[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 909 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 909

     To encourage liberty inside the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 1995

 Mr. Dornan (for himself, Mr. Solomon, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Knollenberg, Mr. 
 King, Mr. Porter, and Mr. Cunningham) introduced the following bill; 
     which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To encourage liberty inside the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES.

    (a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to create principles 
governing the conduct of commercial cooperation projects of United 
States nationals in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
    (b) Principles.--It is the sense of the Congress that any United 
States national conducting a commercial cooperation project in the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam should adhere to the following 
principles:
            (1) Seek to ensure that political or religious views, sex, 
        ethnic or national background, involvement in political 
        activities or nonviolent demonstrations, or association with 
        suspected or known dissidents will not prohibit hiring, lead to 
        harassment, demotion, or dismissal, or in any way affect the 
        status or terms of employment in the commercial cooperation 
        project. The United States national should not discriminate in 
        terms or conditions of employment in the commercial cooperation 
        project against former members of the armed forces of the 
        Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), former government 
        officials of the Republic of Vietnam, former employees of the 
        United States Government in the Republic of Vietnam, former 
        employees of United States Government officials in the Republic 
        of Vietnam, former employees of United States enterprises in 
        the Republic of Vietnam, and repatriated asylum-seekers (so-
        called ``boat people'').
            (2) Ensure that methods of production used in the 
        commercial cooperation project do not pose an unnecessary 
        physical danger to workers and neighboring populations and 
        property and that the commercial cooperation project does not 
        unnecessarily risk harm to the surrounding environment.
            (3) Strive to use business enterprises that are not 
        controlled by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam or its 
        authorized agents and departments as potential partners in the 
        commercial cooperation project.
            (4) Prohibit any military presence on the premises of the 
        commercial cooperation project.
            (5) Undertake to promote freedom of association and 
        assembly among the employees of the United States national, 
        including the right of employees to form collective bargaining 
        units. The United States national should protest any 
        infringement by the Government of the Socialist Republic of 
        Vietnam of these freedoms to the appropriate authorities of 
        that government and to the International Labor Organization.
            (6) Prohibit any compulsory political indoctrination 
        programs from taking place on the premises of the operations of 
        the commercial cooperation project.
            (7) Promote freedom of expression, including the freedom to 
        seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, 
        regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, 
        in the form of art, or through any media. To this end, the 
        United States national should raise with appropriate 
        authorities of the Government of the Socialist Republic of 
        Vietnam concerns about restrictions on importation of foreign 
        publications.
            (8) Undertake to promote a full accounting of all Americans 
        missing in action from the Vietnam conflict.
    (c) Promotion of Principles by Other Nations.--The Secretary of 
State shall forward a copy of the principles described in subsection 
(b) to the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development and encourage them to promote principles similar to 
these principles.

SEC. 2. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Each United States national conducting a 
commercial cooperation project in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 
shall register with the Secretary of State and indicate whether the 
United States national agrees to implement the principles described in 
section 1(b). No fee shall be required for registration under this 
subsection.
    (b) Effective Date.--The registration requirement of subsection (a) 
shall take effect 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Report.--Each United States national conducting a commercial 
cooperation project in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shall report 
to the Department of State describing the United States national's 
adherence to the principles described in section 1(b). Such national 
shall submit a completed reporting form furnished by the Department of 
State. The first report shall be submitted not later than 1 year after 
the date on which the national registers under section 2 and not later 
than the end of each 1-year period occurring thereafter.
    (b) Review of Report.--The Secretary of State shall review each 
report submitted under subsection (a) and determine whether the United 
States national submitting the report is adhering to the principles 
described in section 1(b). The Secretary may request additional 
information from the United States national and other sources to verify 
the information submitted.
    (c) Annual Report.--The Secretary of State shall submit a report to 
the Congress and to the Secretariat of the Organization for Economic 
Cooperation and Development, describing the level of adherence to the 
principles described in section 1(b) by United States nationals subject 
to the reporting requirement of subsection (a). This report shall be 
submitted not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act and not later than the end of each 1-year period occurring 
thereafter.

SEC. 4. EXPORT MARKETING SUPPORT.

    (a) Support.--Departments and agencies of the United States may 
only intercede with a foreign government or foreign national regarding 
export marketing activity in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on 
behalf of a United States national subject to the reporting 
requirements of section 3(a) if that United States national adheres to 
the principles.
    (b) Type of Contact.--The term ``intercede with a foreign 
government or foreign national'' includes any contact by an officer or 
employee of the United States with officials of any foreign government 
or foreign national involving or contemplating any effort to assist in 
selling a good, service, or technology in the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam. Such term does not include multilateral or bilateral 
government-to-government trade negotiations intended to resolve trade 
issues which may affect United States nationals who do not adhere to 
the principles.
    (c) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) shall take effect 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the terms ``adhere to the principles'', ``adhering to 
        the principles'' and ``adherence to the principles'' mean--
                    (A) agreeing to implement the principles described 
                in section 1(b);
                    (B) implementing those principles by taking good 
                faith measures with respect to each such principle; and
                    (C) reporting accurately to the Department of State 
                on the measures taken to implement those principles;
            (2) the term ``commercial cooperation project'' refers to a 
        for-profit activity the business operations of which employ 
        more than 25 individuals or have assets greater than $25,000; 
        and
            (3) the term ``United States national'' means--
                    (A) a citizen or national of the United States or a 
                permanent resident of the United States; and
                    (B) a corporation, partnership, and other business 
                association organized under the laws of the United 
                States, any State or territory thereof, the District of 
                Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the 
                Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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