S.Amdt. 4286

SA 4286. Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Boozman) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2943, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 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 title XII, add the following:

Subtitle I--Vietnam Sanctions

SEC. 1281. SHORT TITLE.

This subtitle may be cited as the ``Vietnam Human Rights
Sanctions Act''.

SEC. 1282. DEFINITIONS.

In this subtitle:
(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.

SEC. 1283. LIMITATIONS ON ARMS TRANSFERS TO VIETNAM.

(a) Limitation on Arms Transfers.--No letter of offer to
sell major defense equipment to Vietnam may be issued
pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et
seq.) and no license to export major defense equipment to
Vietnam may be issued pursuant to that Act in a fiscal year
until the Secretary of State, under the direction of the
President, makes the certification described in subsection
(b) for that fiscal year.
(b) Certification Described.--The certification described
in this subsection is a certification by the Secretary of
State, under the direction of the President, to the
appropriate congressional committees that the Government of
Vietnam has substantially improved its human rights
practices, including, at a minimum, the following problems
identified by the Secretary of State in the Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices for 2015:
(1) Severe government restrictions of the political rights
of citizens, particularly their right to change their
government through free and fair elections.
(2) Limits on the civil liberties of citizens, including
freedom of assembly, association, and expression.
(3) Inadequate protection of the due process rights of
citizens, including protection against arbitrary detention.
(4) Arbitrary and unlawful deprivation of life.
(5) Police attacks and corporal punishment.
(6) Continued police mistreatment of suspects during arrest
and detention, including the use of lethal force and austere
prison conditions.
(7) Denial of the right to a fair and expeditious trial.

SEC. 1284. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO
ARE COMPLICIT IN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED
AGAINST NATIONALS OF VIETNAM OR THEIR FAMILY
MEMBERS.

(a) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose
the sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to
each individual on the list required by subsection (b)(1).
(b) 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
websites 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

[[Page S3318]]

human rights abuses of the Government of Vietnam.
(c) Sanctions.--
(1) Prohibition on entry and admission to the united
states.--
(A) In general.--An individual on the list required by
subsection (b)(1) may not--
(i) be admitted to, enter, or transit through the United
States;
(ii) receive any lawful immigration status in the United
States under the immigration laws, including any relief under
the Convention Against Torture; or
(iii) file any application or petition to obtain such
admission, entry, or status.
(B) Exceptions to comply with international agreements.--
The President may, by regulation, authorize exceptions to
subparagraph (A) 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.
(2) Blocking of property.--
(A) In general.--The President shall, pursuant to the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701
et seq.), block and prohibit all transactions in all property
and interests in property of a person on the list required by
subsection (b)(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.
(B) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
(i) In general.--The authority to block and prohibit all
transactions in all property and interests in property under
subparagraph (A) shall not include the authority to impose
sanctions on the importation of goods.
(ii) Good.--In this paragraph, the term ``good'' has the
meaning given that term in section 16 of the Export
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4618) (as continued in
effect pursuant to the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)).
(C) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of
subparagraph (A) or any regulation, license, or order issued
to carry out subparagraph (A) shall be subject to the
penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206
of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful
act described in subsection (a) of that section.
(d) Waiver.--The President may waive the requirement to
impose or maintain sanctions with respect to an individual
under subsection (a) or the requirement to include an
individual on the list required by subsection (b)(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.
(e) 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. 1285. 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 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.
______