IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1048 
Condemning the detention of Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, a citizen of the United 
States, by the Government of Vietnam, and expressing the sense of 
the House of Representatives that the United States should remove 
permanent normal trade relations status with Vietnam unless Dr. Nguyen 
is released. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2008 
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself, Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of 
California, and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 
to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning the detention of Dr. Nguyen Quoc Quan, a 
citizen of the United States, by the Government of Viet-
nam, and expressing the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the United States should remove perma-
nent normal trade relations status with Vietnam unless 
Dr. Nguyen is released. 
Whereas Vietnam has a long history of human rights and 
freedom of speech violations; 
Whereas, despite ongoing human rights violations, on Novem-
ber 13, 2006, Vietnam was removed as a Country of Par-
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HRES 1048 IH 
ticular Concern (CPC), as a precondition to the extension 
of permanent normal trade relations to Vietnam, but 
against the recommendation of the United States Com-
mission on International Religious Freedom; 
Whereas the extension of permanent normal trade relations 
to Vietnam was also a precondition for its accession to 
the World Trade Organization (WTO); 
Whereas human rights conditions have deteriorated in Viet-
nam since its accession to the WTO; 
Whereas, on November 17, 2007, pro-democracy advocate 
Nguyen Quoc Quan was arrested by the Government of 
Vietnam for exercising his free speech rights, as guaran-
teed by Article 69 of the Constitution of Vietnam; 
Whereas, during 2007, Father Nguyen Van Ly, Nguyen Dao, 
Nguyen Bac Truyen, Le Nguyen Sang, Nguyen Van Dai, 
Le Thi Cong Nhan, and Tran Quoc Hien were each sen-
tenced to several years in prison for exercising their free 
speech rights, as guaranteed by Article 69 of the Con-
stitution of Vietnam; 
Whereas Nguyen Quoc Quan continues to be detained by the 
Government of Vietnam; 
Whereas Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Quang Do is in 
his twenty-sixth year of detention; 
Whereas neither Nguyen Quoc Quan, nor any of the afore-
mentioned individuals, advocated or engaged in violence 
in their opposition to the Vietnamese Government or its 
policies; 
Whereas these convictions are in contravention of Article 69 
of the Vietnamese Constitution, which states that ‘‘The 
citizen shall enjoy freedom of opinion and speech, free-
dom of the press, the right to be informed and the right 
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HRES 1048 IH 
to assemble, form associations and hold demonstrations 
in accordance with the provisions of the law’’; 
Whereas these convictions are in contravention of the rights 
contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Po-
litical Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam is a State 
Party, specifically Article 19 (freedom of expression) and 
Article 22 (freedom of association); 
Whereas the United States Commission on International Reli-
gious Freedom’s 2007 Annual Report states, ‘‘[S]ince 
[Vietnam] joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
the government of Vietnam has initiated a crackdown on 
human rights defenders and advocates for the freedoms 
of speech, association, and assembly, including many reli-
gious leaders who previously were the leading advocates 
for religious freedom in Vietnam’’; and 
Whereas, in May 2007, the United States Commission on 
International Religious Freedom recommended Vietnam 
be re-designated as a Country of Particular Concern: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That— 
(1) the House of Representatives— 
(A) calls for the release of Dr. Nguyen 
Quoc Quan and other political detainees; and 
(B) strongly condemns the ongoing human 
rights abuses in Vietnam; and 
(2) it is the sense of the House of Representa-
tives that the United States should— 
(A) re-designate Vietnam as a Country of 
Particular Concern, pursuant to the Inter-
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national Religious Freedom Act of 1998, and 
the 2007 recommendation of the U.S. Commis-
sion on International Religious Freedom; 
(B) demand that the Government of Viet-
nam comply with internationally recognized 
standards for basic freedoms and human rights; 
and 
(C) remove permanent normal trade rela-
tions status with Vietnam unless all political 
and religious prisoners are released and signifi-
cant and immediate human rights reforms are 
made by the Government of Vietnam. 
Æ 
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