,,iv  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,h4 ,,res4 #bah  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of
 ,,representatives  ,may #af1 #bjac ,mr4
 ,royce 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,smith of    
,new ,jersey1 ,mr4 ,connolly1 ,mr4      
,pitts1 ,ms4 ,lofgren1 and ,mr4 ,schiff7
 submitted the following resolution2    
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,foreign ,affairs  ,,resolution         
,calling on the ,secretary of ,state to 
list the ,socialist ,republic of        
,vietnam as a ,country of ,particular   
,concern with respect to religious      
freedom4  ,whereas the ,secretary of    
,state1 under the ,international        
,religious ,freedom ,act of #aiih       
7,,irfa71 its amendment in #aiii1 and   
authority delegated by the ,president1  
designates nations found guilty of      
particularly severe violations of       
religious freedom as ,countries of      
,particular ,concern 7,,cpc72 ,whereas  
on ,september #ae1 #bjjd1 the ,secretary
 of ,state designated the ,socialist    
,republic of ,vietnam as a ,,cpc2       

,whereas to avoid possible sanctions or 
other commensurate actions recommended  
by section #dje 7a7 or 7b7 of ,,irfa1 in
 ,may #bjje the ,united ,states and     
,vietnam reached a binding agreement    
consistent with section #dje7;c7 of     
,,irfa2 ,whereas1 although the terms of 
the binding agreement have never been   
fully publicized1 the ,united ,states   
,commission on ,international ,religious
 ,freedom 7,,uscirf7 #bjjf ,annual      
,report stated that the ,united ,states 
agreed to lift the ,,cpc designation if 
the ,government of ,vietnam fully       
implemented legislation on religious    
freedom and rendered previous           
contradictory regulations obsolete1     
instructed local authorities strictly   
and completely to adhere to the new     
legislation to ensure compliance1       
facilitated the process by which        
religious congregations are able to open
 houses of worship1 and gave special    
consideration to prisoners and cases of 
concern raised by the ,united ,states   

during the granting of prisoner         
amnesties2 ,whereas in ,november #bjjf1 
the ,secretary of ,state announced that 
the ,,cpc designation was lifted with   
respect to ,vietnam2 ,whereas in        
explaining the lifting of the           
designation1 ,department of ,state      
officials have stated that the          
,government of ,vietnam has made        
significant improvements towards        
advancing religious freedom and that    
major progress has been achieved on all 
points of concern that led to ,vietnam's
 initial designation2 ,whereas the      
criteria for designating countries as a 
,,cpc1 as set forth in section #c7aa7 of
 ,,irfa1 are for systematic1 ongoing1   
and egregious violations of religious   
freedom including violations1 such as   
torture or cruel1 inhuman1 or degrading 
treatment of punishment1 prolonged      
detention without charges1 causing the  
disappearance of persons by the         
abduction or clandestine detention of   
those persons1 and other flagrant denial

 of the right of life1 liberty1 or the  
security of persons2 ,whereas1 according
 to ,,uscirf1 the ,,cpc designation1    
when used in the past1 brought about    
some overall improvements and prisoner  
releases without hindering progress on  
other ,united ,states-,vietnam          
interests2 ,whereas1 according to the   
,department of ,state's ,country        
,reports on ,human ,rights ,practices   
for #bjab1 ,vietnamese who exercise     
their right to freedom of religion      
continued to be subject to harassment1  
differing interpretations and           
applications of the law1 and            
inconsistent legal protection ''' and   
local police continued to use contract  
thugs and citizen brigades to harass and
 beat political activists and others1   
including religious worshiper2 ,whereas1
 according to ,,uscirf's #bjac ,annual  
,report1 ,vietnam continues to warrant a
 ,,cpc designation because of           
systematic1 ongoing and egregious       
violations of religious freedom and the 

,vietnamese ,government continues to    
view with suspicion the growth of       
,protestantism among ethnic minority    
,hmong and ,montagnards and has taken   
direct action to harass and arrest those
 meeting in independent religious groups
 and to pressure new converts to        
,protestantism to renounce their faith2 
,whereas1 according to ,human ,rights   
,watch1 ,vietnam restricts religious    
freedom through legislation1            
registration requirements1 and harassing
 and intimidating unsanctioned religious
 groups1 including independent          
,protestant home churches1 and          
individuals and congregations of ,hoa   
,hao ,buddhists1 ,cao ,dai1 the ,unified
 ,buddhist ,church of ,vietnam1 and     
,falun ,gong2 ,whereas1 according to    
nongovernmental organizations1 hundreds 
of ,montagnard ,protestants remain in   
prison1 arrested after #bjja and #bjjd  
demonstrations for land rights and      
religious freedom in the ,central       
,highlands2 ,whereas1 according to one  

human rights group1 a religious police  
unit continues to carry out a campaign  
to capture and transform reactionary    
operatives and ,dega ,protestants1      
resulting in beatings1 detentions1      
deaths in custody1 forced renunciations 
of faith1 and disappearances of         
,montagnards ,protestants gathering in  
independent congregations2 ,whereas on  
,march #bf1 #bjab1 the ,people's ,court 
of ,gia ,lai city sentenced ,pastor     
,nguyen ,cong ,chinh1 the leader of the 
,christian ,congregation of the         
,vietnamese ,lutheran ,church1 to #aa   
years in prison2 a higher court in ,july
 #bjab upheld the heavy sentence2 and   
the police continue to harass his wife  
and children1 and on ,april #ab1 #bjac1 
the police of ,binh ,duong ,province    
detained his wife after a prison visit1 
stripped her naked1 and beat her2       
,whereas on ,march #ag1 #bjac1 police in
 ,dak ,nong province arrested #b        
brothers1 both ,hmong ,protestants1     
without charges and tortured one ,hoang 

,van ,ngai1 a deacon at a ,hmong house  
church to death2 ,whereas1 according to 
,,uscirf's #bjac ,annual ,report1       
,vietnamese officials continued to      
target ,catholic communities1 including 
with destruction of properties1         
detentions1 and arrests ''' used force  
against ,catholic clergy engaged in     
religious activities1 and continued to  
restrict1 harass1 and detain members of 
the ,redemptorist ,order for their      
religious freedom advocacy2 ,whereas the
 ,unified ,buddhist ,church of ,vietnam 
7,,ubcv71 the ,hoa ,hao ,buddhists1 and 
the ,cao ,dai groups continue to face   
unwarranted abuses because of their     
attempts to organize independently of   
the ,vietnamese ,government1 including  
the detention and imprisonment of       
individual members and widespread       
discrimination against these religious  
communities2 ,whereas the ,,ubcv1       
,vietnam's largest religious            
organization1 continues to face severe  
restrictions including the continued    

pagoda detention of ,supreme ,patriarch 
,thich ,quang ,do and on its youth and  
charitable work1 conducting religious   
ceremonies1 and in police harassment of 
lay people attending recognized ,,ubcv  
pagodas2 ,whereas1 according to         
,,uscirf's #bjac ,annual ,report1 over  
#fjj ,hmong ,protestant churches are    
refused legal recognition or            
affiliation1 leaving them illegal and   
subject to harassment1 detentions1 and  
property destructions1 and a government 
handbook on religion instructs          
government officials to control existing
 religious practice and overcome the    
extraordinary growth of ,protestantism2 
,whereas in ,may #bjaa the police in    
,dien ,bien ,province brutally cracked  
down on thousands of ,hmong ,protestants
 who gathered near ,muong ,nhe ,village 
reportedly to conduct various types of  
religious activities--the crackdown     
reportedly caused several deaths and    
scores of arrests1 though no independent
 investigation has been allowed2 and    

,whereas ,,uscirf1 prominent            
nongovernmental organizations1 and      
representative associations of          
,vietnamese-,american1                  
,montagnard-,american1 and              
,khmer-,american organizations continue 
to call for the redesignation of        
,vietnam as a ,,cpc3 ,now1 therefore1 be
 it  ,that the ,house of                
,representatives--  7#a7 strongly       
encourages the ,department of ,state to 
place ,vietnam on the list of ,countries
 of ,particular ,concern for            
particularly severe violations of       
religious freedom2  7#b7 strongly       
condemns the ongoing and egregious      
violations of religious freedom in      
,vietnam1 including the detention of    
religious leaders and the long-term     
imprisonment of individuals engaged in  
peaceful advocacy2  7#c7 calls on       
,vietnam to lift restrictions on        
religious freedom1 cease all            
expropriations of church properties1 and
 implement necessary legal and political

 reforms to protect religious freedom2  
and  7#d7 urges the ,department of      
,state to demonstrate clearly that the  
expansion of bilateral ties will depend 
on improvements in religious freedom and
 related rights4