    [House Hearing, 112 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

    TO PROMOTE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM; AND CONCERNING EFFORTS TO
      PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN RELIEF TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT AND
      AVERT FAMINE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA, PARTICULARLY SOMALIA, ETHIOPIA,
                              DJIBOUTI, AND KENYA

    =======================================================================

                                   BEFORE THE

                     SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,

                                AND HUMAN RIGHTS

                                     OF THE

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                          ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                       ON

                           H.R. 1410 and H. Res. 361

                                   __________

                                FEBRUARY 8, 2012

                                   __________

                               Serial No. 112-124

                                   __________

            Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

    Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
                                      or
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                                     ______

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                     ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman
    CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey     HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
    DAN BURTON, Indiana                  GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
    ELTON GALLEGLY, California           ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
    DANA ROHRABACHER, California             Samoa
    DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois         DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
    EDWARD R. ROYCE, California          BRAD SHERMAN, California
    STEVE CHABOT, Ohio                   ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
    RON PAUL, Texas                      GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
    MIKE PENCE, Indiana                  RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
    JOE WILSON, South Carolina           ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
    CONNIE MACK, Florida                 GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
    JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska           THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
    MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas             DENNIS CARDOZA, California
    TED POE, Texas                       BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
    GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida            BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
    JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio                   ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania
    BILL JOHNSON, Ohio                   CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut
    DAVID RIVERA, Florida                FREDERICA WILSON, Florida
    MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania             KAREN BASS, California
    TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas                WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
    TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania             DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
    JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
    ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York
    RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina
    ROBERT TURNER, New York
                       Yleem D.S. Poblete, Staff Director
                 Richard J. Kessler, Democratic Staff Director
                                     ------

            Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights

                   CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
    JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska           DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
    TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania             KAREN BASS, California
    ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York          RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
    ROBERT TURNER, New York

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

                                   MARKUP OF

    H.R. 1410, To promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam...........     3
      Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1410 offered by
        the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in
        Congress from the State of New Jersey, and chairman,
        Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights......    23
    H. Res. 361, Concerning efforts to provide humanitarian relief to
      mitigate the effects of drought and avert famine in the Horn of
      Africa, particularly Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya....    42
      Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 361 offered
        by the Honorable Donald M. Payne, a Representative in
        Congress from the State of New Jersey........................    48

                                    APPENDIX

    Markup notice....................................................    60
    Markup minutes...................................................    61
    TO PROMOTE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN VIETNAM; AND CONCERNING EFFORTS TO
      PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN RELIEF TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT AND
      AVERT FAMINE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA, PARTICULARLY SOMALIA, ETHIOPIA,
                              DJIBOUTI, AND KENYA

                                  ----------

                          WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012

                  House of Representatives,
             Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
                                       and Human Rights
                                  Committee on Foreign Affairs,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:38 p.m., in
    room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H.
    Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
        Mr. Smith. The subcommittee will come to order.
        Pursuant to notice, the subcommittee meets this afternoon
    to mark up H.R. 1410, the Vietnam Human Rights Act, and H. Res.
    361, concerning efforts to provide humanitarian relief to
    mitigate the effects of drought and to avert famine in the Horn
    of Africa, particularly in Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and
    Kenya.
        As our members are aware, these measures enjoy strong
    bipartisan support. And there are, right now, competing
    hearings and other events taking place this afternoon,
    including other markups. And I thank my colleagues for coming
    who are in the midst of another markup. Thus, it is the intent
    of the Chair to consider these bills en bloc and by unanimous
    consent, including the substitute amendments sent to you on
    Monday.
        I want to say that we have worked very cooperatively with
    the minority. It has been a very good cooperation on both
    bills. We have vetted virtually every paragraph, every
    sentence, and every word, and now we have before us a finished
    product. All members have copies of those documents before
    them.
        And then after we have concluded our expedited
    consideration, I will be glad to recognize Ms. Bass, of course
    myself, and any other member of the committee who would like to
    speak to either or both of the measures before us. All members
    are given leave to insert written remarks into the record,
    should they choose to do so.
        Seeing that a quorum is present, and without objection, the
    following measures are considered as read; the following
    amendments, which members have before them, are deemed adopted;
    and the measures, as amended, are reported favorably to the
    full Committee on Foreign Affairs: H.R. 1410, the Vietnam Human
    Rights Act; the Smith amendment, No. 68, to H.R. 1410, which is
    the amendment in the nature of a substitute provided to your
    offices on Monday; and H. Res. 361, concerning efforts to
    provide humanitarian relief to mitigate the effects of drought
    and avert famine in the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia,
    Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya.
        We will include the Payne amendment, No. 46, offered by my
    friend and colleague, Ms. Bass, on behalf of Ranking Member
    Payne, who I would point out is very ill and cannot be here
    today. And this is an amendment in the nature of a substitute,
    which was also sent to each office on Monday.
        Hearing no objection, it is so ordered. The amended bills
    are adopted. And, without objection, the staff is directed to
    make technical and conforming changes.
        [The information referred to follows:]

    1
        Mr. Smith. Now that we have completed that portion, I would
    like to--and I thank my colleagues for coming from their
    markups to be here for it, and please stay as long as you can--
    but I would like to now speak to the first bill and then yield
    to my good friend and my colleague, Ms. Bass, to speak to the
    Payne bill.
        I say to my colleagues, as the subcommittee heard from
    several of our witnesses at a hearing on January 24th, last
    month, the Vietnamese Government continues to be an egregious
    violator of a broad array of human rights. The testimony we
    heard confirmed that religious, political, and ethnic
    persecution continue and, in many cases, is actually
    increasing, and that Vietnamese officials continue to lay out
    the welcome mat for forced labor as well as sex traffickers.
        In particular, we heard from a Vietnamese woman who
    courageously fought for her own rights and those of her co-
    workers when they were trafficked to Jordan with the complicity
    of the Vietnamese Government officials.
        We also heard from Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, the executive
    director of Boat People SOS, who recently traveled to Thailand
    to investigate human rights violations in Vietnam. Dr. Thang
    provided extensive details about current labor trafficking,
    forced labor, and disturbing denials by the U.N. High
    Commissioner on Refugees of Vietnamese labor and sex
    trafficking victims.
        In addition, our witnesses provided deeply disturbing
    photographs, evidence of torture, and showed a video of the
    Vietnamese military destroying an entire village of Hmong
    Christians.
        It is imperative that the United States Government send an
    unequivocal message to the Vietnamese regime that it must end
    its human rights abuses against its own citizens. For this
    reason, I reintroduced the Vietnam Human Rights Act and I have
    brought it before the committee for consideration today.
        The Foreign Affairs Committee adopted my amendments on the
    promotion of human rights in Vietnam to H.R. 2583, the Foreign
    Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 last July, and
    much of that is reflected in this bill today. I note
    parenthetically that the House has twice passed the Vietnam
    Human Rights Act. Sadly, it has languished and then died in the
    Senate, but we have every intention of making sure that this
    legislation is not treated so this time.
        The purpose of H.R. 1410 is to promote the development of
    freedom and democracy in Vietnam. It seeks to do so primarily
    by stipulating that the United States can increase its
    assistance to Vietnam above Fiscal Year 2011 levels only when
    the President is able to certify that the Government of Vietnam
    has made substantial progress in establishing a democracy and
    promoting human rights, including: Respecting freedom of
    religion and releasing all religious prisoners; respecting
    rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and associations;
    releasing all political prisoners, independent journalists, and
    labor activists; repealing and revising laws that criminalize
    peaceful dissent, independent media, unsanctioned religious
    activities, and nonviolent demonstrations in accordance with
    international human rights standards; respecting the human
    rights of members of all ethnic groups; and taking all
    appropriate steps, including prosecution of government
    officials, to end any government complicity in human
    trafficking.
        In addition to such a certification, the United States
    would have to increase funding for human rights and rule of law
    programming in Vietnam in an amount equal to or greater than
    the increase in non-humanitarian assistance. The legislation
    includes a waiver of the increase certification requirement for
    any year in which the President determines that increased non-
    humanitarian assistance to Vietnam would promote the purpose of
    the act or would otherwise be in the national interest of the
    United States of America. The bill would not prevent increased
    funding to the Vietnamese Government for disaster relief, food,
    medicine, refugees, and efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.
        I want to thank my colleagues for supporting this
    legislation. We have a very large number of bipartisan co-
    sponsors on the bill. And I just, again, want to thank my
    colleagues for their support of the bill.
        I would like to yield to Ms. Bass for her comments,
    especially on H. Res. 361.
        Ms. Bass. Thank you, Chairman Smith. I want to join you in
    wishing my colleague, Mr. Payne, best wishes. I hope he gets
    better soon. And I am happy to enter these remarks on his
    behalf.
        Two weeks ago, this subcommittee held a hearing on the
    human rights situation in Vietnam. At that hearing, we heard
    how, under the authoritarian rule of the Vietnamese Communist
    Party, the repression of activists and dissidents has recently
    intensified. Through unlawful arrests and detainment, the
    government has suppressed its people's right to expression,
    assembly, and association.
        NGOs have reported that detainees are subject to forced
    labor, torture, and even death. In 2011 alone, 21 people died
    in police custody. Ethnic minorities, such as the Montagnards
    and Hmong, have faced abuse and discrimination. Religious
    minorities are also persecuted.
        This bill is in response to these human rights abuses and
    would condition additional U.S. aid to Vietnam on improvement
    in these areas. While the U.S. should not support government-
    sponsored oppression, I am concerned that by putting conditions
    on foreign aid, we risk harming the innocent people this bill
    aims to help.
        Additionally, I fail to see how Vietnam is an exception. If
    we are to apply more stringent human rights conditions to U.S.
    aid, then those conditions should be applied across the board
    instead of singling out any one nation.
        That being said, this bill does not end aid to Vietnam but,
    rather, freezes it at the Fiscal Year 2011 level of $125
    million and includes a Presidential waiver. Therefore, I will
    vote in favor of this bill and encourage my colleagues to do
    the same.
        I yield back.
        Mr. Smith. Thank you, Ms. Bass.
        I would like to now move on to House Res. 361, sponsored by
    Ranking Member Donald Payne and the amendment in the nature of
    a substitute.
        This resolution calls on the U.S. Government to continue to
    help alleviate the impact of the humanitarian emergency
    conditions prevailing in East Africa. Our subcommittee held
    several hearings on East Africa's various humanitarian crises
    last year, including the Somalia hearing in July, the Southern
    Kordofan hearing in August, and the East Africa famine hearing
    in September. This measure before us details the crisis and
    suggests steps to overcome the tragedy of hunger and disease
    afflicting the people in the Horn of Africa.
        Despite the easing of famine conditions in central and
    southern Somalia, the drought in East Africa continues to
    affect more than 13 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia,
    and Djibouti. Even with the improvements, the food security
    outlook for the Horn of Africa from January to March 2012
    remains fragile, according to the U.S. Agency for International
    Development, due to a loss of livelihood assets during
    successive seasons of failed rains, conflict, livestock
    disease, above-normal food and non-food prices, as well as
    flooding.
        The drought in East Africa was part of a persistent weather
    trend in the region. And while drought is one reason for food
    shortages, it has been exacerbated by stagnating agricultural
    development and unsustainable forms of livelihood.
        In our July 7th Somalia hearing, Nancy Lindborg, Assistant
    Administrator in USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and
    Humanitarian Assistance, raised the issue of the long-term need
    for changes in livelihoods in the region. H. Res. 361 addresses
    the issue of sustainable use of natural resources as a means of
    ensuring food security in the region in the long term.
        In Somalia, the hardest-hit country in the region, the
    terrorist group al-Shabaab has obstructed delivery of
    humanitarian assistance and directly threatened aid agencies.
    It is also interrogating aid workers and has accused them of
    spying for the West or proselytizing. Maritime piracy and the
    hijacking of aid shipments has also hindered the provision of
    aid. The result was an estimated 2.2 million people in southern
    Somalia, representing some 60 percent of those who remained in
    the country at one point, in need of aid, but out of reach of
    most aid agencies.
        H. Res. 361 calls on all parties in the conflict in
    Somalia, including al-Shabaab, to allow unrestricted access to
    international and local nongovernmental humanitarian
    organizations, especially for the benefit of the most
    vulnerable among them.
        This resolution acknowledges the more than $870 million the
    United States Government has devoted to meeting the emergency
    needs in East Africa and urges other donors in international
    and local nongovernmental agencies to join us in the
    development activities on behalf of the people of the Horn of
    Africa.
        H. Res. 361 is a very important piece of legislation, and I
    know my colleagues, as we go to the full committee and to the
    floor, will support it, and I hope it will be unanimous.
        Ms. Bass?
        Ms. Bass. Thank you again, Mr. Chairman.
        Mr. Payne's amendment in the nature of a substitute to
    House Resolution 361 updates the resolution to reflect the
    current situation in the Horn of Africa and calls on U.S.
    donors and local and international NGOs to continue their
    support of the people of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti
    affected by the humanitarian crisis.
        Last year, the Horn of Africa experienced the worst drought
    in 60 years. Due to decades of internal conflict, poor
    infrastructure, and a myriad of other factors, the region was
    ill-equipped to handle a drought of this magnitude. What
    followed was one of the most severe humanitarian crises of our
    time. At the height of the crisis, 6 regions of Somalia were
    declared a famine, 750,000 people were at risk of death,
    millions were forced to flee their homes, and tens of thousands
    of children died of malnourishment.
        Given al-Shabaab's control over much of Somalia, aid
    organizations were unable to reach many of those affected. The
    amendment also acknowledges the deteriorating security
    situation at refugee camps in Dadaab in Kenya and Dolo Ado in
    Ethiopia which has resulted in the limited delivery of
    humanitarian assistance. The situation is particularly
    worrying, complex, and tenuous in the Dadaab refugee camps,
    where the threat of improvised explosive devices, kidnappings,
    vehicle hijackings, and banditry remains high.
        This resolution also recognizes the sacrifices that aid
    workers make every day as they risk their own lives while
    trying to save the lives of others. With the U.S. leadership,
    the international community responded. I commend the Obama
    administration for their commitment of over $870 million to
    implement emergency and long-term interventions to address the
    crisis.
        The resolution encourages continued coordinated long-term
    interventions that build up the resilience of local populations
    and link relief with development.
        Agriculture is a key factor in establishing long-term peace
    and stability in the region. Adequate rainfall between October
    and December 2011, coupled with agricultural and humanitarian
    interventions, allowed farmers to produce and buy more food. As
    part of this emergency response and with support from the U.S.,
    the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
    distributed seeds and fertilizer to Somali farmers.
        This mixture of agriculture and humanitarian intervention
    has contributed to a significant reduction in local cereal
    prices in most of the vulnerable areas in the south, improving
    purchasing power for poor households.
        Last week, the United Nations lifted the famine
    declaration, but a severe humanitarian crisis persists. Despite
    favorable rains and successful interventions, 31 percent of the
    Somali population remains in crisis.
        Thank you very much. I yield back.
        Mr. Smith. Ms. Buerkle?
        Ms. Buerkle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to
    commend your leadership and the entire committee's bipartisan
    effort to promote humanitarian efforts. And I look forward to
    this getting to the House floor and having bipartisan support.
        I thank you.
        Mr. Smith. I want to thank Ms. Buerkle. I want to thank Ms.
    Bass. I want to thank staffs on both sides of the aisle for
    their expertise and cooperation in working on these bills.
    Thank you.
        Without objection, the hearing is adjourned. And I thank
    you again for your attendance and for your support.
        [Whereupon, at 2:50 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

                                A P P E N D I X

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         Material Submitted for the Hearing RecordNotice deg.

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