lished, sent, or otherwise distributed democracy-re-
lated materials. 
(21) People arrested in Vietnam because of 
their political or religious affiliations and activities 
often are not accorded due legal process as they lack 
full access to lawyers of their choice, may experience 
closed trials, have often been detained for years 
without trial, and have been subjected to the use of 
torture to admit crimes they did not commit or to 
falsely denounce their own leaders. 
(22) Vietnam continues to be a source country 
for the commercial sexual exploitation and forced 
labor of women and girls, as well as for men and 
women legally entering into international labor con-
tracts who subsequently face conditions of debt 
bondage or forced labor, and is a destination country 
for child trafficking and continues to have internal 
human trafficking. 
(23) Although the Government of Vietnam re-
ports progress in combating human trafficking, it 
does not fully comply with the minimum standards 
for the elimination of trafficking, and is not making 
substantial efforts to comply. 
(24) United States refugee resettlement pro-
grams, including the Humanitarian Resettlement
(HR) Program, the Orderly Departure Program 
(ODP), Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese 
Returnees (ROVR) Program, general resettlement of 
boat people from refugee camps throughout South-
east Asia, the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, 
and the Priority One Refugee resettlement category, 
have helped rescue Vietnamese nationals who have 
suffered persecution on account of their associations 
with the United States or, in many cases, because of 
such associations by their spouses, parents, or other 
family members, as well as other Vietnamese nation-
als who have been persecuted because of race, reli-
gion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in 
a particular social group. 
(25) While previous programs have served their 
purposes well, a significant number of eligible refu-
gees from Vietnam were unfairly denied or excluded, 
including Amerasians, in some cases by vindictive or 
corrupt Vietnamese officials who controlled access to 
the programs, and in others by United States per-
sonnel who imposed unduly restrictive interpreta-
tions of program criteria. In addition, the Govern-
ment of Vietnam has denied passports to persons 
who the United States has found eligible for refugee 
admission.
(26) The Government of Vietnam holds tens of 
thousands of people in government-run drug deten-
tion centers and treats them as slave laborers. 
(27) To date, over 60,000 people have signed a 
petition calling on the Administration to not expand 
trade with communist Vietnam at the expense of 
human rights. 
(28) Congress has passed numerous resolutions 
condemning human rights abuses in Vietnam, indi-
cating that although there has been an expansion of 
relations with the Government of Vietnam, it should 
not be construed as approval of the ongoing and se-
rious violations of fundamental human rights in 
Vietnam. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to promote 
the development of freedom and democracy in Vietnam. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON INCREASED NONHUMANITARIAN 
ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIET-
NAM. 
(a) ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub-
section (b), the Federal Government may not pro-
vide nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government 
of Vietnam during any fiscal year in an amount that
exceeds the amount of such assistance provided dur-
ing fiscal year 2011 unless— 
(A) the Federal Government provides as-
sistance, in addition to the assistance author-
ized under section 4, supporting the creation 
and facilitation of human rights training, civil 
society capacity building, noncommercial rule of 
law programming, and exchange programs be-
tween the Vietnamese National Assembly and 
the United States Congress at levels commensu-
rate with, or exceeding, any increases in non-
humanitarian assistance to Vietnam; 
(B) with respect to the limitation for fiscal 
year 2012, the President determines and cer-
tifies to Congress, not later than 30 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, that the 
requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) 
of paragraph (2) have been met during the 12- 
month period ending on the date of the certifi-
cation; and 
(C) with respect to the limitation for sub-
sequent fiscal years, the President determines 
and certifies to Congress, in the most recent 
annual report submitted pursuant to section 5, 
that the requirements of subparagraphs (A)
through (G) of paragraph (2) have been met 
during the 12-month period covered by the re-
port. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this 
paragraph are the following: 
(A) The Government of Vietnam has made 
substantial progress toward releasing all polit-
ical and religious prisoners from imprisonment, 
house arrest, and other forms of detention. 
(B) The Government of Vietnam has made 
substantial progress toward— 
(i) respecting the right to freedom of 
religion, including the right to participate 
in religious activities and institutions with-
out interference, harassment, or involve-
ment of the Government, for all of Viet-
nam’s diverse religious communities; and 
(ii) returning estates and properties 
confiscated from the churches and religious 
communities. 
(C) The Government of Vietnam has made 
substantial progress toward respecting the right 
to freedom of expression, assembly, and associa-
tion, including the release of independent jour-