[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 31, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5249-H5254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1945
VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2013
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1897) to promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1897
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Vietnam
Human Rights Act of 2013''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purpose.
Sec. 3. Prohibition on increased nonhumanitarian assistance
to the Government of Vietnam.
Sec. 4. United States public diplomacy.
Sec. 5. United Nations Human Rights Council.
Sec. 6. Annual report.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The relationship between the United States and the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam has grown substantially since
the end of the trade embargo in 1994, with annual trade
between the two countries reaching nearly $25,000,000,000 in
2012.
(2) The Government of Vietnam's transition toward greater
economic freedom and trade has not been matched by greater
political freedom and substantial improvements in basic human
rights for Vietnamese citizens, including freedom of
religion, expression, association, and assembly.
(3) The United States Congress agreed to Vietnam becoming
an official member of the World Trade Organization in 2006,
amidst assurances that the Government of Vietnam was steadily
improving its human rights record and would continue to do
so.
(4) Vietnam remains a one-party state, ruled and controlled
by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which continues to
deny the right of citizens to change their Government.
(5) Although in recent years the National Assembly of
Vietnam has played an increasingly active role as a forum for
highlighting local concerns, corruption, and inefficiency,
the National Assembly remains subject to the direction of the
CPV and the CPV maintains control over the selection of
candidates in national and local elections.
(6) The Government of Vietnam forbids public challenge to
the legitimacy of the one-party state, restricts freedoms of
opinion, the press, and association and tightly limits access
to the Internet and telecommunication.
(7) Since Vietnam's accession to the WTO on January 11,
2007, the Government of Vietnam arbitrarily arrested and
detained numerous individuals for their peaceful advocacy of
religious freedom, democracy, and human rights, including
Father Nguyen Van Ly, human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai, Le
Thi Cong Nhan, Cu Huy Ha Vu, and Le Cong Dinh, and bloggers
Nguyen Van Hai, Ta Phong Tan, and Le Van Son.
(8) The Government of Vietnam continues to detain,
imprison, place under house arrest, convict, or otherwise
restrict persons for the peaceful expression of dissenting
political or religious views.
(9) The Government of Vietnam continues to detain labor
leaders and restricts the right to organize independently.
(10) The Government of Vietnam continues to limit the
freedom of religion, restrict the operations of independent
religious organizations, and persecute believers whose
religious activities the Government regards as a potential
threat to its monopoly on power.
(11) Despite reported progress in church openings and legal
registrations of religious venues, the Government of Vietnam
has halted most positive actions since the Department of
State lifted the ``country of particular concern'' (CPC)
designation for Vietnam in November 2006.
(12) Unregistered ethnic minority Protestant congregations,
particularly Montagnards in the Central and Northwest
Highlands, suffer severe abuses because of actions by the
Government of Vietnam, which have included forced
renunciations of faith, arrest and harassment, the
withholding of social programs provided for the general
population, confiscation and destruction of property,
subjection to severe beatings, and reported deaths.
(13) There has been a pattern of violent responses by the
Government to peaceful prayer vigils and demonstrations by
Catholics for the return of Government-confiscated church
properties. Protesters have been harassed, beaten, and
detained and church properties have been destroyed. Catholics
also continue to face some restrictions on selection of
clergy, the establishment of seminaries and seminary
candidates, and individual cases of travel and church
registration.
(14) In May 2010 the village of Con Dau, a Catholic parish
in Da Nang, faced escalated violence during a funeral
procession as police attempted to prohibit a religious burial
in the village cemetery; more than 100 villagers were
injured, 62 were arrested, five were tortured, and at least
three died.
(15) The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) suffers
persecution as the Government of Vietnam continues to
restrict contacts and movement of senior UBCV clergy for
refusing to join the state-sponsored Buddhist organization,
the Government restricts expression and assembly, and the
Government continues to harass and threaten UBCV monks, nuns,
and youth leaders.
(16) The Government of Vietnam continues to suppress the
activities of other religious adherents, including Cao Dai
and Hoa Hao Buddhists who lack official recognition or have
chosen not to affiliate with the state-sanctioned groups,
including through the use of detention, imprisonment, and
strict Government oversight.
(17) Many Montagnards and others are still serving long
prison sentences for their involvement in peaceful
demonstrations in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2008. Montagnards
continue to face threats, detention, beatings, forced
renunciation of faith, property destruction, restricted
movement, and reported deaths at the hands of Government
officials.
(18) Ethnic minority Hmong in Northern Vietnam, the
Northwest Highlands, and the Central Highlands of Vietnam
also suffer restrictions, confiscation of property, abuses,
[[Page H5250]]
and persecution by the Government of Vietnam.
(19) The Government of Vietnam restricts Khmer Krom
expression, assembly, and association, has confiscated nearly
all the Theravada Buddhist temples, controls all Khmer Kaon
Buddhist religious organizations and prohibits most peaceful
protests.
(20) The Government of Vietnam controls nearly all print
and electronic media, including access to the Internet, jams
the signals of some foreign radio stations, including Radio
Free Asia, and has detained and imprisoned individuals who
have posted, published, sent, or otherwise distributed
democracy-related materials.
(21) People arrested in Vietnam because of their political
or religious affiliations and activities often are not
accorded due legal process as they lack full access to
lawyers of their choice, may experience closed trials, have
often been detained for years without trial, and have been
subjected to the use of torture to admit crimes they did not
commit or to falsely denounce their own leaders.
(22) Vietnam continues to be a source country for the
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor of women and
girls, as well as for men and women legally entering into
international labor contracts who subsequently face
conditions of debt bondage or forced labor, and is a
destination country for child trafficking and continues to
have internal human trafficking.
(23) There are many reports of Vietnamese officials and
employees participating in, facilitating, condoning, or
otherwise being complicit in severe forms of human
trafficking.
(24) United States refugee resettlement programs, including
the Humanitarian Resettlement (HR) Program, the Orderly
Departure Program (ODP), Resettlement Opportunities for
Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR) Program, general resettlement of
boat people from refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia, the
Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1988, and the Priority One
Refugee resettlement category, have helped rescue Vietnamese
nationals who have suffered persecution on account of their
associations with the United States or, in many cases,
because of such associations by their spouses, parents, or
other family members, as well as other Vietnamese nationals
who have been persecuted because of race, religion,
nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular
social group.
(25) While previous programs have served their purposes
well, a significant number of eligible refugees from Vietnam
were unfairly denied or excluded, including Amerasians, in
some cases by vindictive or corrupt Vietnamese officials who
controlled access to the programs, and in others by United
States personnel who imposed unduly restrictive
interpretations of program criteria. In addition, the
Government of Vietnam has denied passports to persons who the
United States has found eligible for refugee admission.
(26) The Government of Vietnam reportedly is detaining tens
of thousands of people, with some as young as 12 years old,
in government-run drug detention centers and treating them as
slave laborers.
(27) In 2012, over 150,000 people signed an online petition
calling on the Administration to not expand trade with
communist Vietnam at the expense of human rights.
(28) Congress has passed numerous resolutions condemning
human rights abuses in Vietnam, indicating that although
there has been an expansion of relations with the Government
of Vietnam, it should not be construed as approval of the
ongoing and serious violations of fundamental human rights in
Vietnam.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to promote the
development of freedom and democracy in Vietnam.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON INCREASED NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
TO THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM.
(a) Assistance.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the
Federal Government may not provide nonhumanitarian assistance
to the Government of Vietnam during any fiscal year in an
amount that exceeds the amount of such assistance provided
for fiscal year 2012 unless--
(A) with respect to the limitation for fiscal year 2014,
the President determines and certifies to Congress, not later
than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) of
paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-month period ending
on the date of the certification; and
(B) with respect to the limitation for subsequent fiscal
years, the President determines and certifies to Congress, in
the most recent annual report submitted pursuant to section
6, that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) of
paragraph (2) have been met during the 12-month period
covered by the report.
(2) Requirements.--The requirements of this paragraph are
the following:
(A) The Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward releasing all political and religious prisoners from
imprisonment, house arrest, and other forms of detention.
(B) The Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward--
(i) respecting the right to freedom of religion, including
the right to participate in religious activities and
institutions without interference, harassment, or involvement
of the Government, for all of Vietnam's diverse religious
communities; and
(ii) returning estates and properties confiscated from the
churches and religious communities.
(C) The Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward respecting the right to freedom of expression,
assembly, and association, including the release of
independent journalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor
activists.
(D) The Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward repealing or revising laws that criminalize peaceful
dissent, independent media, unsanctioned religious activity,
and nonviolent demonstrations and rallies, in accordance with
international standards and treaties to which Vietnam is a
party.
(E) The Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward allowing Vietnamese nationals free and open access to
United States refugee programs.
(F) The Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward respecting the human rights of members of all ethnic
and minority groups.
(G) Neither any official of the Government of Vietnam nor
any agency or entity wholly or partly owned by the Government
of Vietnam was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in
persons, or the Government of Vietnam took all appropriate
steps to end any such complicity and hold such official,
agency, or entity fully accountable for its conduct.
(b) Exception.--
(1) Continuation of assistance in the national interest.--
Notwithstanding the failure of the Government of Vietnam to
meet the requirements of subsection (a)(2), the President may
waive the application of subsection (a) for any fiscal year
if the President determines that the provision to the
Government of Vietnam of increased nonhumanitarian assistance
would promote the purpose of this Act or is otherwise in the
national interest of the United States.
(2) Exercise of waiver authority.--The President may
exercise the authority under paragraph (1) with respect to--
(A) all United States nonhumanitarian assistance to
Vietnam; or
(B) one or more programs, projects, or activities of such
assistance.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Nonhumanitarian assistance.--The term ``nonhumanitarian
assistance'' means--
(A) any assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(including programs under title IV of chapter 2 of part I of
that Act, relating to the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation), other than--
(i) disaster relief assistance, including any assistance
under chapter 9 of part I of that Act;
(ii) assistance which involves the provision of food
(including monetization of food) or medicine;
(iii) assistance for environmental remediation of dioxin-
contaminated sites and related health activities;
(iv) assistance for demining and unexploded ordnance (UXO)
remediation, and related health and educational activities;
(v) assistance to combat severe forms of trafficking in
persons;
(vi) assistance to combat pandemic diseases;
(vii) assistance for refugees; and
(viii) assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, including any
assistance under section 104A of that Act; and
(B) sales, or financing on any terms, under the Arms Export
Control Act.
(2) Severe form of trafficking in persons.--The term
``severe form of trafficking in persons'' means any activity
described in section 103(8) of the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-386 (114 Stat. 1470);
22 U.S.C. 7102(8)).
(d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the
date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply with
respect to the provision of nonhumanitarian assistance to the
Government of Vietnam for fiscal year 2014 and subsequent
fiscal years.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY.
(a) Radio Free Asia Transmissions to Vietnam.--It is the
sense of Congress that the United States should take measures
to overcome the jamming of Radio Free Asia by the Government
of Vietnam and that the Broadcasting Board of Governors
should not cut staffing, funding, or broadcast hours for the
Vietnamese language services of the Voice of America and
Radio Free Asia, which shall be done without reducing any
other broadcast language services.
(b) United States Educational and Cultural Exchange
Programs With Vietnam.--It is the sense of Congress that any
programs of educational and cultural exchange between the
United States and Vietnam should actively promote progress
toward freedom and democracy in Vietnam by providing
opportunities to Vietnamese nationals from a wide range of
occupations and perspectives to see freedom and democracy in
action and, also, by ensuring that Vietnamese nationals who
have already demonstrated a commitment to these values are
included in such programs.
(c) United Nations Human Rights Council.--It is the sense
of Congress that the Secretary of State should strongly
oppose, and encourage other members of the United Nations to
oppose, the candidacy of Vietnam for membership on the United
Nations Human Rights Council for the term beginning in 2014.
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SEC. 5. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
(a) Country of Particular Concern.--It is the sense of
Congress that Vietnam should be designated as a country of
particular concern for religious freedom pursuant to section
402(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22
U.S.C. 6442(b)).
(b) Minimum Standards for the Elimination of Human
Trafficking.--It is the sense of Congress that the Government
of Vietnam does not fully comply with the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance, and this
determination should be reflected in the annual report to
Congress required pursuant to section 110(b) of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7107(b)).
SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than six months after the date
of the enactment of this Act and every 12 months thereafter,
the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report on
the following:
(1) The determination and certification of the President
that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) through (G) of
section 3(a)(2) have been met, if applicable.
(2) If the President has waived the application of section
3(a) pursuant to section 3(b) during the reporting period--
(A) the national interest with respect to which such a
waiver was based;
(B) the amount of increased nonhumanitarian assistance
provided to the Government of Vietnam; and
(C) a description of the type and amount of commensurate
assistance provided pursuant to section 3(b)(1).
(3) Efforts by the United States Government to promote
access by the Vietnamese people to Radio Free Asia
transmissions.
(4) Efforts to ensure that programs with Vietnam promote
the policy set forth in section 102 of the Human Rights,
Refugee, and Other Foreign Policy Provisions Act of 1996
regarding participation in programs of educational and
cultural exchange.
(5) Lists of persons believed to be imprisoned, detained,
or placed under house arrest, tortured, or otherwise
persecuted by the Government of Vietnam due to their pursuit
of internationally recognized human rights. In compiling such
lists, the Secretary 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. In addition, the Secretary shall include a
list of such persons and their families who may qualify for
protections under United States refugee programs.
(6) A description of the development of the rule of law in
Vietnam, including--
(A) progress toward the development of institutions of
democratic governance;
(B) processes by which statutes, regulations, rules, and
other legal acts of the Government of Vietnam are developed
and become binding within Vietnam;
(C) 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;
(D) 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;
(E) the extent to which individuals are treated equally
under the laws of Vietnam without regard to citizenship,
race, religion, political opinion, or current or former
associations;
(F) 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
(G) the extent to which laws in Vietnam are written and
administered in ways that are consistent with international
human rights standards, including the rights enumerated in
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
(b) Contacts With Other Organizations.--In preparing the
report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, as
appropriate, seek out and maintain contacts with
nongovernmental organizations and human rights advocates
(including Vietnamese-Americans and human rights advocates in
Vietnam), including receiving reports and updates from such
organizations and evaluating such reports. The Secretary
shall also seek to consult with the United States Commission
on International Religious Freedom for appropriate sections
of the report.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might
consume.
This bill, which we rise in support of, H.R. 1897, is the Vietnam
Human Rights Act of 2013, and it is authored by the chairman of the
Africa, Global Human Rights, and Health Subcommittee, Mr. Chris Smith
of New Jersey.
And I thought I would just take a moment and, as a prelude, talk
about the efforts that Mr. Smith has put in over the years, not just to
the issue of human rights but, in particular, identifying those most at
risk, identifying those who are held captive in prison, and taking the
personal effort to go and try to visit them in these horrible
conditions which they find themselves in.
I remember him saying to me once, Can you imagine what it is like for
someone who's a prisoner, a prisoner because he attempts to speak out
for some modicum of free speech, or for religious liberty, and he finds
himself there in confinement, not knowing, when they open that door,
when they come for you, what they might do to you next, not knowing
what type of torture might be applied?
It takes a strong constitution for a Member of this House, year after
year after year, to continue to go to bat for those who are held in
captivity, those who are subject to show trials and then disappear. And
part of his efforts have been to pass this particular legislation
because he's concerned with the magnitude of what is happening in
Vietnam, but also what he has seen with his own eyes with respect to
some of those victims.
Over the years, the Foreign Affairs Committee has held many hearings
on this subject, and if these hearings have had one consistent theme,
it's the deterioration of human rights. And I think this is the thing
we really find most regrettable: that at a time when we hoped that
Vietnam might change its policies, it actually has regressed.
And we've heard from the witnesses of the use of the government by
government agents, by militias--some call them thugs--who use
everything from electric batons to metal prods to beat those who are
demonstrating in Vietnam and who are in the process of speaking up for
religious liberty or speaking up for the rights of free speech.
And now it's gotten to the point that any young person who dares to
blog those words, ``freedom of speech,'' those words, ``democracy,''
anyone who publishes material promoting democracy or criticizing
totalitarian rule, faces so many years in jail. It is so
disproportionate, it is so ridiculous to put a young person in jail for
6 or 7 years because they blog on democracy.
But the thing that I think Chris Smith and I and others here, Eliot
Engel, find so objectionable is the physical abuse that they are
subject to in confinement.
So, as we say, religious freedom is also under attack with freedom of
speech. Residents of Con Dau, Da Nang, have suffered severe violence.
I've seen some of the photographs of the consequences of these beatings
with batons and electric rods during a May assault at the hands, again,
of Vietnamese Government officials. And again, this was because the
parishioners attempted to protect their historic Catholic cemetery from
seizure by the government.
We have over 350 Montagnard Christians who remain in prison for their
beliefs, and other religious groups.
When I was in Vietnam, I talked to the leader of the Unified Buddhist
Church of Vietnam, the venerable Thich Quang Do, who was under house
arrest, and Le Quang Liem, another. He was the leader of the Hoa Hao
Buddhists at the time. He has subsequently, in a protest, been beaten
so badly I don't think he can carry on a conversation today.
The Cao Dai Buddhists face severe persecution from the government,
the communist government there.
So what brings us here tonight is that Vietnam has actually taken
steps backwards. As we heard from the witnesses who testified before
our committee, in the first 6 weeks of this year, 40 dissidents have
been convicted in show trials, more than all of last year. That's how
bad things are deteriorating.
And that means that the communist government is not only eclipsing
their past bad performance, but, paradoxically, the government is also
actively pursuing a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council. That is why
we need to
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take this step and why passage of the Vietnam Human Rights Act is so
important and why we've got to use what leverage we have. And part of
that leverage is nonhumanitarian U.S. assistance to Vietnam. And we do
that unless the Vietnamese Government improves its respect for human
rights to meet specified requirements.
Let's send a message to that regime that the status quo is
unacceptable. This bill does that. I strongly urge its passage.
And once again, I strongly commend and thank its author for his
perseverance on this issue.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I might
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1897. I'd like to
thank the sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from New Jersey
(Mr. Smith), and once again thank the chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee, Mr. Royce, for their leadership in advocating for human
rights in Vietnam.
Despite Vietnam's transition to a more open economy in recent years,
political and religious freedoms for the people of Vietnam remain
severely curtailed.
Just last week, President Obama hosted the President of Vietnam for a
visit. I was there for the luncheon at the State Department, and I am
pleased that he urged the Vietnamese leader to respect freedom of
expression, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly. At that very
luncheon, I sat next to one of the Vietnam ministers and urged the same
thing to him as well.
As the United States and Vietnam build a closer and more cooperative
relationship, we must continue to be candid in calling for more
progress in protecting the human rights and civil liberties of the
Vietnamese people.
I certainly remember the Vietnam War, as I know many of my colleagues
do, and it seems a bit strange that the United States and Vietnam are,
in many ways, allied and working together. That's fine. But human
rights is so important to us, and it's not something we can just sweep
under the rug.
This legislation, the Vietnam Human Rights Act of 2013, takes a step
in the right direction by prohibiting an increase in nonhumanitarian
assistance to Vietnam above fiscal year 2012 levels unless the
Government of Vietnam makes significant progress on critical human
rights issues.
The bill makes it clear to Vietnam that the only factor limiting U.S.
aid is positive action by the Vietnamese Government on political,
human, and religious rights.
The Government of Vietnam has an important choice to make: Will it
protect human rights and provide religious and political freedom to its
citizens, or will it shirk those responsibilities and forsake the
closer relationship that it wants with the United States?
Again, I think a closer relationship with Vietnam is something that I
would like to see. But, you know what? We have principles, and the
Vietnamese have to respect those principles. We respect them. They need
to respect us.
So I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations, and the author of this bill.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I want to thank, first of
all, you for your very kind remarks, but also for moving this
legislation very swiftly through the full committee, along with Eliot
Engel's full support, and the chairwoman emeritus, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Thank you for your steadfast support for human rights, now presiding
over this session.
And, Mr. Chairman, I do want to thank you for being a champion on
behalf of the dissidents, the bloggers, the religious dissidents,
political and religious in Vietnam, who suffer daily beatings at the
hands of an increasingly absurd and worsening dictatorship.
Vietnam is in a race to the bottom with some of the dictatorships
around the world, including Cuba, including China, Somalia, and other
places where people's human rights are systematically trashed by the
regimes.
I do rise to ask, respectfully, that Members support the Vietnam
Human Rights Act of 2013. The purpose of this bipartisan legislation is
simple: to send a clear, strong, and compelling message to the
increasingly repressive communist regime in power in Vietnam that says
that the United States is serious about combating human rights abuse in
Vietnam.
Underscoring the worsening situation in Vietnam, John Sifton of Human
Rights Watch testified at a June 4 hearing that I chaired, and he noted
that ``in the first few months of 2013, more people have been convicted
in political trials as in the whole of the last year.'' And that has
only gotten worse as each week passes in Vietnam.
Reporters Without Borders have put out their numbers, and there's at
least 35 netizens, bloggers, journalists who write online who have been
incarcerated by this dictatorship.
I'll never forget, on one particular trip to Vietnam, I met with Dr.
Pham Son; I met with his wife. He was in prison. And what was his
crime? He went on U.S. Embassy Hanoi, took an essay entitled, ``What is
Democracy?'' translated it, and rebroadcast, resent it out online, and
for that he got a multi-year sentence in jail.
I met with his wife, who lived in great fear that they would go after
her as well. And certainly, when I had dinner with her one night,
sitting as far away as Chairman Royce, at the next table at a hotel
were three bully boys from the--three thugs from the secret police of
Vietnam, very, very visibly standing up and taking pictures to let us
know that they were watching. Of course, I took their picture as well.
But that's the kind of intimidation campaign this wonderful wife of a
dissident was experiencing.
Boat People at the SOS suggest that there are well over 625 political
prisoners and religious prisoners, as we meet here tonight, who are
suffering. And of course that number often goes up. One might be let
out, two more incarcerated by this dictatorship.
Madam Speaker, H.R. 1897 is designed to promote the development of
freedom of democracy in Vietnam. The bill will bring much-needed
scrutiny to a seriously deteriorating situation. It stipulates that the
United States can increase nonhumanitarian assistance to Vietnam above
the 2012 levels only if 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 religious
freedom and the release of political prisoners and religious prisoners,
repealing and revising laws that criminalize peaceful dissent,
respecting human rights of members of all ethnic groups--there's an
enormous amount of racism in Vietnam, particularly directed at people
who happen to be Montagnard, and others--taking all appropriate steps,
including the prosecution of government officials to end government
complicity in that nefarious practice called human trafficking. There
are also very clear benchmarks articulated in the legislation.
Madam Speaker, in the last 4 months alone, on April 11 and June 4,
I've held two more congressional hearings on this deteriorating
situation. We heard stories about individuals and groups who are being
persecuted in a variety of ways. Their testimony confirmed that
religious, political, and ethnic persecution has worsened, and that
there is complicity by leadership, by the people who are in the
Government of Vietnam, in human trafficking.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, in 2013, in
their report, noted:
The Government of Vietnam continues to expand control over
all religious activities, severely restricting independent
religious practice and to repress individuals and religious
groups it views as challenging their authority.
{time} 2000
The Commission says very candidly that Vietnam ought to be a country
of particular concern--a CPC designation--pursuant to the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Unfortunately, that was removed by
President Bush--a misguided move on his part--in 2006, when it was
thought that the bilateral trade agreement and the
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permanent normal trading relations might lead to a matriculation from a
dictatorship to a democracy. Things actually have gotten worse since
this government got this trade benefit. Rights have suffered and
people--real casualties--have endured unspeakable hardships.
Mr. Speaker, on several human rights trips to Vietnam, I have met, as
has Chairman Royce and other Members--and I know when you meet these
people you are forever moved--courageous leaders who struggle,
sacrifice and endure numbing hardships, including torture, to promote
fundamental human rights in their beloved country. Many of these
remarkable individuals hale from virtually every denomination of faith,
whether it be Christian, Falun Gong, or Buddhists, and suffer, again,
horrifically because of their faith.
I met with the Venerable Thich Quang Do, under pagoda arrest--a great
Buddhist leader who has been relegated to his pagoda. He couldn't step
one foot outside of that pagoda without the secret police rushing in.
He told me if he took one step out with me to say good-bye, there would
be an onslaught of these bully boys who would push and shove or
mistreat him.
I met with Father Ly when he was under house arrest before being re-
arrested. He was a great democracy activist who was being so callously
mistreated by this dictatorship. And he is only one of many.
It is not just the religious leaders in particular or individuals who
are victimized by the government. Entire communities are also targeted
by the regime. Mr. Tien Tran testified at our April 11 meeting and told
my subcommittee of the brutality experienced by the Con Dau Catholic
Parish, which has been repressed like you can't believe, Mr. Speaker.
Individuals have been beaten to a pulp. Some have died. And they have
confiscated their property. So they're kleptomaniacs as well.
Also, at the April 11 meeting we heard from the sister of a
Vietnamese woman who was forced to work in a brothel in Russia with 14
other Vietnamese women. When there was an effort made by the Russian
Government to liberate those women, it was the Embassy of Vietnam in
Moscow that tipped off the traffickers--because they were complicit
with them--to ensure that these women were not liberated but continued
to be hurt by the traffickers. There was another one dealing with women
who were trafficked to Jordan. Those officials of the Vietnamese
Government were complicit in that as well.
Again, that's only the tip of the iceberg of this terrible complicity
with heinous crimes against women.
I think the State Department report on trafficking was a good one,
but they made a gross exception when it came to Vietnam, and actually
improved their grade, when the information even in the narrative about
Vietnam and the TIP report would have suggested otherwise.
I'm the prime author of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and
worked to create those minimum standards. It's appalling that Vietnam
is not where it ought to be, a Tier 3 country, an egregious violator
subject to sanctions.
This will be the fourth time, if this bill passes, Mr. Speaker, that
we've been able to get the Vietnam Human Rights Act passed. In 2004,
2007, and last year, 2012, iterations of this bill have gotten over to
the Senate, only to die through holds and other very non-democratic
means of suppressing the will of the Senate in working on this bill. I
hope that changes.
We have seen a deterioration, as my colleagues and I have all pointed
out tonight, in the human rights situation in Vietnam. It is time to
stand with the oppressed people who are yearning to be free in Vietnam
and to stand up against this dictatorship. It's time to meet with them,
talk with them, and talk to President Sang, who was here last week to
meet with President Obama, and lay down very specific benchmarks on
simple respect for the fundamental liberties of people in Vietnam who
just yearn to be free and to experience their God-given rights.
Mr. ENGEL. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. In closing, I, again, want to thank my colleague, Mr.
Smith from New Jersey, for his dedication to human rights in Vietnam,
and for human rights in general, and for not only his work on this bill
but, again, the time and energy that he has put into attempting to
intervene on behalf of those who have been subject to these beatings
that he has cited, to this maltreatment, to these long prison terms.
Last week, we had President Sang of Vietnam visiting Washington for
the first official visit, I think, since 2007. While we've been assured
that human rights were on the agenda during these meetings with the
President and with the State Department, we did all we could to make
certain that this time they were on the agenda. But I think the
Vietnamese people need more than talk. And that is why we need to pass
this legislation. It's a sign to all Vietnamese people that the U.S. is
committed to the cause of human rights, but it is also leverage that
can be used to guarantee some measure of attention from the regime.
This is Congress's chance to speak to those Vietnamese people who are
yearning for freedom. It's our chance to do so by vocally supporting a
human rights agenda in Vietnam. We've got to get this back on the
agenda.
I strongly urge my colleagues to support this important bill, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I fully support HR 1897--the Vietnam
Human Rights Act and I thank my distinguished colleague from the
Foreign Affairs Committee and champion of human rights--Chris Smith for
bringing this legislation forward and I am happy to cosponsor this
bill.
We all want to see a prosperous, democratic and free Vietnam under
which all people enjoy equal opportunities and fundamental freedoms.
This bill prohibits U.S. non-humanitarian assistance to the
government of Vietnam unless the President certifies to Congress that
Vietnam has made substantial progress respecting political, media, and
religious freedoms, minority rights, access to U.S. refugee programs,
and actions to end trafficking in persons and the release of political
prisoners.
I continue to be concerned about the deteriorating human rights
situation in Vietnam. The United States should stop sending American
taxpayer money to governments that deny its citizens even the most
basic human rights. Instead, we should leverage our assistance to push
these governments into implementing democratic reforms, improving their
human rights practices and allowing their citizens their fundamental
rights, and that is what this bill will do.
My husband Dexter is a Vietnam combat veteran and former Army Ranger
who was wounded defending the ideals of freedom and democracy--not just
for Americans, but for all those who seek them. As the leading nation
of the free world, the United States must stand with the Vietnamese
people who are being brutally oppressed by their authoritarian
government so that they may all live in a free and democratic country.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1897, the
Vietnam Human Rights Act. I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of
this legislation, and I thank my colleague Mr. Smith for introducing
it.
This bill would prohibit any increase in U.S. non-humanitarian
assistance to Vietnam until substantial progress has been made with
regard to political and religious freedom for the citizens of Vietnam.
The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that Vietnam should be
designated as a Country of Particular Concern for religious freedom,
and that the government does not meet the minimum standards for the
elimination of human trafficking. In addition, the bill urges the
Secretary of State to strongly oppose Vietnam's candidacy for
membership on the United Nations Human Rights Council.
I strongly support this bill. Vietnam's record on human rights is
appalling. The government in Vietnam continues to repress its citizens,
including peaceful democracy activists, bloggers, and religious
minorities. Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam as 172nd of 179
countries, only two places above China, and the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom has once again identified Vietnam as a
``Tier 1 Country of Particular Concern,'' grouping it with nations such
as North Korea, Burma, and Iran. The Vietnamese government has clearly
indicated by its actions that it lacks a meaningful commitment to
reform. This Congress needs to send a message to the government that
the status quo is unacceptable, and if the Vietnamese government wants
to continue to engage with the United States, these violations must
end. I support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do so as well.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Messer). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1897, as amended
[[Page H5254]]
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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