Title: Vietnam Human Rights Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Vietnam Human Rights Act
This bill requires actions related to human rights in Vietnam and addresses related issues.
The Department of State must assist eligible individuals and entities working to secure the release of political and religious prisoners in Vietnam.
The Office of Internet Freedom within the U.S. Agency for Global Media and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor within the State Department shall prioritize (1) the immediate distribution of censorship circumvention tools for computers and smartphones in Vietnam; and (2) projects to ensure the safety and privacy of bloggers, journalists, and human rights defenders in Vietnam.
Foreign assistance may not be used to assist any unit of the Vietnamese government engaged in cyberespionage activities.
The State Department may establish programs to (1) monitor and halt sex trafficking of women from Vietnam and other Asian countries, and (2) address Vietnam's growing sex-ratio disparity.
The bill also requires various reports to Congress, including reports on (1) persons subject to U.S. sanctions for human rights violations in Vietnam, (2) a strategy to promote internet freedom in Vietnam, and (3) cyberespionage activities sanctioned by the Vietnamese government targeting Vietnamese dissidents and human rights advocates living outside of Vietnam.


[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3001 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






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 following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in 
    addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently 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 Representatives 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''.
    (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 Government 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 
                            meetings.
Sec. 11. Restrictions on nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government 
                            of Vietnam.
Sec. 12. Definitions.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) prioritize as a matter of strategic importance the 
        Government of Vietnam's violations of universally recognized 
        human rights, fundamental freedoms, 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 Government of Vietnam and convey during 
        diplomatic engagements that concrete human rights improvements 
        are key parts of any discussions on trade, security, 
        humanitarian cooperation, and economic development;
            (3) assess Vietnam's progress toward respecting the basic 
        rights of workers, as described in each report required by 
        section 702 of the Foreign Relations 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 Organize 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 criteria set forth for 
        country eligibility under subsections (b)(2) and (c) of section 
        502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462), relating to the 
        Generalized 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.).

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS PRISONERS 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, environmental campaigners, and 
        others arrested for exercising 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 appropriate civil 
        society organizations outside Vietnam that work to secure the 
        release of political and religious 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.
                    (B) Support for advocacy to raise awareness 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 families of 
                religious and political prisoners.
                    (E) Support for health, including mental health, 
                and post-incarceration assistance in gaining access to 
                education and employment opportunities or other forms 
                of reparation to enable former political and religious 
                prisoners to resume a normal life.
    (c) Discussions.--As part of a ``whole of government'' approach to 
human rights improvements in Vietnam, the Secretary of State and other 
United States officials, in discussions with the Government of Vietnam, 
should seek, as a critical condition of stronger United States-Vietnam 
relations, the repeal of laws and regulations used to detain political 
and religious prisoners and the immediate and unconditional release of 
all political and religious prisoners.

SEC. 4. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN VIETNAM.

    (a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States to 
regularly assess reporting from intelligence, diplomatic, open source, 
congressional, and nongovernmental organization sources to identify and 
impose travel and financial restrictions on officials of the Government 
of Vietnam and other foreign persons working directly 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, enforced 
                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, including the 
                expropriation of private or public assets for personal 
                gain, corruption related to government contracts or the 
                extraction of natural 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 the right to 
        the freedom of expression online or those responsible for 
        forcing United States companies to censor or reveal personally 
        identifiable information of any individual exercising this 
        right; or
            (3) are responsible for particularly severe violations 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 accountability 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 operations, 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 Related 
        Programs Appropriations Act, 2019 (division F of the 
        Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019; Public Law 116-6) with 
        respect to any person described in subsection (a)(2).
            (3) Immigration and nationality act.--The Secretary of 
        State should impose the sanctions described 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 described 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 sanctions; 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 Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 
        (Public Law 107-228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note) (as amended by 
        section 10 of this Act).

SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO COMBAT ONLINE CENSORSHIP AND SURVEILLANCE IN 
              VIETNAM.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Vietnam continues to have one of the world's most 
        restrictive internet environments, with pervasive filtering of 
        content and the frequent arrests of bloggers and others whose 
        only offense is to advocate online for positions different than 
        those held by the government.
            (2) Since 2013, the Government of Vietnam has issued laws 
        and decrees, including a cybersecurity law, that increased its 
        ability to surveil its citizens without judicial oversight or 
        recourse. The cybersecurity law has been used to charge 
        Vietnamese citizens with vague crimes of ``negating 
        revolutionary achievements'' and distributing ``misleading 
        information among the people''. Vietnam's Penal Code and Decree 
        15 have also been used to render many legitimate online 
        activities illegal, leading to the arrest and detentions of 
        political prisoners.
            (3) The Government of Vietnam uses the cybersecurity law to 
        require United States companies to store information in 
        Vietnam, censor social media posts on demand, and to turn over 
        sensitive personal information about users. Companies such as 
        Facebook and Google comply with these requests, including 
        through the censorship of social media content of United States 
        citizens and permanent resident aliens.
            (4) United States companies Facebook and YouTube have been 
        instrumental in this crackdown, complying with Vietnam's 
        request to censor and ``geoblock'' content determined to 
        violate local Vietnamese law, which often contradicts 
        international law and Vietnam's treaty obligations.
            (5) In the first half of 2020, Facebook increased its 
        content restrictions in Vietnam by 983 percent, a dramatic 
        increase from the second half of 2019.
            (6) Facebook complied with 90 percent of Vietnam's 
        censorship requests in 2020 and YouTube with 95 percent of such 
        requests, a fact the Government of Vietnam noted with 
        satisfaction.
            (7) The local legal provisions that directly enabled 
        Facebook and YouTube's censorship, Articles 117 and 331 of 
        Vietnam's Penal Code, also were used to imprison most of the 27 
        prisoners of conscience who were jailed in 2020.
            (8) A free and open internet and the free flow of news and 
        information--
                    (A) are fundamental components of United States 
                foreign policy because they foster economic growth, 
                protect individual liberties, and advance national 
                security;
                    (B) are critical to the advancement of both United 
                States economic interests and internationally 
                recognized human rights globally; and
                    (C) are severely hindered by Vietnam's 
                cybersecurity law which would allow the Government of 
                Vietnam to access private data, spy 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.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States 
to--
            (1) pursue an open and free internet in Vietnam as an issue 
        promoting United States economic interests and advancing 
        internationally recognized human rights;
            (2) engage all appropriate United States Government 
        agencies to promote the free flow of news and information in 
        Vietnam;
            (3) use all appropriate United States diplomatic 
        instruments to pressure the Government of Vietnam to halt 
        requests to force social media companies to block accounts and 
        content of individuals whose content the Government 
        disapproves;
            (4) use all available diplomatic instruments available to 
        pursue trade policies with Vietnam that expand internet freedom 
        and the information economy in Vietnam by--
                    (A) ensuring the free flow of information 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; and
            (5) require companies with contracts with the United States 
        Government that accede to requests of the Government of Vietnam 
        to engage in censorship or to reveal sensitive personal 
        information to report such requests to the Department of State 
        at the time such requests occur and to report the nature of 
        such requests and the companies' responses publicly.
    (c) Actions.--The Office of Internet Freedom of the United States 
Agency for Global Media and the Internet Freedom and Business and Human 
Rights Section in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of 
the Department of State shall take such actions as may be necessary 
to--
            (1) prioritize the immediate distribution of censorship 
        circumvention tools for computers and smart phones in Vietnam; 
        and
            (2) prioritize projects to ensure the safety and privacy of 
        bloggers and journalists and human rights defenders in Vietnam.
    (d) Report.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative, shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
outlines a strategy to--
            (1) promote internet freedom and the free flow of news and 
        information in Vietnam; and
            (2) promote efforts to assist United States internet 
        companies to fulfill their stated missions to promote openness, 
        transparency, and connectivity by opposing requests by the 
        Government of Vietnam to remove political speech or content of 
        journalists, especially when content is removed from the 
        accounts of users in the United States.

SEC. 6. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.

    (a) Report Relating to Economic Assistance.--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 respect to electronic 
information in each foreign country. Such assessment shall consist of 
the following:
            ``(A) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        authorities in each country inappropriately attempt to filter, 
        censor, or otherwise block or remove 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 
        expression.
            ``(B) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        authorities in each country have persecuted or otherwise 
        punished an individual or group for the nonviolent expression 
        of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief via 
        the internet, including electronic mail.
            ``(C) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        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 privacy, 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;
            ``(B) the term `internet' has the meaning given such term 
        in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 231(e)(3));
            ``(C) the term `personally identifiable information' means 
        data in a form that identifies a particular 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 subsection:
    ``(k)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall include an 
assessment of freedom of expression with respect to electronic 
information in each foreign country. Such assessment shall consist of 
the following:
            ``(A) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        authorities in each country inappropriately attempt to filter, 
        censor, or otherwise block or remove 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 
        expression.
            ``(B) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        authorities in each country have persecuted or otherwise 
        punished an individual or group for the nonviolent expression 
        of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief via 
        the internet, including electronic mail.
            ``(C) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        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 privacy, 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;
            ``(B) the term `internet' has the meaning given such term 
        in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 231(e)(3));
            ``(C) the term `personally identifiable information' means 
        data in a form that identifies a particular person; and
            ``(D) the term `wire communication' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 2510 of title 18, United States Code.''.

SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING FOR THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY OF 
              THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following: --
            (1) The Vietnam-based group APT 32, or OceanLotus Group, is 
        one of the most active cyber espionage units in the world and 
        has, since 2014, carried out intrusions into private sector 
        companies and attempted to both surveil and steal the sensitive 
        personal information of Vietnamese dissidents living outside of 
        Vietnam as well as foreign governments.
            (2) APT 32 consistently acts in the interests of the 
        Government of Vietnam, hacking individuals in Germany, China, 
        Cambodia, and the Philippines and taking over the websites of 
        Vietnamese Catholics and hacking, news services, industrial 
        plants, steel companies, and other entities.
            (3) The military of Vietnam operates a group of 10,000 
        ``cybertroops'', named Force 47, whose members intimidate and 
        harass Vietnamese citizens online who speak out against 
        government policies or otherwise peacefully exercise their 
        human rights in a way determined by the Government of Vietnam 
        as unacceptable.
    (b) Prohibition.--Consistent with section 620M of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d), no assistance may be 
furnished under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et 
seq.) or the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) to 
assist, directly or indirectly, any unit of the Ministry of Public 
Security of the Government of Vietnam or any other unit of the 
Government of Vietnam engaged in cyber-espionage activities.
    (c) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 75 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 
        consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and the 
        Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, shall submit 
        to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 
        extraterritorial activities of entities affiliated with or 
        employed by the Government of Vietnam to engage in cyber 
        espionage or surveil and harass Vietnamese dissidents living 
        outside of Vietnam who are critical of policies of the 
        Government of Vietnam or who advocate for internationally 
        recognized human rights.
            (2) Matters to be included.--The report required by this 
        subsection shall include information on the steps taken by the 
        United States Government to address cyber espionage from 
        Vietnam and the protection of United States companies and 
        United States citizens and permanent resident aliens.
            (3) Form.--The report required by this subsection shall be 
        submitted in unclassified form, by may include a classified 
        annex with respect to information that is sensitive to United 
        States national security interests, as determined by the 
        Secretary. The public element of the report may be issued as 
        part of testimony by the Secretary of State before the House 
        Foreign Affairs Committee or the Senate Foreign Relations 
        Committee.
            (4) Appropriate congressional committees.--In this 
        subsection, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on Homeland Security, and the Permanent Select 
                Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                Affairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of 
                the Senate.

SEC. 8. INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The promotion and protection of the universally 
        recognized right to the freedom of religion is a priority of 
        United States foreign policy as stated in section 402 of the 
        International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442) 
        and the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and 
        Accountability Act of 2015 (title I of Public Law 114-26; 19 
        U.S.C. 4201 et seq.) which requires the Administration to take 
        religious freedom into account when negotiating trade 
        agreements.
            (2) Countries that protect religious freedom are more 
        prosperous, stable, peaceful and democratic. Thus, the severe 
        restrictions faced by religious groups in Vietnam, such as 
        members of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), 
        Catholics, and independent Hoa Hao Buddhists, Cao Dai, and 
        Protestants groups, are detrimental to the interests of both 
        the United States and Vietnam.
            (3) The Government of Vietnam has reportedly stepped up its 
        efforts to force Montagnard and Hmong Christians to renounce 
        their faith, expropriate lands and other real properties 
        belonging to independent religious communities, destroy Hoa Hao 
        Buddhist and Cao Dai houses of worship, and arrest and detain 
        religious leaders. Religious leaders and advocates of religious 
        freedom remain in prison.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--Since the protection of religious freedom 
is vital to peace, stability, and prosperity, and countries with the 
highest levels of restrictions on religious freedom are often those 
countries seeking to undermine United States national interests or 
ignore international legal norms and standards, it is the policy of the 
United States to--
            (1) prioritize religious freedom in bilateral relations, 
        including with the Government of Vietnam, by fully implementing 
        the provisions of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious 
        Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281); and
            (2) strategically employ sanctions and other tools under 
        the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 
        et seq.).
    (c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) Vietnam should be designated as a country of particular 
        concern for religious freedom under section 402(b) of the 
        International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)) 
        because there are a significant number of individuals 
        imprisoned for their religious activity or advocacy for 
        religious freedom and for ``systematic, egregious, and 
        ongoing'' violations of religious freedom;
            (2) the President, in making the annual designations under 
        section 402(b) of such Act, should take into account the annual 
        report of the United States Commission on International 
        Religious Freedom under section 203 of such Act and the 
        Commission's assessment that the designation of Vietnam as a 
        country of particular concern for religious freedom from 2004 
        to 2006 led to tangible improvements in religious freedom 
        conditions while trade and security cooperation increased; and
            (3) because the Government of Vietnam tightly controls 
        religious institutions and then persecutes those individuals 
        who establish or operate independent religious institutions and 
        genuinely nongovernmental organizations, the Secretary of State 
        should--
                    (A) use all available diplomatic, development, 
                economic assistance, and political tools to ensure that 
                independent religious and civil society organizations 
                can operate freely and without restriction in Vietnam; 
                and
                    (B) raise these issues in all appropriate 
                statements, dialogues, reports, and negotiations 
                between the United States and Vietnam and in multi-
                lateral institutions where the United States and 
                Vietnam are members.

SEC. 9. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNTING OF WOMEN AND GIRLS 
              IN VIETNAM.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Vietnam remains a ``source and, to a lesser extent, a 
        destination country . . . for sex trafficking and forced 
        labor.''.
            (2) Vietnamese men and women are subject to forced labor in 
        ``rehabilitation'' centers, detention centers, and prisons and, 
        according to the 2016 Annual Report on Trafficking in Persons.
            (3) Vietnamese migrants working in ``state-owned, private, 
        or joint-stock companies'' live in ``situations of 
        exploitation'' in the construction, fishing, agriculture, 
        mining, logging and manufacturing sectors in other countries.
    (b) Implementation of the Girls Count Act of 2015 in Vietnam.--
            (1) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
                    (A) Vietnam's male to female sex-ratio disparity 
                has increased despite the Vietnamese Government's 
                ending of its policy limiting married couples to 2 
                children.
                    (B) Experts believe sex ratio disparities have 
                critical economic and social ramifications that effect 
                United States interests, exacerbating the 
                vulnerabilities of women to trafficking, child 
                marriage, and reducing the ability of women to seek 
                employment and participate in educational opportunities 
                and civil society.
            (2) Authorization.--The Secretary of State is authorized to 
        establish and support programs to--
                    (A) monitor and halt bride and sex trafficking of 
                girls and women in Vietnam and women from other 
                countries in Asia, including China, as appropriate; and
                    (B) address Vietnam's growing sex-ratio disparity 
                through economic support and programs described in 
                section 4(a) of the Girls Count Act of 2015 (Public Law 
                114-24; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note).

SEC. 10. ANNUAL REPORTS ON UNITED STATES-VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE 
              MEETINGS.

    Section 702 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 
2003 (Public Law 107-228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
            ``(9) Ending incidents of torture, police beatings, deaths 
        in police custody, and mob or societal violence targeting 
        religious groups or dissidents.
            ``(10) Returning properties of independent religious 
        communities or organizations that have been reportedly 
        expropriated by the Government of Vietnam or by government-
        sanctioned religious organizations.
            ``(11) Addressing individual claims by United States 
        citizens whose properties have been expropriated by the 
        Government of Vietnam without effective, prompt, and fair 
        compensation.
            ``(12) Implementing section 4 of the Girls Count Act of 
        (Public Law 114-24; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) and how such section 
        has been applied in Vietnam.
            ``(13) Ensuring internet freedom and specific efforts to 
        ensure the safety and privacy of Vietnamese bloggers and 
        journalists on the internet or other forms of electronic 
        communication.''.

SEC. 11. RESTRICTIONS ON NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT 
              OF VIETNAM.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, except as 
provided in subsection (b), the Secretary of State should consider 
restricting certain assistance to the Government of Vietnam unless--
            (1) the Government of Vietnam makes substantial progress 
        toward releasing all political and religious prisoners from 
        imprisonment, house arrest, and other forms of detention;
            (2) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress 
        toward--
                    (A) respecting the right to freedom of religion, 
                including the right to participate in religious 
                activities and institutions without interference, 
                harassment, or involvement of the Government, for all 
                of Vietnam's diverse religious communities; and
                    (B) returning estates and properties confiscated 
                from the churches and religious communities;
            (3) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress 
        toward respecting the right to in-person and online freedom of 
        expression, assembly, and association, including the release of 
        independent journalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor 
        activists;
            (4) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress 
        toward repealing or revising laws that criminalize peaceful 
        dissent, independent media, unsanctioned religious activity, 
        and nonviolent demonstrations and rallies, in accordance with 
        international standards and treaties to which Vietnam is a 
        party;
            (5) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress 
        toward allowing Vietnamese nationals free and open access to 
        United States refugee programs;
            (6) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress 
        toward respecting the human rights of members of all ethnic and 
        minority groups; and
            (7) neither any official of the Government of Vietnam nor 
        any agency or entity wholly or partly owned by the Government 
        of Vietnam was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in 
        persons, or the Government of Vietnam took all appropriate 
        steps to end any such complicity and hold such official, 
        agency, or entity fully accountable for such conduct.
    (b) Exception.--The restriction described in subsection (a) should 
not apply to assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for 
the following purposes:
            (1) Disaster relief assistance, including any assistance 
        under chapter 9 of part I of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2292 et seq.).
            (2) Assistance which involves the provision of food 
        (including monetization of food) or medicine.
            (3) Assistance for environmental remediation of dioxin-
        contaminated sites and related health activities.
            (4) Assistance to combat severe forms of trafficking in 
        persons (as such term is defined in section 103 of the 
        Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102)).
            (5) Assistance to combat pandemic diseases.
            (6) Assistance for refugees.
            (7) Assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, including any assistance 
        under section 104A of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2151b-2).

SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--Except as 
        otherwise provided, the term ``appropriate congressional 
        committees'' means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
        House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations 
        of the Senate.
            (2) Internet.--The term ``internet'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 
        1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)).
            (3) Personally identifiable information.--The term 
        ``personally identifiable information'' means data in a form 
        that identifies a particular person.
                                 <all>