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
H. Con. Res. 406—2

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
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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.