[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3159 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3159

To provide that the President may not waive the provisions of title IV 
  of the Trade Act of 1974 with respect to the Socialist Republic of 
                                Vietnam.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 1998

 Mr. Royce (for himself and Mr. Rohrabacher) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide that the President may not waive the provisions of title IV 
  of the Trade Act of 1974 with respect to 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. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the President must waive section 402 of the Trade Act 
        of 1974, relating to the freedom to emigrate, with respect to 
        certain countries, including the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 
        in order for the products of such countries to receive 
        nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) treatment;
            (2) the basis for such a waiver is that the waiver will 
        substantially promote the objectives of section 402 of the 
        Trade Act of 1974 and that the President has received 
        assurances from the country concerned that the emigration 
        practices of that country will lead substantially to the 
        objectives of that section;
            (3) the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has continually 
        restricted the freedom of its citizens to emigrate and, 
        therefore, would be unable to make adequate assurances 
        described in paragraph (2); and
            (4) if the Socialist Republic of Vietnam does allow its 
        citizens the right or opportunity to emigrate free of 
        restrictions (other than nominal fees), a waiver of section 402 
        of the Trade Act of 1974 would not be necessary.

SEC. 2. RESTRICTION ON AUTHORITY TO WAIVE SECTION 402 OF THE TRADE ACT 
              OF 1974.

    Notwithstanding the authority of the President under subsections 
(c) and (d) of section 402 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2432(c), 
(d)), the President may not waive the application of subsections (a) 
and (b) of that section with respect to the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam before July 11, 1999.

SEC. 3. NULLIFICATION OF EXISTING WAIVER.

    Any waiver of the the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of 
section 402 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2432(a), (b)) that is 
made before the date of the enactment of this Act with respect to the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam and that is in effect on the day before 
such date shall cease to be effective on such date.
                                 <all>