[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 121 (Tuesday, July 18, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4057-S4059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Cassidy, and Mr.
Rubio):
S. 1574. A bill to impose sanctions on individuals who are complicit
in human rights abuses committed against nationals of Vietnam or their
family members, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign
Relations.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of
the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 1574
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Vietnam Human Rights
Sanctions Act of 2017''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(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 countries reaching more than $36,000,000,000 in
2014.
(2) However, the transition by the Government of Vietnam
toward greater economic activity and trade, which has led to
increased bilateral engagement between the United States and
Vietnam, has not been matched by greater political freedom or
substantial improvements in basic human rights for the people
of Vietnam.
(3) Vietnam remains an authoritarian state ruled by the
Communist Party of Vietnam, which continues to deny the right
of the people of Vietnam to participate in free and fair
elections.
(4) According to the Department of State's 2014 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices, Vietnam's ``most
significant human rights problems . . . were severe
government restrictions of citizens' political rights,
particularly their right to change their government through
free and fair elections; limits
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on citizens' civil liberties, including freedom of assembly
and expression; and inadequate protection of citizens' due
process rights, including protection against arbitrary
detention''.
(5) The Country Reports also state that the Government of
Vietnam ``continued to restrict speech that criticized
individual government leaders; promoted political pluralism
or multi-party democracy; or questioned policies on sensitive
matters, such as human rights, religious freedom, or
sovereignty disputes with China'' and ``sought to impede
criticism by monitoring meetings and communications of
political activists''.
(6) Furthermore, the Department of State documents that
``arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly for political
activists, remained a problem'', with the Government of
Vietnam sentencing 29 arrested activists during 2014. Of
those, 6 activists were convicted on national security
charges in the penal code for ``undermining the unity
policy'', 17 for ``causing public disorder'', and 6 for
``abusing democratic freedoms''.
(7) At the end of 2014, the Government of Vietnam
reportedly held more than 125 political prisoners.
(8) On September 24, 2012, 3 prominent Vietnamese
bloggers--Nguyen Van Hai (also known as Dieu Cay), Ta Phong
Tan, and Phan Thanh Hai (also known as Anh Ba Saigon)--were
sentenced to prison based on 3-year-old blog postings
criticizing the Government and leaders of Vietnam and the
Communist Party of Vietnam. Nguyen Van Hai served 2 years of
a 12-year prison sentence on charges of ``conducting
propaganda against the state'' but was later released and
departed from Vietnam. If he were to return, he would likely
have to complete his prison sentence.
(9) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi
Pillay responded to the sentencing of the bloggers on
September 25, 2012, stating that ``[t]he harsh prison terms
handed down to bloggers exemplify the severe restrictions on
freedom of expression in Vietnam'' and calling the sentences
an ``unfortunate development that undermines the commitments
Vietnam has made internationally . . . to protect and promote
the right to freedom of expression''.
(10) On March 21, 2013, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Daniel B. Baer
testified before the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific
Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate
that ``in Vietnam we've been disappointed in recent years to
see backsliding, particularly on . . . freedom of expression
issues . . . people are being prosecuted for what they say
online under really draconian national security laws . . .
that is an issue that we continue to raise, both in our human
rights dialogue with the Vietnamese as well as in other
bilateral engagements''.
(11) Although the Constitution of Vietnam provides for
freedom of religion, the Department of State's 2013
International Religious Freedom Report maintains,
``Government practices and bureaucratic impediments
restricted religious freedom. Unregistered and unrecognized
religious groups were often subject to harassment, as well as
coercive and punitive actions by authorities.''.
(12) Likewise, the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom 2015 Annual Report states,
``The Vietnamese government continues to control all
religious activities through law and administrative
oversight, restrict severely independent religious practice,
and repress individuals and religious groups it views as
challenging its authority, including independent Buddhists,
Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Catholics, and Protestants.''.
(13) The 2013 Annual Report notes that in 2004 the United
States designated Vietnam as a country of particular concern
for religious freedom pursuant to section 402(b)(1) of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C.
6442(b)(1)), and that Vietnam responded at that time by
releasing prisoners, prohibiting the policy of forced
renunciations of faith, and expanding protections for
religious groups, and that ``[m]ost religious leaders in
Vietnam attributed these positive changes to the [country of
particular concern] designation and the priority placed on
religious freedom concerns in U.S.-Vietnamese bilateral
relations''.
(14) However, the 2013 Annual Report concludes that since
the designation as a country of particular concern was lifted
from Vietnam in 2006, ``religious freedom conditions in
Vietnam remain mixed'', and therefore recommends to the
Department of State that Vietnam should be redesignated as a
country of particular concern.
(15) Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Baer likewise
testified that ``[i]n Vietnam the right to religious freedom,
which seemed to be improving several years ago, has been
stagnant for several years''.
SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO
ARE COMPLICIT IN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED
AGAINST NATIONALS OF VIETNAM OR THEIR FAMILY
MEMBERS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Admitted; alien; immigration laws; national.--The terms
``admitted'', ``alien'', ``immigration laws'', and
``national'' have the meanings given those terms in section
101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on
Financial Services, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
the House of Representatives.
(3) Convention against torture.--The term ``Convention
against Torture'' means the United Nations Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, done at New York on December 10, 1984.
(4) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence to the United States; or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the United States
or of any jurisdiction within the United States, including a
foreign branch of such an entity.
(b) Imposition of Sanctions.--Except as provided in
subsections (e) and (f), the President shall impose the
sanctions described in subsection (d) with respect to each
individual on the list required by subsection (c)(1).
(c) List of Individuals Who Are Complicit in Certain Human
Rights Abuses.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a list of individuals
who are nationals of Vietnam that the President determines
are complicit in human rights abuses committed against
nationals of Vietnam or their family members, regardless of
whether such abuses occurred in Vietnam.
(2) Updates of list.--The President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees an updated list under
paragraph (1) as new information becomes available and not
less frequently than annually.
(3) Public availability.--The list required by paragraph
(1) shall be made available to the public and posted on the
Web sites of the Department of the Treasury and the
Department of State.
(4) Consideration of data from other countries and
nongovernmental organizations.--In preparing the list
required by paragraph (1), the President shall consider data
already obtained by other countries and nongovernmental
organizations, including organizations in Vietnam, that
monitor the human rights abuses of the Government of Vietnam.
(d) Sanctions.--
(1) Prohibition on entry and admission to the united
states.--An individual on the list required by subsection
(c)(1) may not--
(A) be admitted to, enter, or transit through the United
States;
(B) receive any lawful immigration status in the United
States under the immigration laws, including any relief under
the Convention Against Torture; or
(C) file any application or petition to obtain such
admission, entry, or status.
(2) Financial sanctions.--The President shall block and
prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in
property of an individual on the list required by subsection
(c)(1) if such property and interests in property are in the
United States, come within the United States, or are or come
within the possession or control of a United States person.
(e) Exceptions To Comply With International Agreements.--
The President may, by regulation, authorize exceptions to the
imposition of sanctions under this section to permit the
United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the
Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success
June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947,
between the United Nations and the United States, and other
applicable international agreements.
(f) Waiver.--The President may waive the requirement to
impose or maintain sanctions with respect to an individual
under subsection (b) or the requirement to include an
individual on the list required by subsection (c)(1) if the
President--
(1) determines that such a waiver is in the national
interest of the United States; and
(2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees a
report describing the reasons for the determination.
(g) Termination of Sanctions.--The provisions of this
section shall terminate on the date on which the President
determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional
committees that the Government of Vietnam has--
(1) unconditionally released all political prisoners;
(2) ceased its practices of violence, unlawful detention,
torture, and abuse of nationals of Vietnam while those
nationals are engaging in peaceful political activity; and
(3) conducted a transparent investigation into the
killings, arrest, and abuse of peaceful political activists
in Vietnam and prosecuted those responsible.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DESIGNATION OF VIETNAM AS A
COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN WITH RESPECT TO
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the relationship between the United States and Vietnam
cannot progress while the record of the Government of Vietnam
with respect to human rights and the rule of law continues to
deteriorate;
(2) the designation of Vietnam as a country of particular
concern for religious freedom
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pursuant to section 402(b)(1) of the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b)(1)) would be a
powerful and effective tool in highlighting abuses of
religious freedom in Vietnam and in encouraging improvement
in the respect for human rights in Vietnam; and
(3) the Secretary of State should, in accordance with the
recommendation of the United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom, designate Vietnam as a
country of particular concern for religious freedom.
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