II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3795 

To recognize the refugee and immigrant communities from Cambodia, Laos, 

and Vietnam including the Hmong, Cham, Cambodian, Iu-Mien, Khmu, 

Lao, Montagnard, and Vietnamese Americans 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10 (legislative day, MARCH 7), 2022 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To recognize the refugee and immigrant communities from 

Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam including the Hmong, 

Cham, Cambodian, Iu-Mien, Khmu, Lao, Montagnard, 

and Vietnamese Americans 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 THE HMONG, CHAM, CAMBODIAN, 

5 IU-MIEN, KHMU, LAO, MONTAGNARD, AND VI6 ETNAMESE COMMUNITIES WHO SUPPORTED 

7 AND DEFENDED THE ARMED FORCES IN 

8 SOUTHEAST ASIA. 

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

10 (1) Many Hmong, Cham, Cambodian, Iu-Mien, 

11 Khmu, Lao, Montagnard and Vietnamese— 

12 (A) fought and died with United States 

13 Armed Forces during the conflict in Southeast 

14 Asia in the 1960s and 1970s; 

15 (B) rescued United States pilots shot down 

16 in enemy-controlled territory and returned the 

17 pilots to safety; 

18 (C) gathered and provided to the United 

19 States Armed Forces intelligence about enemy 

20 troop positions, movement, and strength; and 

21 (D) provided food, shelter, and support to 

22 the United States Armed Forces. 

23 (2) The National Armed Forces of Cambodia 

24 facilitated the evacuation of the United States Em25 bassy in Phnom Penh on April 12, 1975, by conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Mar 12, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3795.IS S3795

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1 tinuing to fight Khmer Rouge forces as they ad2 vanced upon the capital. 

3 (3) The unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Viet4 nam, Laos, and Cambodia that still litter forests, 

5 rice fields, villages, school grounds, roads, and other 

6 populated areas hinder development and poverty re7 duction efforts. 

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

9 contaminated countries, with an estimated 800,000 

10 tons of UXO left over from the conflict in Southeast 

11 Asia that ended more than 40 years ago. Since 

12 1975, mine and UXO accidents have caused more 

13 than 105,000 casualties, including more than 38,000 

14 deaths of Vietnamese civilians. 

15 (5) In Laos, much of the country’s land re16 mains contaminated with tens of millions of small, 

17 unexploded cluster munitions. Since 1964, explosive 

18 remnants of war have injured or killed more than 

19 50,000 civilians in Laos. 

20 (6) Cambodia has experienced one of the high21 est rates of landmine and UXO casualties in the 

22 world. Over 64,000 Cambodians have been killed or 

23 injured by UXO and other explosive remnants of 

24 war since 1979. 


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1 (7) The United States is the world’s leading fi2 nancial supporter of demining and UXO removal 

3 programs. Since 1993, the United States has worked 

4 to locate and destroy UXO and other explosive rem5 nants of war in more than 100 countries, including 

6 in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. 

7 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that— 

9 (1) the Hmong, Cham, Cambodian, Iu-Mien, 

10 Khmu, Lao, Montagnard, and Vietnamese Ameri11 cans deserve recognition for their support and de12 fense of the United States Armed Forces during the 

13 conflict in Southeast Asia; and 

14 (2) the United States should continue to sup15 port activities to clear UXO and other explosive rem16 nants of war in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and 

17 strengthen people-to-people ties and reaffirm Amer18 ica’s long-standing commitment to Southeast Asia. 

19 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE FOR VIETNAM, 

20 LAOS, AND CAMBODIA. 

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

22 provide humanitarian assistance for programs to support 

23 the activities described in subsection (b). 


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

2 supported by assistance under subsection (a) include the 

3 following: 

4 (1) Developing national surveys of unexploded 

5 ordnance (UXO) and other explosive remnants of 

6 war in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. 

7 (2) Providing for clearance of such UXO and 

8 other explosive remnants of war. 

9 (3) Providing assistance for capacity building, 

10 risk education, and assistance to survivors, including 

11 medical assistance and prosthetic devices, in Viet12 nam, Laos, and Cambodia related to both UXO and 

13 other explosive remnants of war. 

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

15 President shall seek to consult, partner, and coordinate 

16 with international organizations, civil society, donor gov17 ernments, and other stakeholders, as appropriate, to lever18 age their expertise, financial support, and resources to 

19 minimize duplication of efforts and maximize the efficient 

20 and effective provision of United States assistance. 

21 (d) BRIEFINGS.— 

22 (1) ANNUAL BRIEFINGS.—The President shall 

23 provide annual briefings to the appropriate commit24 tees of Congress on activities undertaken in accord25 ance with this section. 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS

2 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro3 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

5 the Committee on Armed Services, and the 

6 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

7 and 

8 (B) the Committee of Foreign Affairs, the 

9 Committee on Armed Services, and the Com10 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Rep11 resentatives. 

12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry 

14 out this section $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

15 through 2026. 

Æ 


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