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[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 406 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.Con.Res.406
                                      Agreed to October 17, 2002        

                      One Hundred Seventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
          the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two

                          Concurrent Resolution

Whereas one of the largest clandestine operations in United States 
  military history was conducted in Laos during the Vietnam War;

Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States Armed 
  Forces recruited, organized, trained, and assisted Laotian and Hmong 
  guerrilla units and conventional forces, including ethnic lowland Lao 
  and highland Laotians composed of Hmong, Khmu, Mien, Yao, Lahu, and 
  other diverse tribal and nontribal ethnic groups, from 1960 through 
  1975 to combat the North Vietnamese Army and Communist Pathet Lao 
  forces;

Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces who served in the United 
  States sponsored ``Secret Army'' courageously saved numerous American 
  pilots and aircrews who were shot down over Laos or North Vietnam and 
  interdicted and helped to destroy many enemy units and convoys 
  intended to engage United States military forces in combat;

Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces served in key roles with air 
  force elements of the United States Air Force, United States Navy 
  carrier-based air units, United States Army heliborne units, and the 
  Central Intelligence Agency's ``Air America'' in distinguished roles 
  such as T-28 fighter pilots, ``Raven'' spotter co-pilots, Forward Air 
  Guides, and mobile group rescue and combat reconnaissance units;

Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces, including highly decorated 
  group mobile units, served in daring and courageous heliborne and 
  airborne combat operations in support of joint United States and 
  Royal Lao Army military operations in Laos and Vietnam, including 
  interdiction of enemy troop movements and supply convoys using the Ho 
  Chi Minh Trail;

Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces guarded one of the most highly 
  sensitive United States intelligence and electronic targeting sites 
  in all of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, LIMA Site 85, which 
  permitted the United States Air Force and Navy to conduct the all-
  weather and night bombing of enemy targets in North Vietnam;

Whereas tens of thousands of members of the Laotian and Hmong special 
  forces and their families were trapped in Laos when the Communists 
  took over, and many of these persons were brutally persecuted, 
  imprisoned, or killed because of their role in defending Laos and 
  assisting the United States as allies;

Whereas many of those members of the Laotian and Hmong special forces 
  and their families who avoided capture suffered for years in horrific 
  conditions as political refugees in refugee camps in neighboring 
  Thailand;

Whereas the United States is now the home to significant communities of 
  the Laotian and Hmong veterans and their families after providing 
  them with political asylum, refugee status, and citizenship because 
  of their unique contribution to United States national security 
  interests during the Vietnam War;

Whereas the Lao Veterans of America was founded as a nonprofit veterans 
  organization in 1990 to honor and assist Laotian and Hmong veterans 
  who served with or assisted the United States Armed Forces during the 
  Vietnam War;

Whereas the Lao Veterans of America has established chapters throughout 
  the United States that have sought to serve their communities and 
  educate the public about the historic contribution of the Lao and 
  Hmong veterans during the Vietnam War;

Whereas the Lao Veterans of America spearheaded and led national 
  efforts in the Congress to seek to provide citizenship to elderly 
  Laotian and Hmong veterans, as well as their spouses or widows;

Whereas in 1995, a historic Lao Veterans of America ceremony was held 
  at the airbase and headquarters of the 144th Fighter Wing of the Air 
  National Guard in Fresno, California, along with a memorial service 
  and overflights of T-28 fighter aircraft to honor the Laotian and 
  Hmong veterans, their American advisers, and the Lao Veterans of 
  America and other veterans organizations;

Whereas in 1997, long overdue national recognition and honor was 
  finally bestowed upon the Lao Veterans of America and thousands of 
  Laotian and Hmong veterans and their American advisers at the Vietnam 
  Veterans Memorial in the District of Columbia and at Arlington 
  National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, by Members of the Congress 
  and representatives of the United States intelligence, military, and 
  diplomatic communities;

Whereas in 1997, a monument was dedicated at Arlington National 
  Cemetery by the Lao Veterans of America to honor the Laotian and 
  Hmong veterans and their American advisers who served during the 
  Vietnam War; and

Whereas in 2000, thousands of additional Lao and Hmong veterans were 
  again honored, after a veterans memorial service and parade lead by 
  the Lao Veterans of America that progressed from the Vietnam Veterans 
  Memorial, past the White House, and down Pennsylvania Avenue to the 
  United States Capitol, where a national commemorative service was 
  held: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress honors and commends the Lao Veterans of America, Laotian 
and Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War who served with or assisted the 
United States Armed Forces, and the families of these Laotian and Hmong 
veterans, for their historic contributions to the United States.
  Attest:

                          Jeff Trandahl,

                                                                       
                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.
              By

                                                                       
                                                          Deputy Clerk.

  Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.
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