[House Document 105-263]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
105th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 105-263
EXTENSION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY FOR VIETNAM
__________
2MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
NOTIFICATION OF HIS DETERMINATION THAT A WAIVER OF THE APPLICATION OF
SUBSECTIONS 402 (a) AND (b) OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974 WITH RESPECT TO
VIETNAM WILL SUBSTANTIALLY PROMOTE THE OBJECTIVES OF SECTION 402
(PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION 98-27), PURSUANT TO 19 U.S.C. 2432 (c) AND
(d).
June 3, 1998.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
I hereby transmit the document referred to in subsection
402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (the ``Act''), as amended,
with respect to the continuation of a waiver of application of
subsections (a) and (b) of section 402 of the Act to Vietnam.
This document constitutes my recommendation to continue in
effect this waiver for a further 12-month period and includes
my determination that continuation of the waiver currently in
effect for Vietnam will substantially promote the objectives of
section 402 of the Act, and my reasons for such determination.
William J. Clinton.
The White House, June 3, 1998.
Report to the Congress Concerning the Extension of Waiver Authority for
Vietnam
Pursuant to subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974
(hereinafter ``the Act''), as amended, having determined that
further extension of the waiver authority granted by subsection
402(c) of the Act for 12 months will substantially promote the
objectives of section 402, I have today determined that
continuation of the waiver currently applicable to Vietnam will
also substantially promote the objectives of section 402 of the
Act. My determination is attached and incorporated herein.
Freedom of Emigration Determination
Overall, Vietnam's emigration policy has liberalized
considerably over the last 10-15 years. Under the Orderly
Departure Program (ODP), over 480,000 Vietnamese have entered
the United States.
There has been too little time since the Jackson-Vanik
waiver for Vietnam was granted on March 9 for there to have
been far-reaching changes in Vietnam's migration policies.
Nonetheless, in general, Vietnam has continued to make
progress.
The Government of Vietnam's (GVN) performance on its
commitments under the Resettlement Opportunity for Vietnamese
Returnees (ROVR) program has continued to improve since October
1997 when it eliminated the requirement for applicants to
obtain exist permits prior to interview by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS). To date it has located,
contacted, screened and authorized for interview 78% (over
14,500 persons) of the approximately 18,500 persons potentially
eligible for ROVR. As of April 27, 2,133 persons who qualified
for ROVR benefits had departed for the United States,
demonstrating that the GVN is honoring its commitment to permit
these individuals to leave Vietnam.
Vietnam also has been providing us with an accounting for
those persons it had not previously cleared for interview. Of
the 3,003 persons not cleared for INS interviews in February
1998, 1,900 are now cleared; additional information or
clearance is still pending for the remaining 1,103. Of this
number, the GVN did not have current addresses for about 40%;
another 18% were reported to have resettled elsewhere or to
have decided to remain in Vietnam. We expect a significant
number of these persons will be cleared for interview once we
provide the GVN with more information. There remain about 2,596
individuals about whom the GVN has not provided us any
information; however, we anticipate most of these individuals
will be cleared for interview as well. At the present rate of
processing, we expect the INS will complete most of the ROVR
interviews by November 1998.
The GVN's cooperation in permitting the timely processing
of most other current non-refugee immigrant visa cases also has
continued to be good. In 1997, 15,700 immigrant visas were
issued to Vietnamese under ODP. The State Department expects to
issue more than 18,000 immigrant visas in 1998.
Despite such progress, we continue to be concerned about
the GVN's failure to issue exit permits for some individuals in
the non-ROVR ODP caseload. GVN progress on closing out the
remaining ODP refugee program for re-education camp detainees
appears to have stalled. While the number of remaining cases in
this program is small (631 cases/3400 people), nearly 900 of
those people are Montagnards. In addition, there are about 60
current immigrant visa cases involving Montagnards of interest
to us that have not been interviewed due to a lack of exit
permits.
We have stepped up our efforts to press the Vietnamese to
resolve these outstanding cases as part of our ongoing dialogue
on emigration issues. Ambassador Peterson and State Department
officials in Washington have met with their Vietnamese
counterparts to impress upon them the need for immediate
improvement in these areas. The issue of discriminatory
treatment of ethnic minorities such as the Montagnards,
including the denial of access to U.S. departure programs, was
placed on the agenda of the most recent round of the ongoing
U.S.-Vietnam bilateral human rights dialogue held May 26. Given
the substantial progress we have achieved with the GVN in the
ROVR program, we are hopeful that the GVN will continue to
cooperate with us in resolving these issues.
The White House,
Washington, June 3, 1998.
Memorandum for the Secretary of State
Subject: Determination Under Subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of
1974, as Amended--Continuation of Waiver Authority
Pursuant to the authority vested in me under the Trade Act
of 1974, as amended, Public Law 93-618, 88 Stat. 1978
(hereinafter the ``Act''), I determine, pursuant to section
402(d)(1) of the Act, 19 U.S.C. 2432(d)(1), that the further
extension of the waiver authority granted by section 402 of the
Act will substantially promote the objectives of section 402 of
the Act. I further determine that continuation of the waiver
applicable to Vietnam will substantially promote the objectives
of section 402 of the Act.
You are authorized and directed to publish this
determination in the Federal Register.
William J. Clinton.