[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3001 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3001
To advance United States national interests by prioritizing the
protection of internationally recognized human rights and development
of the rule of law in relations between the United States and Vietnam,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 4, 2021
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lowenthal, Mrs.
Kim of California, Mrs. Steel, and Mr. Correa) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in
addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To advance United States national interests by prioritizing the
protection of internationally recognized human rights and development
of the rule of law in relations between the United States and Vietnam,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Vietnam Human
Rights Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Statement of policy.
Sec. 3. Assistance for political and religious prisoners in Vietnam.
Sec. 4. Sanctions with respect to human rights violations in Vietnam.
Sec. 5. Actions to combat online censorship and surveillance in
Vietnam.
Sec. 6. Annual country reports on human rights practices.
Sec. 7. Prohibition on funding for the Ministry of Public Security of
the Government of Vietnam.
Sec. 8. International religious freedom.
Sec. 9. United States assistance to support counting of women and girls
in Vietnam.
Sec. 10. Annual reports on United States-Vietnam human rights dialogue
meetings.
Sec. 11. Restrictions on nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government
of Vietnam.
Sec. 12. Definitions.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to--
(1) prioritize as a matter of strategic importance the
Government of Vietnam's violations of universally recognized
human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law to
ensure the long-term sustainability of the United States-
Vietnam strategic partnership;
(2) embed human rights concerns across the full spectrum of
official interactions between the Government of the United
States and the Government of Vietnam and convey during
diplomatic engagements that concrete human rights improvements
are key parts of any discussions on trade, security,
humanitarian cooperation, and economic development;
(3) assess Vietnam's progress toward respecting the basic
rights of workers, as described in each report required by
section 702 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal
Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note) and in
light of the commitments specified in the United States-Vietnam
Plan for Enhancement of Trade and Labor Relations,
notwithstanding the fact that the Trans Pacific Partnership did
not go into effect;
(4) press for ratification of ILO Conventions No. 87
(Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to
Organize) and No. 98 (Right to Organize and Collective
Bargaining) and the recognition of independent labor unions;
and
(5) evaluate future trade negotiations with the Government
of Vietnam in accordance with the criteria set forth for
country eligibility under subsections (b)(2) and (c) of section
502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462), relating to the
Generalized System of Preferences, and in accordance with the
provisions of the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and
Accountability Act of 2015 (title I of Public Law 114-26; 19
U.S.C. 4201 et seq.).
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS PRISONERS IN VIETNAM.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) There are over 170 Vietnamese political and religious
prisoners currently detained in Vietnam, nearly half of whom
were arrested due to expression or activities online.
(2) Prisoners include human rights defenders, bloggers,
lawyers, religious leaders, trade unionists, land rights
activists, political dissidents, environmental campaigners, and
others arrested for exercising their internationally guaranteed
rights or to promote and protect the rights of others.
(b) Assistance.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall provide
assistance to individuals in Vietnam and appropriate civil
society organizations outside Vietnam that work to secure the
release of political and religious prisoners in Vietnam, and to
current and former political and religious prisoners in
Vietnam.
(2) Activities.--Assistance required by this subsection
shall include the following activities:
(A) Support for the documentation of human rights
violations with respect to political and religious
prisoners.
(B) Support for advocacy to raise awareness of
issues relating to political and religious prisoners.
(C) Support for efforts to repeal or amend laws or
regulations used to detain individuals seeking to
exercise internationally recognized human rights.
(D) Support, including travel costs, legal fees,
and other appropriate expenses, for families of
religious and political prisoners.
(E) Support for health, including mental health,
and post-incarceration assistance in gaining access to
education and employment opportunities or other forms
of reparation to enable former political and religious
prisoners to resume a normal life.
(c) Discussions.--As part of a ``whole of government'' approach to
human rights improvements in Vietnam, the Secretary of State and other
United States officials, in discussions with the Government of Vietnam,
should seek, as a critical condition of stronger United States-Vietnam
relations, the repeal of laws and regulations used to detain political
and religious prisoners and the immediate and unconditional release of
all political and religious prisoners.
SEC. 4. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN VIETNAM.
(a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States to
regularly assess reporting from intelligence, diplomatic, open source,
congressional, and nongovernmental organization sources to identify and
impose travel and financial restrictions on officials of the Government
of Vietnam and other foreign persons working directly or indirectly for
the Government of Vietnam who, based on credible evidence--
(1) are--
(A) responsible for, ordered, or are complicit in
the arbitrary detention, torture, enforced
disappearances of individuals in Vietnam seeking to
obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally
recognized human rights; or
(B) responsible for, ordered, or are complicit in
acts of significant corruption, including the
expropriation of private or public assets for personal
gain, corruption related to government contracts or the
extraction of natural resources, bribery, or the
facilitation or transfer of the proceeds of corruption
to foreign jurisdictions;
(2) are responsible for surveillance, censorship, or
detention of individuals in Vietnam for exercising the right to
the freedom of expression online or those responsible for
forcing United States companies to censor or reveal personally
identifiable information of any individual exercising this
right; or
(3) are responsible for particularly severe violations of
religious freedom (as such term is defined in section 3 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6402).
(b) Sanctions.--
(1) Global magnitsky human rights accountability act.--The
President should impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky
Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note) with
respect to any person described in subsection (a)(1).
(2) Department of state, foreign operations, and related
programs appropriations act, 2019.--The Secretary of State
should impose sanctions described in section 7031(c)(1)(A) of
the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related
Programs Appropriations Act, 2019 (division F of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019; Public Law 116-6) with
respect to any person described in subsection (a)(2).
(3) Immigration and nationality act.--The Secretary of
State should impose the sanctions described in section
212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(2)(G)) to any foreign person described in subsection
(a)(3).
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report on sanctions
imposed on persons described in subsection (a) under the
provisions of law described in subsection (b), including
information on--
(A) the number of times sanctions were imposed on
such persons under such provisions of law;
(B) the reasons for imposing such sanctions; and
(C) where appropriate, an identification of the
sanctioned persons.
(2) Inclusion.--The report required by this subsection
shall be submitted as part of the report required section 702
of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003
(Public Law 107-228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note) (as amended by
section 10 of this Act).
SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO COMBAT ONLINE CENSORSHIP AND SURVEILLANCE IN
VIETNAM.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Vietnam continues to have one of the world's most
restrictive internet environments, with pervasive filtering of
content and the frequent arrests of bloggers and others whose
only offense is to advocate online for positions different than
those held by the government.
(2) Since 2013, the Government of Vietnam has issued laws
and decrees, including a cybersecurity law, that increased its
ability to surveil its citizens without judicial oversight or
recourse. The cybersecurity law has been used to charge
Vietnamese citizens with vague crimes of ``negating
revolutionary achievements'' and distributing ``misleading
information among the people''. Vietnam's Penal Code and Decree
15 have also been used to render many legitimate online
activities illegal, leading to the arrest and detentions of
political prisoners.
(3) The Government of Vietnam uses the cybersecurity law to
require United States companies to store information in
Vietnam, censor social media posts on demand, and to turn over
sensitive personal information about users. Companies such as
Facebook and Google comply with these requests, including
through the censorship of social media content of United States
citizens and permanent resident aliens.
(4) United States companies Facebook and YouTube have been
instrumental in this crackdown, complying with Vietnam's
request to censor and ``geoblock'' content determined to
violate local Vietnamese law, which often contradicts
international law and Vietnam's treaty obligations.
(5) In the first half of 2020, Facebook increased its
content restrictions in Vietnam by 983 percent, a dramatic
increase from the second half of 2019.
(6) Facebook complied with 90 percent of Vietnam's
censorship requests in 2020 and YouTube with 95 percent of such
requests, a fact the Government of Vietnam noted with
satisfaction.
(7) The local legal provisions that directly enabled
Facebook and YouTube's censorship, Articles 117 and 331 of
Vietnam's Penal Code, also were used to imprison most of the 27
prisoners of conscience who were jailed in 2020.
(8) A free and open internet and the free flow of news and
information--
(A) are fundamental components of United States
foreign policy because they foster economic growth,
protect individual liberties, and advance national
security;
(B) are critical to the advancement of both United
States economic interests and internationally
recognized human rights globally; and
(C) are severely hindered by Vietnam's
cybersecurity law which would allow the Government of
Vietnam to access private data, spy on users, require
United States businesses to turn over personally
identifiable information or block content of users,
including outside of Vietnam, and further restrict
already limited online speech.
(b) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States
to--
(1) pursue an open and free internet in Vietnam as an issue
promoting United States economic interests and advancing
internationally recognized human rights;
(2) engage all appropriate United States Government
agencies to promote the free flow of news and information in
Vietnam;
(3) use all appropriate United States diplomatic
instruments to pressure the Government of Vietnam to halt
requests to force social media companies to block accounts and
content of individuals whose content the Government
disapproves;
(4) use all available diplomatic instruments available to
pursue trade policies with Vietnam that expand internet freedom
and the information economy in Vietnam by--
(A) ensuring the free flow of information across
the global network;
(B) promoting stronger international transparency
rules; and
(C) ensuring fair and equal treatment of online
services regardless of country of origin; and
(5) require companies with contracts with the United States
Government that accede to requests of the Government of Vietnam
to engage in censorship or to reveal sensitive personal
information to report such requests to the Department of State
at the time such requests occur and to report the nature of
such requests and the companies' responses publicly.
(c) Actions.--The Office of Internet Freedom of the United States
Agency for Global Media and the Internet Freedom and Business and Human
Rights Section in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of
the Department of State shall take such actions as may be necessary
to--
(1) prioritize the immediate distribution of censorship
circumvention tools for computers and smart phones in Vietnam;
and
(2) prioritize projects to ensure the safety and privacy of
bloggers and journalists and human rights defenders in Vietnam.
(d) Report.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with the
Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative, shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that
outlines a strategy to--
(1) promote internet freedom and the free flow of news and
information in Vietnam; and
(2) promote efforts to assist United States internet
companies to fulfill their stated missions to promote openness,
transparency, and connectivity by opposing requests by the
Government of Vietnam to remove political speech or content of
journalists, especially when content is removed from the
accounts of users in the United States.
SEC. 6. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.
(a) Report Relating to Economic Assistance.--Section 116 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
``(h)(1) The report required by subsection (d) shall include an
assessment of freedom of expression with respect to electronic
information in each foreign country. Such assessment shall consist of
the following:
``(A) An assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country inappropriately attempt to filter,
censor, or otherwise block or remove nonviolent expression of
political or religious opinion or belief via the internet,
including electronic mail, as well as a description of the
means by which such authorities attempt to block or remove such
expression.
``(B) An assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country have persecuted or otherwise
punished an individual or group for the nonviolent expression
of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief via
the internet, including electronic mail.
``(C) An assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country have sought to inappropriately
collect, request, obtain, or disclose personally identifiable
information of a person in connection with such person's
nonviolent expression of political, religious, or ideological
opinion or belief, including expression that would be protected
by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
``(D) An assessment of the extent to which wire
communications and electronic communications are monitored
without regard to the principles of privacy, human rights,
democracy, and rule of law.
``(2) In compiling data and making assessments for the purposes of
paragraph (1), United States diplomatic personnel shall consult with
human rights organizations, technology and internet companies, and
other appropriate nongovernmental organizations.
``(3) In this subsection--
``(A) the term `electronic communication' has the meaning
given such term in section 2510 of title 18, United States
Code;
``(B) the term `internet' has the meaning given such term
in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 231(e)(3));
``(C) the term `personally identifiable information' means
data in a form that identifies a particular person; and
``(D) the term `wire communication' has the meaning given
such term in section 2510 of title 18, United States Code.''.
(b) Report Relating to Security Assistance.--Section 502B of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304) is amended--
(1) by redesignating the second subsection (i) (relating to
child marriage status) as subsection (j); and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(k)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall include an
assessment of freedom of expression with respect to electronic
information in each foreign country. Such assessment shall consist of
the following:
``(A) An assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country inappropriately attempt to filter,
censor, or otherwise block or remove nonviolent expression of
political or religious opinion or belief via the internet,
including electronic mail, as well as a description of the
means by which such authorities attempt to block or remove such
expression.
``(B) An assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country have persecuted or otherwise
punished an individual or group for the nonviolent expression
of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief via
the internet, including electronic mail.
``(C) An assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country have sought to inappropriately
collect, request, obtain, or disclose personally identifiable
information of a person in connection with such person's
nonviolent expression of political, religious, or ideological
opinion or belief, including expression that would be protected
by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
``(D) An assessment of the extent to which wire
communications and electronic communications are monitored
without regard to the principles of privacy, human rights,
democracy, and rule of law.
``(2) In compiling data and making assessments for the purposes of
paragraph (1), United States diplomatic personnel shall consult with
human rights organizations, technology and internet companies, and
other appropriate nongovernmental organizations.
``(3) In this subsection--
``(A) the term `electronic communication' has the meaning
given such term in section 2510 of title 18, United States
Code;
``(B) the term `internet' has the meaning given such term
in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 231(e)(3));
``(C) the term `personally identifiable information' means
data in a form that identifies a particular person; and
``(D) the term `wire communication' has the meaning given
such term in section 2510 of title 18, United States Code.''.
SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING FOR THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY OF
THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following: --
(1) The Vietnam-based group APT 32, or OceanLotus Group, is
one of the most active cyber espionage units in the world and
has, since 2014, carried out intrusions into private sector
companies and attempted to both surveil and steal the sensitive
personal information of Vietnamese dissidents living outside of
Vietnam as well as foreign governments.
(2) APT 32 consistently acts in the interests of the
Government of Vietnam, hacking individuals in Germany, China,
Cambodia, and the Philippines and taking over the websites of
Vietnamese Catholics and hacking, news services, industrial
plants, steel companies, and other entities.
(3) The military of Vietnam operates a group of 10,000
``cybertroops'', named Force 47, whose members intimidate and
harass Vietnamese citizens online who speak out against
government policies or otherwise peacefully exercise their
human rights in a way determined by the Government of Vietnam
as unacceptable.
(b) Prohibition.--Consistent with section 620M of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d), no assistance may be
furnished under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et
seq.) or the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) to
assist, directly or indirectly, any unit of the Ministry of Public
Security of the Government of Vietnam or any other unit of the
Government of Vietnam engaged in cyber-espionage activities.
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 75 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and the
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the
extraterritorial activities of entities affiliated with or
employed by the Government of Vietnam to engage in cyber
espionage or surveil and harass Vietnamese dissidents living
outside of Vietnam who are critical of policies of the
Government of Vietnam or who advocate for internationally
recognized human rights.
(2) Matters to be included.--The report required by this
subsection shall include information on the steps taken by the
United States Government to address cyber espionage from
Vietnam and the protection of United States companies and
United States citizens and permanent resident aliens.
(3) Form.--The report required by this subsection shall be
submitted in unclassified form, by may include a classified
annex with respect to information that is sensitive to United
States national security interests, as determined by the
Secretary. The public element of the report may be issued as
part of testimony by the Secretary of State before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee or the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.
(4) Appropriate congressional committees.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee
on Homeland Security, and the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of
the Senate.
SEC. 8. INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The promotion and protection of the universally
recognized right to the freedom of religion is a priority of
United States foreign policy as stated in section 402 of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442)
and the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and
Accountability Act of 2015 (title I of Public Law 114-26; 19
U.S.C. 4201 et seq.) which requires the Administration to take
religious freedom into account when negotiating trade
agreements.
(2) Countries that protect religious freedom are more
prosperous, stable, peaceful and democratic. Thus, the severe
restrictions faced by religious groups in Vietnam, such as
members of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV),
Catholics, and independent Hoa Hao Buddhists, Cao Dai, and
Protestants groups, are detrimental to the interests of both
the United States and Vietnam.
(3) The Government of Vietnam has reportedly stepped up its
efforts to force Montagnard and Hmong Christians to renounce
their faith, expropriate lands and other real properties
belonging to independent religious communities, destroy Hoa Hao
Buddhist and Cao Dai houses of worship, and arrest and detain
religious leaders. Religious leaders and advocates of religious
freedom remain in prison.
(b) Statement of Policy.--Since the protection of religious freedom
is vital to peace, stability, and prosperity, and countries with the
highest levels of restrictions on religious freedom are often those
countries seeking to undermine United States national interests or
ignore international legal norms and standards, it is the policy of the
United States to--
(1) prioritize religious freedom in bilateral relations,
including with the Government of Vietnam, by fully implementing
the provisions of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious
Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281); and
(2) strategically employ sanctions and other tools under
the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401
et seq.).
(c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) Vietnam should be designated as a country of particular
concern for religious freedom under section 402(b) of the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442(b))
because there are a significant number of individuals
imprisoned for their religious activity or advocacy for
religious freedom and for ``systematic, egregious, and
ongoing'' violations of religious freedom;
(2) the President, in making the annual designations under
section 402(b) of such Act, should take into account the annual
report of the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom under section 203 of such Act and the
Commission's assessment that the designation of Vietnam as a
country of particular concern for religious freedom from 2004
to 2006 led to tangible improvements in religious freedom
conditions while trade and security cooperation increased; and
(3) because the Government of Vietnam tightly controls
religious institutions and then persecutes those individuals
who establish or operate independent religious institutions and
genuinely nongovernmental organizations, the Secretary of State
should--
(A) use all available diplomatic, development,
economic assistance, and political tools to ensure that
independent religious and civil society organizations
can operate freely and without restriction in Vietnam;
and
(B) raise these issues in all appropriate
statements, dialogues, reports, and negotiations
between the United States and Vietnam and in multi-
lateral institutions where the United States and
Vietnam are members.
SEC. 9. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT COUNTING OF WOMEN AND GIRLS
IN VIETNAM.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Vietnam remains a ``source and, to a lesser extent, a
destination country . . . for sex trafficking and forced
labor.''.
(2) Vietnamese men and women are subject to forced labor in
``rehabilitation'' centers, detention centers, and prisons and,
according to the 2016 Annual Report on Trafficking in Persons.
(3) Vietnamese migrants working in ``state-owned, private,
or joint-stock companies'' live in ``situations of
exploitation'' in the construction, fishing, agriculture,
mining, logging and manufacturing sectors in other countries.
(b) Implementation of the Girls Count Act of 2015 in Vietnam.--
(1) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(A) Vietnam's male to female sex-ratio disparity
has increased despite the Vietnamese Government's
ending of its policy limiting married couples to 2
children.
(B) Experts believe sex ratio disparities have
critical economic and social ramifications that effect
United States interests, exacerbating the
vulnerabilities of women to trafficking, child
marriage, and reducing the ability of women to seek
employment and participate in educational opportunities
and civil society.
(2) Authorization.--The Secretary of State is authorized to
establish and support programs to--
(A) monitor and halt bride and sex trafficking of
girls and women in Vietnam and women from other
countries in Asia, including China, as appropriate; and
(B) address Vietnam's growing sex-ratio disparity
through economic support and programs described in
section 4(a) of the Girls Count Act of 2015 (Public Law
114-24; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note).
SEC. 10. ANNUAL REPORTS ON UNITED STATES-VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE
MEETINGS.
Section 702 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year
2003 (Public Law 107-228; 22 U.S.C. 2151n note) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(9) Ending incidents of torture, police beatings, deaths
in police custody, and mob or societal violence targeting
religious groups or dissidents.
``(10) Returning properties of independent religious
communities or organizations that have been reportedly
expropriated by the Government of Vietnam or by government-
sanctioned religious organizations.
``(11) Addressing individual claims by United States
citizens whose properties have been expropriated by the
Government of Vietnam without effective, prompt, and fair
compensation.
``(12) Implementing section 4 of the Girls Count Act of
(Public Law 114-24; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) and how such section
has been applied in Vietnam.
``(13) Ensuring internet freedom and specific efforts to
ensure the safety and privacy of Vietnamese bloggers and
journalists on the internet or other forms of electronic
communication.''.
SEC. 11. RESTRICTIONS ON NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERNMENT
OF VIETNAM.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, except as
provided in subsection (b), the Secretary of State should consider
restricting certain assistance to the Government of Vietnam unless--
(1) the Government of Vietnam makes substantial progress
toward releasing all political and religious prisoners from
imprisonment, house arrest, and other forms of detention;
(2) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward--
(A) 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
(B) returning estates and properties confiscated
from the churches and religious communities;
(3) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward respecting the right to in-person and online freedom of
expression, assembly, and association, including the release of
independent journalists, bloggers, and democracy and labor
activists;
(4) 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;
(5) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward allowing Vietnamese nationals free and open access to
United States refugee programs;
(6) the Government of Vietnam has made substantial progress
toward respecting the human rights of members of all ethnic and
minority groups; and
(7) 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 such conduct.
(b) Exception.--The restriction described in subsection (a) should
not apply to assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for
the following purposes:
(1) Disaster relief assistance, including any assistance
under chapter 9 of part I of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2292 et seq.).
(2) Assistance which involves the provision of food
(including monetization of food) or medicine.
(3) Assistance for environmental remediation of dioxin-
contaminated sites and related health activities.
(4) Assistance to combat severe forms of trafficking in
persons (as such term is defined in section 103 of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102)).
(5) Assistance to combat pandemic diseases.
(6) Assistance for refugees.
(7) Assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, including any assistance
under section 104A of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2151b-2).
SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--Except as
otherwise provided, the term ``appropriate congressional
committees'' means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate.
(2) Internet.--The term ``internet'' has the meaning given
such term in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)).
(3) Personally identifiable information.--The term
``personally identifiable information'' means data in a form
that identifies a particular person.
<all>