall designate one of the members of
the Commission from the House as Chairman of the
Commission.
(2) DESIGNATION OF COCHAIRMAN.—At the be-
ginning of each odd-numbered Congress, the Speak-
er of the House of Representatives shall designate
one of the members of the Commission from the
House as Cochairman of the Commission. At the be-
ginning of each even-numbered Congress, the Presi-
dent of the Senate, on the recommendation of the
majority leader, shall designate one of the members
title IV of chapter 2 of part I of that Act, relat-
ing to the Overseas Private Investment Cor-
poration), other than—
(i) disaster relief assistance, including
any assistance under chapter 9 of part I of
that Act;
(ii) assistance which involves the pro-
vision of food (including monetization of
food) or medicine; and
(iii) assistance for refugees;
(B) sales, or financing on any terms, under
the Arms Export Control Act; and
(C) financing under the Export-Import
Bank Act of 1945.
SEC. 
202. 
MULTILATERAL 
NONHUMANITARIAN 
ASSIST-
ANCE.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the
United States Executive Director of each multilateral de-
velopment bank and of the International Monetary Fund
to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States
to deny any loan or other utilization of the funds of such
bank or institution (other than for humanitarian assist-
ance) to Viet Nam for fiscal year 2002 and each subse-
quent fiscal year unless the President determines and cer-
tifies to Congress for such fiscal year that the require-