GovTrack’s Bill Summary
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H.Res. 484 (112th): Calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to respect basic human rights and cease abusing vague national security provisions such as articles 79 and 88 of the Vietnamese penal code which are often the pretext to arrest and detain citizens who peacefully advocate for religious and political freedom.
- Introduced:
- Dec 06, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
- Sponsor:
- Rep. Loretta Sanchez [D-CA47]
- Status:
- Agreed To (Simple Resolution)
The resolution’s title was written by the resolution’s sponsor. H.Res. stands for House simple resolution.
- Summary
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No summaries available.
- Text
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Last updated Sep 11, 2012.
3 pages
- Primary Source
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View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)
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- Citation
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Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
9/11/2012--Passed House amended.
Condemns the crackdown in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam against community organizers, bloggers, and democracy activists.
Calls on the government of Vietnam to:
(1) repeal articles 79 and 88 of the Vietnamese penal code and similar vague national security measures used to persecute peaceful political dissent; and
(2) release all political prisoners, especially activists, writers, and bloggers who have been detained or sentenced under articles 79 and 88.
Urges the Department of State to monitor rule of law developments in Vietnam to help ensure that Vietnamese laws are administered in ways that are consistent with Vietnam's international human rights commitments.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/2/hres484.
Background
The bill’s sponsor made the following statement on the floor of the House on February 1, 2012: “Madam Speaker, we can see that Vietnam's communist government's escalation of crackdowns has targeted the voices of the conscience such as Paulus Le Son and many other Vietnamese patriots for exercising their rights of free speech and expression.
“Recently, I received disturbing reports that another youth activist and Vietnamese songwriter, Viet Khang Tri Minh Vo, was detained and imprisoned by the Vietnamese police and government. Viet Khang's songs question the conscience of the Vietnam police, who have brutally assaulted and arrested demonstrators at peaceful gatherings. It is time for the Government of Vietnam to respect the freedom of expression through the arts and stop these arbitrary arrests and recognize the basic human rights of the individual.
“I urge my colleagues to cosponsor House Resolution 484, calling on the Vietnamese Government to cease the abuse of vague national security provisions in the Vietnamese penal code, which are used to justify the detention and the abuse of their own citizens.”
Summary
H.Res. 484 would condemn the crackdown by Vietnam on democracy activists, bloggers, and community organizers. The bill would also call on Vietnam to release political prisoners detained under vague national security laws, and to repeal those laws.
The bill would urge the State Department to monitor rule of law developments in Vietnam to promote Vietnam’s adherence to its international human rights commitments.
Cost
There is no Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate for this legislation.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
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