S.Amdt. 2032

SA 2032. Mr. McCAIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle E of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1264. SENSE OF SENATE ON THE EASING OF RESTRICTIONS ON
THE SALE OF LETHAL MILITARY EQUIPMENT TO THE
GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM.

It is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) Vietnam is an important emerging partner with which the
United States increasingly shares strategic and economic
interests, including improving bilateral and multilateral
capacity for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,
upholding the principles of freedom of the seas and peaceful
resolution of international disputes, strengthening an open
regional trading order, and maintaining a favorable balance
of power in the Asia-Pacific region;
(2) the Government of Vietnam has recently taken modest but
encouraging steps to improve its human rights record,
including signing the United Nations Convention Against
Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly
December 10, 1984, increasing registrations for places of
worship, taking greater action to combat human trafficking,
reviewing the Criminal Code, and continuing to conduct high-
level engagement with the United States and international
human rights non-governmental organizations;
(3) in light of growing challenges in the Asia-Pacific
region and some steps by the Government of Vietnam to improve
its human rights record, in 2014 the Department of State, in
close consultation with the United States Senate, took steps
to ease the United States prohibition on the sale of lethal
military equipment to Vietnam for maritime and costal
defense;
(4) easing the prohibition on the sale of lethal military
equipment to Vietnam at this time, solely regarding platforms
that facilitate the ability of the armed forces of Vietnam to
operate more effectively on, above, and within its
territorial waters and for coastal defense, would further
United States national security interests, but steps beyond
this to ease further the prohibition would require the
Government of Vietnam to take significant additional and
sustained steps to protect human rights, including releases
of prisoners of conscience and legal reforms;
(5) the United States Government should continue to support
civil society in Vietnam, including advocates for religious
freedom, press freedom, and labor rights who seek to use
peaceful means to build a strong and prosperous Vietnam that
respects human rights and the rule of law; and
(6) the United States Government should continue to engage
the Government of Vietnam in a high-level dialogue and
specify what steps on human rights would be necessary for the
Government of Vietnam to take in order to continue
strengthening the bilateral relationship.
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