I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2097 

To recognize the Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and other ethnic groups commonly 

referred to as Montagnards, who supported and defended the Armed 

Forces during the conflict in Southeast Asia, authorize assistance to 

support activities relating to clearance of unexploded ordnance and other 

explosive remnants of war, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Mr. DUFFY (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, 

and Ms. SPEIER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To recognize the Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and other ethnic 

groups commonly referred to as Montagnards, who supported and defended the Armed Forces during the conflict in Southeast Asia, authorize assistance to support 

activities relating to clearance of unexploded ordnance 

and other explosive remnants of war, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legacies of War Rec3 ognition and Unexploded Ordnance Removal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RECOGNITION OF HMONG, KHMER, LAOTIAN, 

5 MONTAGNARDS, AND OTHER ETHNIC 

6 GROUPS WHO SUPPORTED AND DEFENDED 

7 THE ARMED FORCES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) Many Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and 

10 Montagnards— 

11 (A) fought and died with United States 

12 Armed Forces during the conflict in Southeast 

13 Asia in the 1960s and 1970s; 

14 (B) rescued United States pilots shot down 

15 in enemy-controlled territory and returned the 

16 pilots to safety; 

17 (C) captured and destroyed enemy supplies 

18 and prevented enemy forces from using the sup19 plies to kill members of the United States 

20 Armed Forces; 

21 (D) gathered and provided to the United 

22 States Armed Forces intelligence about enemy 

23 troop positions, movement, and strength; and 

24 (E) provided food, shelter, and support to 

25 the United States Armed Forces. 


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1 (2) The National Armed Forces of Cambodia 

2 facilitated the evacuation of the United States Em3 bassy in Phnom Penh on April 12, 1975, by con4 tinuing to fight Khmer Rouge forces as they ad5 vanced upon the capital. 

6 (3) A tragic legacy of the conflict in Southeast 

7 Asia is the lethal risk posed by unexploded ordnance 

8 (UXO) in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia that still 

9 litter forests, rice fields, villages, school grounds, 

10 roads, and other populated areas—hindering devel11 opment and poverty reduction efforts. 

12 (4) Vietnam remains one of the world’s most 

13 contaminated countries, with an estimated 800,000 

14 tons of UXO left over from the conflict in Southeast 

15 Asia that ended more than 40 years ago. It has 

16 caused more than 100,000 casualties, including 

17 40,000 deaths. 

18 (5) From 1964–1973, the United States 

19 dropped more than 2,000,000 tons of bombs on 

20 Laos during American operations to disrupt North 

21 Vietnamese military supply routes. As a result, Laos 

22 is the most heavily bombed country per capita in the 

23 world. Much of the country’s land remains contami24 nated with more than 80,000,000 small, unexploded 

25 cluster munitions. Since the end of the conflict, 


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1 UXO have injured or killed more than 25,000 civil2 ians in Laos. 

3 (6) Cambodia suffers from one of the highest 

4 rates of landmine and UXO accidents in the world. 

5 Over 64,000 Cambodians have been killed or injured 

6 by unexploded ordnance and other explosive rem7 nants of war since 1979, with an average of one cas8 ualty every week. 

9 (7) The United States is the world’s leading fi10 nancial supporter of conventional weapons destruc11 tion worldwide. Since 1993, the United States has 

12 provided more than $3,400,000,000 in assistance to 

13 more than 100 countries, including more than 

14 $132,000,000 in Vietnam, $200,000,000 in Laos, 

15 and $140,000,000 in Cambodia. 

16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that— 

18 (1) the Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and 

19 Montagnard Freedom Fighters deserve recognition 

20 for their support and defense of the Armed Forces 

21 and freedom during the conflict in Southeast Asia; 

22 and 

23 (2) the United States should continue to sup24 port activities to clear unexploded ordnance and 

25 other explosive remnants of war in Vietnam, Laos, 


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1 and Cambodia, and strengthen people-to-people ties 

2 and reaffirm America’s long-standing commitment 

3 to Southeast Asia. 

4 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE IN VIETNAM, 

5 LAOS, AND CAMBODIA. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to 

7 provide humanitarian assistance for programs to support 

8 the activities described in subsection (b). 

9 (b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may be 

10 supported by assistance under subsection (a) include the 

11 following: 

12 (1) Developing national surveys of unexploded 

13 ordnance and other explosive remnants of war in 

14 Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. 

15 (2) Providing for clearance of such unexploded 

16 ordnance. 

17 (3) Providing assistance for capacity building, 

18 risk education, and victims in Vietnam, Laos, and 

19 Cambodia related to both unexploded ordnance and 

20 other explosive remnants of war. 

21 (c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

22 President shall seek to consult, partner, and coordinate 

23 with international organizations, civil society, donor gov24 ernments through the Mine Action Support Group, and 

25 other stakeholders, as appropriate, to leverage their experVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2097.IH H2097

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1 tise, financial support, and resources to minimize duplica2 tion of efforts and maximize the efficient and effective pro3 vision of United States assistance. 

4 (d) BRIEFING.—The President shall provide annual 

5 briefings to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

6 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa7 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 

8 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate on activities 

9 undertaken in accordance with this section. 

10 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

11 authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry 

12 out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

13 through 2024. 

Æ 


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