on users, require United States businesses to 
turn over personally identifiable information or 
block content of users, including outside of 
Vietnam, and further restrict already limited 
online speech. 
(2) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of 
the United States to— 
(A) pursue an open and free internet in 
Vietnam; 
(B) engage all appropriate instruments of 
United States influence to promote the free 
flow of news and information in Vietnam, with-
out interference or discrimination through the 
internet and other electronic media; and 
(C) assist United States businesses in Viet-
nam which are required to store data locally 
and disclose user data or block user content at 
the request of government authorities in resist-
ing such mandates. 
(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) the United States should pursue trade poli-
cies with Vietnam that expand the information econ-
omy in Vietnam by— 
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(A) ensuring the free flow of information 
and across the global network; 
(B) 
promoting 
stronger 
international 
transparency rules; and 
(C) ensuring fair and equal treatment of 
online services regardless of country of origin; 
(2) that Department of State, together with the 
Department of Commerce, should assist United 
States internet companies to fulfill their stated mis-
sions to promote openness and connectivity by push-
ing back against the Vietnamese Government’s re-
quests to remove political speech or the content of 
citizen journalists, especially when content is re-
moved from the accounts of users in the United 
States; and 
(3) the Office of Internet Freedom within the 
United States Agency for Global Media and the 
Internet Freedom and Business and Human Rights 
Section within the Bureau of Democracy, Human 
Rights, and Labor of the Department of State 
should prioritize— 
(A) the distribution of anti-censorship cir-
cumvention tools for computers and smart 
phones in Vietnam; and 
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(B) projects to ensure the safety and pri-
vacy of bloggers and journalists in Vietnam. 
SEC. 7. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
PRACTICES. 
(a) REPORT
RELATING
TO
ECONOMIC
ASSIST-
ANCE.—Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(h)(1) The report required by subsection (d) shall 
include an assessment of freedom of expression with re-
spect to electronic information in each foreign country. 
Such assessment shall consist of the following: 
‘‘(A) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country inappropriately 
attempt to filter, censor, or otherwise block or re-
move nonviolent expression of political or religious 
opinion or belief via the internet, including electronic 
mail, as well as a description of the means by which 
such authorities attempt to block or remove such ex-
pression. 
‘‘(B) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country have persecuted 
or otherwise punished an individual or group for the 
nonviolent expression of political, religious, or ideo-
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logical opinion or belief via the internet, including 
electronic mail. 
‘‘(C) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country have sought to 
inappropriately collect, request, obtain, or disclose 
personally identifiable information of a person in 
connection with such person’s nonviolent expression 
of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief, 
including expression that would be protected by the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
‘‘(D) An assessment of the extent to which wire 
communications and electronic communications are 
monitored without regard to the principles of pri-
vacy, human rights, democracy, and rule of law. 
‘‘(2) In compiling data and making assessments for 
the purposes of paragraph (1), United States diplomatic 
personnel shall consult with human rights organizations, 
technology and internet companies, and other appropriate 
nongovernmental organizations. 
‘‘(3) In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘electronic communication’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 2510 of title 
18, United States Code; 
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‘‘(B) the term ‘internet’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 231(e)(3) of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)); 
‘‘(C) the term ‘personally identifiable informa-
tion’ means data in a form that identifies a par-
ticular person; and 
‘‘(D) the term ‘wire communication’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 2510 of title 18, 
United States Code.’’. 
(b) REPORT RELATING TO SECURITY ASSISTANCE.— 
Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2304) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the second subsection (i) 
(relating to child marriage status) as subsection (j); 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(k)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall 
include an assessment of freedom of expression with re-
spect to electronic information in each foreign country. 
Such assessment shall consist of the following: 
‘‘(A) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country inappropriately 
attempt to filter, censor, or otherwise block or re-
move nonviolent expression of political or religious 
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