I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3001 
To advance United States national interests by prioritizing the protection 
of internationally recognized human rights and development of the rule 
of law in relations between the United States and Vietnam, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2021 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. 
KIM of California, Mrs. STEEL, and Mr. CORREA) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To advance United States national interests by prioritizing 
the protection of internationally recognized human rights 
and development of the rule of law in relations between 
the United States and Vietnam, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Vietnam Human Rights Act’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Statement of policy. 
Sec. 3. Assistance for political and religious prisoners in Vietnam. 
Sec. 4. Sanctions with respect to human rights violations in Vietnam. 
Sec. 5. Actions to combat online censorship and surveillance in Vietnam. 
Sec. 6. Annual country reports on human rights practices. 
Sec. 7. Prohibition on funding for the Ministry of Public Security of the Gov-
ernment of Vietnam. 
Sec. 8. International religious freedom. 
Sec. 9. United States assistance to support counting of women and girls in 
Vietnam. 
Sec. 10. Annual reports on United States-Vietnam human rights dialogue meet-
ings. 
Sec. 11. Restrictions on nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government of Viet-
nam. 
Sec. 12. Definitions. 
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to— 
(1) prioritize as a matter of strategic impor-
tance the Government of Vietnam’s violations of uni-
versally recognized human rights, fundamental free-
doms, and the rule of law to ensure the long-term 
sustainability of the United States-Vietnam strategic 
partnership; 
(2) embed human rights concerns across the 
full spectrum of official interactions between the 
Government of the United States and the Govern-
ment of Vietnam and convey during diplomatic en-
gagements that concrete human rights improvements 
are key parts of any discussions on trade, security, 
humanitarian cooperation, and economic develop-
ment; 
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(3) assess Vietnam’s progress toward respecting 
the basic rights of workers, as described in each re-
port required by section 702 of the Foreign Rela-
tions Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public 
Law 107–228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note) and in light 
of the commitments specified in the United States- 
Vietnam Plan for Enhancement of Trade and Labor 
Relations, notwithstanding the fact that the Trans 
Pacific Partnership did not go into effect; 
(4) press for ratification of ILO Conventions 
No. 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of 
the Right to Organize) and No. 98 (Right to Orga-
nize and Collective Bargaining) and the recognition 
of independent labor unions; and 
(5) evaluate future trade negotiations with the 
Government of Vietnam in accordance with the cri-
teria set forth for country eligibility under sub-
sections (b)(2) and (c) of section 502 of the Trade 
Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462), relating to the Gen-
eralized System of Preferences, and in accordance 
with the provisions of the Bipartisan Congressional 
Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 
(title I of Public Law 114–26; 19 U.S.C. 4201 et 
seq.). 
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SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS PRIS-
ONERS IN VIETNAM. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) There are over 170 Vietnamese political and 
religious prisoners currently detained in Vietnam, 
nearly half of whom were arrested due to expression 
or activities online. 
(2) Prisoners include human rights defenders, 
bloggers, lawyers, religious leaders, trade unionists, 
land rights activists, political dissidents, environ-
mental campaigners, and others arrested for exer-
cising their internationally guaranteed rights or to 
promote and protect the rights of others. 
(b) ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 
provide assistance to individuals in Vietnam and ap-
propriate civil society organizations outside Vietnam 
that work to secure the release of political and reli-
gious prisoners in Vietnam, and to current and 
former political and religious prisoners in Vietnam. 
(2) ACTIVITIES.—Assistance required by this 
subsection shall include the following activities: 
(A) Support for the documentation of 
human rights violations with respect to political 
and religious prisoners. 
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(B) Support for advocacy to raise aware-
ness of issues relating to political and religious 
prisoners. 
(C) Support for efforts to repeal or amend 
laws or regulations used to detain individuals 
seeking to exercise internationally recognized 
human rights. 
(D) Support, including travel costs, legal 
fees, and other appropriate expenses, for fami-
lies of religious and political prisoners. 
(E) Support for health, including mental 
health, and post-incarceration assistance in 
gaining access to education and employment op-
portunities or other forms of reparation to en-
able former political and religious prisoners to 
resume a normal life. 
(c) DISCUSSIONS.—As part of a ‘‘whole of govern-
ment’’ approach to human rights improvements in Viet-
nam, the Secretary of State and other United States offi-
cials, in discussions with the Government of Vietnam, 
should seek, as a critical condition of stronger United 
States-Vietnam relations, the repeal of laws and regula-
tions used to detain political and religious prisoners and 
the immediate and unconditional release of all political 
and religious prisoners. 
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SEC. 4. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIO-
LATIONS IN VIETNAM. 
(a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 
United States to regularly assess reporting from intel-
ligence, diplomatic, open source, congressional, and non-
governmental organization sources to identify and impose 
travel and financial restrictions on officials of the Govern-
ment of Vietnam and other foreign persons working di-
rectly or indirectly for the Government of Vietnam who, 
based on credible evidence— 
(1) are— 
(A) responsible for, ordered, or are 
complicit in the arbitrary detention, torture, en-
forced disappearances of individuals in Vietnam 
seeking to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote 
internationally recognized human rights; or 
(B) responsible for, ordered, or are 
complicit in acts of significant corruption, in-
cluding the expropriation of private or public 
assets for personal gain, corruption related to 
government contracts or the extraction of nat-
ural resources, bribery, or the facilitation or 
transfer of the proceeds of corruption to foreign 
jurisdictions; 
(2) are responsible for surveillance, censorship, 
or detention of individuals in Vietnam for exercising 
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the right to the freedom of expression online or 
those responsible for forcing United States compa-
nies to censor or reveal personally identifiable infor-
mation of any individual exercising this right; or 
(3) are responsible for particularly severe viola-
tions of religious freedom (as such term is defined 
in section 3 of the International Religious Freedom 
Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6402). 
(b) SANCTIONS.— 
(1) GLOBAL
MAGNITSKY
HUMAN
RIGHTS
AC-
COUNTABILITY ACT.—The President should impose 
sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human 
Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note) 
with respect to any person described in subsection 
(a)(1). 
(2) DEPARTMENT OF STATE, FOREIGN OPER-
ATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS 
ACT, 2019.—The Secretary of State should impose 
sanctions described in section 7031(c)(1)(A) of the 
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Re-
lated Programs Appropriations Act, 2019 (division 
F of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019; 
Public Law 116–6) with respect to any person de-
scribed in subsection (a)(2). 
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(3) IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT.—The 
Secretary of State should impose the sanctions de-
scribed in section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G)) to 
any foreign person described in subsection (a)(3). 
(c) REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a report on sanctions imposed on persons described 
in subsection (a) under the provisions of law de-
scribed in subsection (b), including information on— 
(A) the number of times sanctions were 
imposed on such persons under such provisions 
of law; 
(B) the reasons for imposing such sanc-
tions; and 
(C) where appropriate, an identification of 
the sanctioned persons. 
(2) INCLUSION.—The report required by this 
subsection shall be submitted as part of the report 
required section 702 of the Foreign Relations Au-
thorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107– 
228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note) (as amended by section 
10 of this Act). 
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