IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 506 
Condemning ongoing human rights abuses in Vietnam, and expressing the 
sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should 
remove permanent normal trade relations status with Vietnam unless 
all political and religious prisoners are released and significant and 
immediate human rights reforms are made by the Government of Viet-
nam. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 20, 2007 
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself, Mr. WOLF, Ms. LORETTA 
SANCHEZ of California, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, and Mr. SMITH of 
New Jersey) 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 provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning ongoing human rights abuses in Vietnam, and 
expressing the sense of the House of Representatives 
that the United States should remove permanent normal 
trade relations status with Vietnam unless all political 
and religious prisoners are released and significant and 
immediate human rights reforms are made by the Gov-
ernment of Vietnam. 
Whereas Vietnam has a long history of human rights and re-
ligious freedom violations; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:06 Jun 21, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR506.IH
HR506
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS
•HRES 506 IH 
Whereas, despite ongoing human rights violations, on Novem-
ber 13, 2006, Vietnam was removed as a Country of Par-
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 persecution against religious and ethnic minorities 
continues unabated by the Vietnamese Government, and 
hundreds of advocates of human rights and religious free-
dom have been, and continue to be, imprisoned and har-
assed by the Vietnamese Government without defense 
counsel; 
Whereas the indigenous Degar Montagnard people have suf-
fered decades of persecution by the Vietnamese govern-
ment and there are currently more than 350 Degars im-
prisoned in Vietnam for practicing Christianity or stand-
ing up for their human rights; 
Whereas, on March 30, 2007, Father Nguyen Van Ly, a well- 
known advocate for democracy and freedom of religion, 
was sentenced to eight years in prison for exercising his 
free speech rights; 
Whereas, on May 10, 2007, Huynh Nguyen Dao, Nguyen 
Bac Truyen, and Le Nguyen Sang were sentenced to 
three, four, and five years in prison, respectively; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:06 Jun 21, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR506.IH
HR506
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS
•HRES 506 IH 
Whereas, on May 11, 2007, human rights attorneys Nguyen 
Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan were sentenced to five 
and four years in prison, respectively; 
Whereas, on May 15, 2007, Tran Quoc Hien was sentenced 
to five years in prison; 
Whereas Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Quang Do is in 
his twenty-sixth year of detention; 
Whereas none of the aforementioned individuals advocated or 
engaged in violence in their opposition to the Vietnamese 
Government or its policies; 
Whereas these convictions violate Article 69 of the Viet-
namese Constitution, which states that ‘‘The citizen shall 
enjoy freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of the 
press, the right to be informed and the right 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, on June 16, 2007, the Vietnamese Government re-
leased pro-democracy activist Le Quoc Quan and on June 
9, 2007, the Vietnamese Government released fellow ac-
tivist Ngyuyen Vu Binh from prison; 
Whereas these releases have yet to demonstrate that Vietnam 
is committed to substantive and long-lasting changes to 
its human rights policies; 
Whereas the United States Commission on International Reli-
gious Freedom’s 2007 Annual Report states, ‘‘[S]ince 
[Vietnam] joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:06 Jun 21, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR506.IH
HR506
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS
•HRES 506 IH 
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) strongly condemns the ongoing human 
rights abuses in Vietnam; and 
(B) calls for the release of all political and 
religious prisoners 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-
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 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:06 Jun 21, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR506.IH
HR506
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS
•HRES 506 IH 
(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 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
06:06 Jun 21, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR506.IH
HR506
mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS