[House Document 106-252]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 106-252


 
CONTINUATION OF WAIVER UNDER THE TRADE ACT OF 1974 WITH RESPECT TO 
                                VIETNAM

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

NOTIFICATION OF HIS DETERMINATION THAT CONTINUATION OF THE WAIVER 
  CURRENTLY IN EFFECT FOR VIETNAM WILL SUBSTANTIALLY PROMOTE THE 
  OBJECTIVES OF SECTION 402 OF THE TRADE ACT OF 1974, PURSUANT TO 19 
  U.S.C. 2432 (c) AND (d)




June 6, 2000.--Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and ordered 
                             to be printed

                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
79-011                     WASHINGTON : 2000

                                           The White House,
                                          Washington, June 2, 2000.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: I hereby transmit the document referred 
to in subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended 
(the ``Act''), with respect to a further 12-month extension of 
the authority to waive subsections (a) and (b) of section 402 
of the Act. This document constitutes my recommendation to 
continue in effect this waiver authority for a further 12-month 
period, and includes my reasons for determining that 
continuation of the waiver authority and the waiver currently 
in effect for Vietnam will substantially promote the objectives 
of section 402 of the Act.
            Sincerely,
                                                William J. Clinton.
Report to the Congress Concerning the Extension of Waiver Authority for 
                                Vietnam

    Pursuant to subjection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, 
as amended (``the Act''), I hereby recommend further extension 
of the waiver authority granted by subsection 402(c) of the Act 
for twelve months. I have determined that such extension will 
substantially promote the objectives of section 402 of the Act, 
and 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 is 
incorporated herein.
Freedom of Emigration Determination
    Overall, Vietnam's emigration policy has liberalized 
considerably in the last decade and a half. Vietnam has a solid 
record of cooperation with the United States to permit 
Vietnamese emigration. Over 500,000 Vietnamese have emigrated 
as refugees or immigrants to the United States under the 
Orderly Departure Program (ODP), and only a small number of 
refugee applicants remain to be processed.
    The Government of Vietnam (GVN) cooperates with the United 
States Government to process applicants under ODP and the 
Resettlement Opportunities for Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR) 
program. The GVN issues passports and exit permits to 
Vietnamese approved for admission to the United States and, in 
the case of ROVR applicants, expedites the departure clearance 
process. In FY 1999, we completed processing of the majority of 
ODP and ROVR cases.
    On September 30, 1999, the Department of State closed the 
ODP office in Bangkok, Thailand and opened the Refugee 
Resettlement Section (RRS) at the United States Consulate 
General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The RRS will continue to 
process the small number of remaining ODP and ROVR cases. The 
anticipated completion of ODP and ROVR programs in 2000 will 
not mean the end of U.S. refugee processing in Vietnam. The RRS 
will remain to implement a new, in-country program to address 
the rescue needs of individuals who have suffered recent 
persecution or who have a well-founded fear of future 
persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, 
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
    After a slow start, processing of eligible cases under the 
ROVR program accelerated dramatically in 1998, continued in 
1999, and is now near to completion. As of May 2000, the GVN 
had cleared for interview 20,530 individuals, which represents 
98 percent of ROVR applicants. Applicants cleared for interview 
by the GVN must gather necessary documents to support their 
applications and be scheduled for a screening interview that 
determines the applicant's qualifications by the Immigration 
and Naturalization Service (INS). The INS has approved 16,254 
for admission to the United States, 15,586 of whom have 
departed for the United States. An additional 355 individuals 
await INS interview. The majority of these are individuals who 
neither the GVN nor the United States Government are able to 
locate or contact; others have been contacted but have declined 
to attend the clearance interview.
    Completion of the Former Re-education Camp Detainees 
program, known popularly as the ``HO'' program, remains a high 
priority. To be eligible for this program, applicants must have 
been detained for a least three years in a re-education camp 
because of their association with the United States or the 
former South Vietnamese government. As of May 2000, there were 
146 HO cases (comprising about 750 persons) that the GVN had 
not yet cleared for interview.
    A sub-group of the HO program consists of applicants 
covered by the ``McCain Amendment.'' These applicants are 
persons over the age of 21 who are the sons and daughters of 
former re-education camp detainees who were approved for 
admission as refugees on or after April 1, 1995. At the end of 
Fiscal Year 1999, 275 McCain cases (comprising 1,195 
individuals) remained to be processed under the Amendment's 
original provisions. As a result of 1999 modifications to the 
legislation, the total caseload currently being processed for 
consideration for resettlement has risen to 1,210 cases 
(comprising 3,292 individuals).
    The GVN also continues to cooperate on refugee cases 
involving Montagnards, a term commonly used to identify members 
of ethnic minorities who traditionally have lived in highland 
areas. Of the 99 current cases, the GVN has cleared for 
interview 53 cases comprising 404 individuals. The United 
States Government will continue to press the GVN to process 
Montagnard refugee cases, including those the GVN has not 
cleared for interview.
    The United States Government is also committed to interview 
those individuals eligible for the ODP sub-program for 
formerUnited States Government employees who did not receive interviews 
because of the 1996 suspension of the program by the United States. The 
United States Government is currently reviewing case files that were 
not processed prior to the 1996 suspension. The GVN agreed to our 
request to resume this program, and we anticipate that interviews will 
begin by end of the year 2000.
    The GVN also continued to cooperate in the timely 
processing of current non-refugee immigrant visa cases. Prior 
to August 1999, U.S. diplomatic and consular posts in Vietnam 
did not issue immigrant visas and most categories of visitor 
visas. The United States Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, provided 
these services. Currently, the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi 
Minh City, Vietnam is issuing all categories of visas while the 
United States Embassy in Hanoi issues only non-immigrant visas. 
In the first half of Fiscal Year 2000, our consular sections 
issued 6,823 immigrant visas and 2,259 non-immigrant visas. The 
Department of State anticipates that demand in Vietnam for 
immigrant and non-immigrant visas will grow.
    The United States will not consider our refugee programs to 
be completed until the last applicant has had the opportunity 
to be interviewed, or we have an acceptable accounting of each 
case. United States Government officials both in Washington and 
Vietnam will continue to press the GVN at every level to 
authorize interviews for all those who registered to be 
interviewed for resettlement in the United States as refugees.
    These efforts, together with the extension of the Jackson-
Vanik waiver, will encourage the Vietnamese to further 
liberalize their emigration policy and to continue to resolve 
procedural issues that affect our refugee and immigration 
programs.
                [Presidential Determination No. 2000-21]

                                           The White House,
                                          Washington, June 2, 2000.
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 for Vietnam.

    Pursuant to subsection 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, 
as amended (the ``Act''), 19 U.S.C. 2432(d)(1), I determine 
that the further extension of the waiver authority granted by 
subsection 402(c) of the Act will substantially promote the 
objectives of section 402 of the Act. I further determine that 
the 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.

                                  
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