H.R. 3122 — Vietnam Human Rights Act

This section designates the Act as the “Vietnam Human Rights Act” and sets forth its table of contents.

This section states congressional findings on U.S.-Vietnam relations, including (1) annual bilateral trade reaching $124 billion in 2023 since the end of the U.S. trade embargo in 1994; (2) a lack of corresponding improvements in political freedom or human rights; (3) Vietnam's status as an authoritarian state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam, which has expanded ties with the Communist Party of China (e.g., joining General Secretary Xi Jinping's "Community of Common Destiny"); and (4) the Vietnamese government's arbitrary arrest and detention of at least 187 persons for political or human rights activism, per the Department of State.

This section declares it the policy of the United States towards Vietnam to (1) embed human rights concerns across all official U.S.-Vietnam government interactions, emphasizing that human rights improvements are integral to trade, security, humanitarian cooperation, and economic development; (2) assess Vietnam's progress on workers' basic rights per the annual report required by section 702 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228), ensure U.S. workers are not disadvantaged by unfair Vietnamese labor practices, and 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) along with recognition of independent labor unions; (3) bar U.S. entry of Vietnamese imports containing forced labor inputs from China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (e.g., cotton, aluminum, polysilicon, rayon, or other materials identified by the Department of Homeland Security under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act); and (4) protect U.S. nationals and businesses from cyber-espionage and transnational repression by Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security.

This section states U.S. policy to identify and impose travel and financial restrictions on officials of the government of Vietnam and other foreign persons working for that government who are responsible for, complicit in, or order (1) arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, or significant corruption (including expropriation of assets, corruption in contracts or natural resource extraction, bribery, or transfer of corruption proceeds abroad); (2) surveillance, censorship, or detention related to online freedom of expression or forcing U.S. companies to censor or disclose user data; or (3) particularly severe violations of religious freedom (as defined in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998). It directs the President to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act on persons described in (1); directs the Secretary of State to impose sanctions under section 7031(c)(1)(A) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2019, on persons described in (2); and directs the Secretary to impose restrictions under section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act on persons described in (3). This section requires the Secretary of State to submit a report to appropriate congressional committees on such sanctions imposed—including the number imposed, reasons, and identifications where appropriate—as part of the report required by the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003.

This section states congressional findings on Vietnam's restrictive internet environment—including its cybersecurity law, Penal Code Articles 117 and 331, and Decree 147 (effective December 25, 2024)—and the compliance of U.S. companies such as Facebook (90% of requests) and YouTube (95% of requests) with Vietnamese censorship demands, including a 983% increase in Facebook restrictions in early 2020. It declares U.S. policy to promote internet freedom in Vietnam via diplomatic pressure, agency engagement, trade measures ensuring free information flow, and public reporting requirements for U.S. government contractors facing Vietnamese data or censorship requests. The section authorizes the Secretary of State to prioritize distribution of censorship circumvention tools and projects protecting Vietnamese bloggers, journalists, and human rights defenders; and requires the Secretaries of State and Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to brief appropriate congressional committees on an action plan promoting internet freedom and assisting U.S. internet companies in opposing Vietnamese content removal requests.

This section states congressional findings that (1) freedom of religion is a U.S. foreign policy priority under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6442); (2) the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended in 2024 designating Vietnam a country of particular concern (CPC) for systematic religious freedom violations; and (3) the Secretary of State placed Vietnam on the Special Watch List on December 29, 2023, for the second consecutive year. It expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary designate Vietnam as a CPC under that act.

This section amends Section 702 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (P.L. 107-228), to require annual reports on U.S.-Vietnam human rights dialogue meetings to address five additional topics: (1) ending incidents of torture, police beatings, deaths in police custody, and mob or societal violence targeting religious groups or dissidents; (2) returning properties of independent religious communities or organizations reportedly expropriated by the government of Vietnam or government-sanctioned religious organizations; (3) addressing individual claims by U.S. citizens whose properties have been expropriated by the government of Vietnam without effective, prompt, and fair compensation; (4) implementing sec. 4 of the Girls Count Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-24) and its application in Vietnam; and (5) ensuring internet freedom and the safety and privacy of Vietnamese bloggers and journalists.

This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act: (1) "appropriate congressional committees" as the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate (except as otherwise provided); (2) "internet" as given in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)); and (3) "personally identifiable information" as data in a form that identifies a particular person.