Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman. Chairman HYDE. Mr. Lantos. Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend you and the staff on both the Republican and Democratic side for working out this very complex set of bills. We have no objection on our side. Chairman HYDE. Thank you. Without objection, it is so ordered, and I ask unanimous consent that the Chairman be authorized to seek consideration of the rest of the bills and resolutions on the Committee agenda under suspension of the rules and the amendments which the Members have before them be deemed adopted. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Rohrabacher. [The bills, resolutions, and amendments referred to, follow:] 108TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H.R. 1587 To promote freedom and democracy in Viet Nam. I IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 3, 2003 Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. WOLF, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. PENCE, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. Towns, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. BALLENGER, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Ms. NORTON, Mr. WYNN, Mr. BELL, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. Cox, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. MOORE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 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 1 A BILL To promote freedom and democracy in Viet Nam. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 (a) SHORT TITLE.-This Act may be cited as the 5 "Viet Nam Human Rights Act of 2003". 2 1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.-The table of contents for 2 this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Purpose. TITLE I-PROHIBITION ON NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO Sec. 101. Bilateral nonhumanitarian assistance. Sec. 102. Multilateral nonhumanitarian assistance. TITLE II-ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN VIET NAM Sec. 201. Assistance. TITLE III-UNITED STATES PUBLIC DIPLOMACY Sec. 301. Radio Free Asia transmissions to Viet Nam. Sec. 302. United States educational and cultural exchange programs with Viet TITLE IV-UNITED STATES REFUGEE POLICY Sec. 401. Refugee resettlement for nationals of Viet Nam. TITLE V-ANNUAL REPORT ON PROGRESS TOWARD FREEDOM Sec. 501. Annual report. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Congress finds the following: (1) Viet Nam is a one-party state, ruled and controlled by the Vietnamese Communist Party. (2)(A) The Government of Viet Nam denies the people of Viet Nam the right to change their government and prohibits independent political, social, and labor organizations. (B) The Government of Viet Nam prohibits and hinders the formation of civil society in Viet Nam. 3 (3)(A) The Government of Viet Nam consist ently pursues a policy of harassment, discrimination, and intimidation, and sometimes of imprisonment and other forms of detention, against those who peacefully express dissent from government or party policy. This policy includes collectively punishing family members of individuals targeted for persecution. A government decree allows detention without trial for 6 months to 2 years. (B) Following the United States ratification of the Bilateral Trade Agreement with Viet Nam in 2001, the human rights situation in Viet Nam has remained extremely poor. For certain groups, such as the Montagnards, and other ethnic minorities in Central and North Vietnam, conditions have deterio rated dramatically. In late 2002, the Government of Viet Nam launched a fresh wave of arrests and crackdowns against peaceful critics of the Vietnamese Government, its policy of repression, and its corrupt practices. (C) Recent victims of such mistreatment, which violates the rights to freedom of expression and as sociation recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, include Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, a leading human rights activist who was arrested on 4 March 17, 2003, and has already served two lengthy prison sentences, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, linguist Tran Khue, businessman Nguyen Khac Toan, journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, publicist Le Chi Quang, writer Hoang Tien, military historian Pham Que Duong, Hoang Minh Chinh, Viet, Nguyen Truc Cuong, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Vu Cao Father Chan Tin, author Duong Thu Huong, poet Bui Minh Quoc, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Tu (Ha Si Phu), Dr. Pham Hong Son, Mai Thai Linh, Most Vener able Thich Huyen Quang, Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Father Nguyen Van Ly, Pastor Nguyen Lap Ma, Father Phan Van Loi, numerous leaders of the Hoa Hao Buddhist Church and of independent Protestant churches, and an undetermined number of members of the Montagnard ethnic minority groups who participated in peaceful demonstrations in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam during February 2001. (4) The Government of Viet Nam systematically deprives its citizens of the fundamental right or or ganized religious activities outside the state's con |