Washington, Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Vietnam was threatened with restrictions in U.S. aid by a House of Representatives panel, which criticized the communist government for political repression, religious persecution and other human rights abuses.
The House International Relations Committee unanimously approved legislation proposed by Representative Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican, that would limit non-humanitarian U.S. aid if Vietnam doesn't make progress on human rights.
``The government in Hanoi is unfortunately getting worse, not better, in the way it treats those of its own citizens who share our values,'' Smith said in a statement.
The measure, which comes a week after Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Hanoi, may dampen U.S.-Vietnam relations just as the Bush administration is seeking congressional backing to expand trade with the country.
Smith cited recent human rights abuses by Vietnam's government, including a crackdown on members of the Montagnard ethnic minority, and the arrests of a Buddhist leader, a Catholic priest who gave written testimony to a U.S. commission on religious freedom, and several evangelical Protestants.
Self Defeating
Yet his proposal must overcome legislative hurdles before becoming law, and critics called it self-defeating for the U.S.
The bill threatens U.S. interests by disrupting funding for programs designed to help Vietnam enforce its own trade rules, said Virginia Foote, president of the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council, a business group that advocates normal relations with the Southeast Asian country.
``The trade agreement will soon be in force and implementation will be the key,'' said Foote, who said she expects Congress to approve the Vietnam trade agreement when the lawmakers return from an August recess.
An earlier version of the bill threatened to end all non- humanitarian U.S. assistance to Vietnam. Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, a Republican of Illinois, revised it to forbid only an annual increase in funding and to allow a waiver of penalties if the president certifies Vietnam is pursuing political reform.
Representative Doug Bereuter, a Republican of Nebraska who opposes the measure, also demanded the bill gain approval of the House Financial Services Committee because of its provisions affecting loans by multinational development banks such as the International Monetary Fund.
Bereuter is chairman of that panel's subcommittee on trade.
$2 Billion Aid
Vietnam currently gets more than $2 billion in aid from foreign countries, only a small part of which comes from the U.S., Foote said.
Still, the country is scheduled to get $368 million from the IMF and more than $250 million from the World Bank during the next three years. The U.S. is the largest shareholder of both the IMF and World Bank and has by far the most influence over the lenders' decisions of any nation.
When the trade agreement is ratified, it will expand access to Vietnam's market of 80 million consumers for companies like Coca-Cola Co., Boeing Co., FedEx Corp. and Nike Inc.