[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4223 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4223

 To establish the Congressional-Executive Commission on the Socialist 
                          Republic of Vietnam.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 15, 2007

 Mr. Fortenberry (for himself, Mr. Towns, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
   Aderholt, Mr. Franks of Arizona, and Mr. McCotter) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
     and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 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 establish the Congressional-Executive Commission on 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.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 
        share a sensitive history and relationship that has evolved 
        significantly since the 1990s.
            (2) The total trade volume between the United States and 
        Vietnam neared $10 billion in 2006, and the United States is 
        currently Vietnam's largest export market. United States 
        exports to Vietnam have risen by over 500 percent from $172 
        million in 1994 to $988 million in 2006.
            (3) United States foreign assistance to Vietnam has 
        increased from $1 million in 1991 to over $75 million in fiscal 
        year 2006.
            (4) Pursuant to Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's 
        visit to the United States in June 2005, the United States and 
        Vietnam signed an agreement to implement a bilateral 
        International Military Education Training (IMET) program.
            (5) On December 20, 2006, President George W. Bush signed 
        into law H.R. 6111 (Public Law 109-432), extending 
        nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) 
        to the products of Vietnam.
            (6) In January 2007, Vietnam joined the World Trade 
        Organization and committed to abide by international trade 
        rules.
            (7) In April 2007, the United States modified the 
        International Traffic in Arms Regulations to allow the issuance 
        of licenses for trade in certain non-lethal defense items and 
        services with Vietnam.
            (8) During the visit of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh 
        Triet to Washington, DC, in June 2007, which marked the first 
        visit by a Vietnamese head of state to the United States since 
        the end of the Vietnam conflict, the United States and Vietnam 
        signed a trade and investment framework agreement on June 22, 
        2007.
            (9) The people of the United States and the people of 
        Vietnam share the desire to foster hope, healing, and mutual 
        prosperity for both countries.
            (10) Since the enactment of Public Law 109-432, extending 
        normal trade relations treatment to the products of Vietnam, 
        several concerns have drawn the attention of the United States 
        human rights community and the United States Congress, 
        prompting renewed focus on human rights issues in Vietnam which 
        figured prominently in the congressional debate regarding the 
        extension of such normal trade relations treatment. Such 
        concerns include concerns about the arrests of political 
        prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including Father Nguyen 
        Van Ly, Nguyen Van Dai, and Le Thi Cong Nhan.
            (11) The potential benefits from enhanced bilateral trade 
        should not supplant legitimate matters of principle involving 
        human rights, the rule of law, and religious freedom.
            (12) Vietnamese-Americans throughout the United States 
        continue to emphasize the importance of addressing human 
        rights, the rule of law, and religious freedom in the United 
        States-Vietnam bilateral relationship.
            (13) While the Government of Vietnam has made significant 
        efforts over the past decade to address the concerns of the 
        United States Government regarding United States POW/MIA cases, 
        2,000 United States service personnel remain unaccounted for in 
        Indochina.
            (14) The Government of Vietnam has made efforts to improve 
        human rights and religious freedoms, including efforts to 
        conclude a bilateral agreement with the United States under 
        which the Government of Vietnam agreed to take steps to improve 
        religious freedom, grant amnesties to prisoners of conscience, 
        establish a new Ordinance on Religion and issue instructions to 
        prohibit forced renunciation of faith, ease restrictions on the 
        training of clergy, support fact-finding visits to Vietnam by 
        United States officials and Office of the United Nations High 
        Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) personnel, improve worker 
        rights, and make progress toward eliminating human trafficking.
            (15) While the Department of State rescinded the Country of 
        Particular Concern designation applied to Vietnam, human rights 
        concerns remain.
            (16) While progress on the human rights situation in 
        Vietnam's Central Highlands has been reported, it remains 
        unclear to what extent such progress has been made. Also, 
        concerns remain regarding the human rights situation prevailing 
        in Vietnam's Northwest Highlands.
            (17) Adequate and fair compensation for land seizures, 
        including such seizures affecting ethnic minorities in 
        Vietnam's Central and Northwest Highlands remain a concern. 
        While Vietnam has no system of private property rights, land 
        use rights can be purchased but are subject to reclaim at any 
        time by the government.
            (18) A specific mechanism to address Vietnam's progress on 
        human rights, the rule of law, and religious freedom issues in 
        an in-depth manner, focusing on vulnerabilities and areas of 
        particular concern identified by the most recent annual 
        Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        for Vietnam, the Trafficking in Persons Report, and the annual 
        report of the United States Commission on International 
        Religious Freedom, including progress in Vietnam's Central and 
        Northwest Highlands, would serve as a valuable resource to 
        complement existing United States Government efforts to address 
        these issues and inform future efforts, reinforcing and 
        strengthening the outcome of these efforts.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON THE 
              SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM.

    There is established a Congressional-Executive Commission on the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (in this Act referred to as the 
``Commission'').

SEC. 3. FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) Monitoring Compliance With Human Rights.--The Commission shall 
monitor the acts of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with particular 
emphasis on the Montagnard peoples and the Central and Northwest 
Highlands, which reflect compliance with or violation of human rights, 
in particular, those contained in the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
including, but not limited to, effectively affording--
            (1) the right to engage in free expression without fear of 
        any prior restraints;
            (2) the right to peaceful assembly without restrictions, in 
        accordance with international law;
            (3) religious freedom, including the right to worship free 
        of involvement of and interference by the government;
            (4) the right to liberty of movement, freedom to choose a 
        residence within Vietnam, freedom from coercion in family 
        planning, and the right to leave from and return to Vietnam;
            (5) the right of a criminal defendant--
                    (A) to be tried in his or her presence, and to 
                defend himself or herself in person or through legal 
                assistance of his or her own choosing;
                    (B) to be informed, if he or she does not have 
                legal assistance, of the right set forth in 
                subparagraph (A);
                    (C) to have legal assistance assigned to him or her 
                in any case in which the interests of justice so 
                require and without payment by him or her in any such 
                case if he or she does not have sufficient means to pay 
                for it;
                    (D) to a fair and public hearing by a competent, 
                independent, and impartial tribunal established by the 
                law;
                    (E) to be presumed innocent until proved guilty 
                according to law; and
                    (F) to be tried without undue delay;
            (6) the right to be free from torture and other forms of 
        cruel or unusual punishment;
            (7) protection of internationally recognized worker rights;
            (8) freedom from incarceration as punishment for political 
        opposition to the government;
            (9) freedom from incarceration as punishment for exercising 
        or advocating human rights (including those described in this 
        section);
            (10) freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile; 
        and
            (11) the right to fair and public hearings by an 
        independent tribunal for the determination of a citizen's 
        rights and obligations.
    (b) Victims Lists.--The Commission shall compile and maintain lists 
of persons believed to be imprisoned, detained, or placed under house 
arrest, tortured, or otherwise persecuted by the Government of the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam due to their pursuit of the rights 
described in subsection (a). In compiling such lists, the Commission 
shall exercise appropriate discretion, including concerns regarding the 
safety and security of, and benefit to, the persons who may be included 
on the lists and their families.
    (c) Monitoring Development of Rule of Law.--The Commission shall 
monitor the development of the rule of law in the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam, with particular emphasis on the Montagnard peoples and the 
Central and Northwest Highlands, including, but not limited to--
            (1) progress toward the development of institutions of 
        democratic governance;
            (2) processes by which statutes, regulations, rules, and 
        other legal acts of the Government of Vietnam are developed and 
        become binding within Vietnam;
            (3) the extent to which statutes, regulations, rules, 
        administrative and judicial decisions, and other legal acts of 
        the Government of Vietnam are published and are made accessible 
        to the public;
            (4) the extent to which administrative and judicial 
        decisions are supported by statements of reasons that are based 
        upon written statutes, regulations, rules, and other legal acts 
        of the Government of Vietnam;
            (5) the extent to which individuals are treated equally 
        under the laws of Vietnam without regard to citizenship;
            (6) the extent to which administrative and judicial 
        decisions are independent of political pressure or governmental 
        interference and are reviewed by entities of appellate 
        jurisdiction; and
            (7) the extent to which laws in Vietnam are written and 
        administered in ways that are consistent with international 
        human rights standards, including the requirements of the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
    (d) Bilateral Cooperation.--The Commission shall monitor and 
encourage the development of programs and activities of the United 
States Government and private organizations with a view toward 
increasing the interchange of people and ideas between the United 
States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and expanding cooperation 
in areas that include, but are not limited to--
            (1) increasing enforcement of human rights described in 
        subsection (a); and
            (2) developing the rule of law in Vietnam.
    (e) Contacts With Nongovernmental Organizations.--In performing the 
functions described in subsections (a) through (d), the Commission 
shall, as appropriate, seek out and maintain contacts with 
nongovernmental organizations, including receiving reports and updates 
from such organizations and evaluating such reports.
    (f) Annual Reports.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall issue a report to the 
        President and the Congress not later than 12 months after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than the end 
        of each 12-month period thereafter, setting forth the findings 
        of the Commission during the preceding 12-month period, in 
        carrying out subsections (a) through (c). The Commission's 
        report may contain recommendations for legislative or executive 
        action.
            (2) Coordination.--The report required to be issued under 
        paragraph (1) shall be developed in coordination with the 
        findings of the most recent annual Department of State's 
        Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for Vietnam, the 
        Trafficking in Persons Report, and the annual report of the 
        United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
    (g) Specific Information in Annual Reports.--The Commission's 
report under subsection (f) shall include specific information as to 
the nature and implementation of laws or policies concerning the rights 
set forth in paragraphs (1) through (11) of subsection (a), and as to 
restrictions applied to or discrimination against persons exercising 
any of the rights set forth in such paragraphs.
    (h) Congressional Hearings on Annual Reports.--(1) The Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives shall, not later than 
30 days after the receipt by the Congress of the report referred to in 
subsection (f), hold hearings on the contents of the report, including 
any recommendations contained therein, for the purpose of receiving 
testimony from Members of Congress, and such appropriate 
representatives of Federal departments and agencies, and interested 
persons and groups, as the committee deems advisable, with a view to 
reporting to the House of Representatives any appropriate legislation 
in furtherance of such recommendations. If any such legislation is 
considered by the Committee on Foreign Affairs within 45 days after 
receipt by the Congress of the report referred to in subsection (f), it 
shall be reported by the committee not later than 60 days after receipt 
by the Congress of such report.
    (2) The provisions of paragraph (1) are enacted by the Congress--
            (A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of 
        Representatives, and as such are deemed a part of the rules of 
        the House, and they supersede other rules only to the extent 
        that they are inconsistent therewith; and
            (B) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
        the House to change the rules (so far as relating to the 
        procedure of the House) at any time, in the same manner and to 
        the same extent as in the case of any other rule of the House.
    (i) Supplemental Reports.--The Commission may submit to the 
President and the Congress reports that supplement the reports 
described in subsection (f), as appropriate, in carrying out 
subsections (a) through (c).

SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) Selection and Appointment of Members.--The Commission shall be 
composed of 7 members as follows:
            (1) Two Members of the House of Representatives appointed 
        by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. One member 
        shall be selected from the majority party and one member shall 
        be selected, after consultation with the minority leader of the 
        House, from the minority party.
            (2) Two Members of the Senate appointed by the President of 
        the Senate. One member shall be selected, after consultation 
        with the majority leader of the Senate, from the majority 
        party, and one member shall be selected, after consultation 
        with the minority leader of the Senate, from the minority 
        party.
            (3) One representative of the Department of State, 
        appointed by the President of the United States from among 
        officers and employees of that Department.
            (4) One representative of the Department of Commerce, 
        appointed by the President of the United States from among 
        officers and employees of that Department.
            (5) One representative of the Department of Labor, 
        appointed by the President of the United States from among 
        officers and employees of that Department.
    (b) Chairman and Cochairman.--
            (1) Designation of chairman.--At the beginning of each odd-
        numbered Congress, the President of the Senate, on the 
        recommendation of the majority leader of the Senate, shall 
        designate one of the members of the Commission from the Senate 
        as Chairman of the Commission. At the beginning of each even-
        numbered Congress, the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
        shall designate one of the members of the Commission from the 
        House as Chairman of the Commission.
            (2) Designation of cochairman.--At the beginning of each 
        odd-numbered Congress, the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives shall designate one of the members of the 
        Commission from the House as Cochairman of the Commission. At 
        the beginning of each even-numbered Congress, the President of 
        the Senate, on the recommendation of the majority leader of the 
        Senate, shall designate one of the members of the Commission 
        from the Senate as Cochairman of the Commission.

SEC. 5. VOTES OF THE COMMISSION.

    Decisions of the Commission, including adoption of reports and 
recommendations to the executive branch or to the Congress, shall be 
made by a majority vote of the members of the Commission present and 
voting. Two-thirds of the members of the Commission shall constitute a 
quorum for purposes of conducting business.

SEC. 6. EXPENDITURE OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    For each fiscal year for which an appropriation is made to the 
Commission, the Commission shall issue a report to the Congress on its 
expenditures under that appropriation.

SEC. 7. TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES, PRODUCTION OF EVIDENCE; ISSUANCE OF 
              SUBPOENAS; ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS.

    In carrying out this Act, the Commission may require, by subpoena 
or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the 
production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, 
documents, and electronically recorded data as it considers necessary. 
Subpoenas may be issued only pursuant to a two-thirds vote of members 
of the Commission present and voting. Subpoenas may be issued over the 
signature of the Chairman of the Commission or any member designated by 
the Chairman, and may be served by any person designated by the 
Chairman or such member. The Chairman of the Commission, or any member 
designated by the Chairman, may administer oaths to any witness.

SEC. 8. APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE COMMISSION.

    (a) Authorization; Disbursements.--
            (1) Authorization.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
        to the Commission for fiscal year 2008, and each fiscal year 
        thereafter, such sums as may be necessary to enable it to carry 
        out its functions. Appropriations to the Commission are 
        authorized to remain available until expended.
            (2) Disbursements.--Appropriations to the Commission shall 
        be disbursed on vouchers approved--
                    (A) jointly by the Chairman and the Cochairman; or
                    (B) by a majority of the members of the personnel 
                and administration committee established pursuant to 
                section 9.
    (b) Foreign Travel for Official Purposes.--Foreign travel for 
official purposes by members and staff of the Commission may be 
authorized by either the Chairman or the Cochairman.

SEC. 9. STAFF OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) Personnel and Administration Committee.--The Commission shall 
have a personnel and administration committee composed of the Chairman, 
the Cochairman, the member of the Commission from the minority party of 
the House of Representatives, and the member of the Commission from the 
minority party of the Senate.
    (b) Committee Functions.--All decisions pertaining to the 
appointment, separation, and fixing of pay of personnel of the 
Commission shall be by a majority vote of the personnel and 
administration committee, except that--
            (1) the Chairman shall be entitled to appoint and fix the 
        pay of the staff director; and
            (2) the Chairman and Cochairman shall each have the 
        authority to appoint, with the approval of the personnel and 
        administration committee, at least two professional staff 
        members who shall be responsible to the Chairman or the 
        Cochairman (as the case may be) who appointed them. Subject to 
        subsection (d), the personnel and administration committee may 
        appoint and fix the pay of such other personnel as it considers 
        desirable.
    (c) Staff Appointments.--All staff appointments shall be made 
without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 
governing appointments in the competitive service, and without regard 
to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 
such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates.
    (d) Qualifications of Professional Staff.--The personnel and 
administration committee shall ensure that the professional staff of 
the Commission consists of persons with expertise in areas including 
human rights, internationally recognized worker rights, international 
economics, law (including international law), rule of law and other 
foreign assistance programming, Vietnamese politics, economy and 
culture, and, if possible, a working knowledge of the Vietnamese 
language.

SEC. 10. PRINTING AND BINDING COSTS.

    For purposes of costs relating to printing and binding, including 
the costs of personnel detailed from the Government Printing Office, 
the Commission shall be deemed to be a committee of the Congress.

SEC. 11. TERMINATION.

    Section 14(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
App.; relating to the termination of advisory committees) shall not 
apply to the Commission.
                                 <all>