II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 409 

To add Vietnam Veterans Day as a patriotic and national observance. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2013 

Mr. BURR (for himself and Mrs. BOXER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To add Vietnam Veterans Day as a patriotic and national 

observance. 

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

3 SECTION 1. VIETNAM VETERANS DAY. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

5 (1) the Vietnam War was fought in the Repub6 lic of South Vietnam from 1961 to 1975, and in7 volved North Vietnamese regular forces and Viet 

8 Cong guerrilla forces in armed conflict with United 

9 States Armed Forces, allies of the United States, 

10 and the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam; 


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1 (2) the United States Armed Forces became in2 volved in Vietnam because the United States Gov3 ernment wanted to provide direct military support to 

4 the Government of South Vietnam to defend itself 

5 against the growing Communist threat from North 

6 Vietnam; 

7 (3) members of the United States Armed 

8 Forces began serving in an advisory role to the Gov9 ernment of the Republic of South Vietnam in 1950; 

10 (4) as a result of the Gulf of Tonkin incidents 

11 on August 2 and 4, 1964, Congress overwhelmingly 

12 passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Public Law 

13 88–408), on August 7, 1964, which provided the au14 thority to the President of the United States to 

15 prosecute the war against North Vietnam; 

16 (5) in 1965, United States Armed Forces 

17 ground combat units arrived in Vietnam; 

18 (6) by September 1965, there were over 

19 129,000 United States troops in Vietnam, and by 

20 1969, a peak of approximately 543,000 troops was 

21 reached; 

22 (7) on January 27, 1973, the Agreement End23 ing the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam (com24 monly known as the ‘‘Paris Peace Accords’’) was 

25 signed, which required the release of all United 


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1 States prisoners-of-war held in North Vietnam and 

2 the withdrawal of all United States Armed Forces 

3 from South Vietnam; 

4 (8) on March 29, 1973, the United States 

5 Armed Forces completed the withdrawal of combat 

6 units and combat support units from South Viet7 nam; 

8 (9) on April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese reg9 ular forces captured Saigon, the capitol of South 

10 Vietnam, effectively placing South Vietnam under 

11 Communist control; 

12 (10) more than 58,000 members of the United 

13 States Armed Forces lost their lives in Vietnam and 

14 more than 300,000 members of the Armed Forces 

15 were wounded; 

16 (11) in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 

17 was dedicated in the District of Columbia to com18 memorate those members of the United States 

19 Armed Forces who died or were declared missing-in20 action in Vietnam; 

21 (12) the Vietnam War was an extremely divisive 

22 issue among the people of the United States and a 

23 conflict that caused a generation of veterans to wait 

24 too long for the United States public to acknowledge 

25 and honor the efforts and services of such veterans; 


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1 (13) members of the United States Armed 

2 Forces who served bravely and faithfully for the 

3 United States during the Vietnam War were often 

4 wrongly criticized for the policy decisions made by 4 

5 presidential administrations in the United States; 

6 (14) the establishment of a ‘‘Vietnam Veterans 

7 Day’’ would be an appropriate way to honor those 

8 members of the United States Armed Forces who 

9 served in South Vietnam and throughout Southeast 

10 Asia during the Vietnam War; 

11 (15) March 29 would be an appropriate day to 

12 establish as ‘‘Vietnam Veterans Day’’; and 

13 (16) President Obama designated March 29, 

14 2012, as Vietnam Veterans Day under Presidential 

15 Proclamation 8789 (77 Fed. Reg. 20275). 

16 (b) VIETNAM VETERANS DAY.—Chapter 1 of title 36, 

17 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘§ 145. Vietnam Veterans Day 

20 ‘‘The President may issue each year a proclama21 tion— 

22 ‘‘(1) designating March 29 as Vietnam Vet23 erans Day; 


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1 ‘‘(2) honoring and recognizing the contributions 

2 of veterans who served in the United States Armed 

3 Forces in Vietnam during war and during peace; 

4 ‘‘(3) encouraging States and local governments 

5 to establish a Vietnam Veterans Day; and 

6 ‘‘(4) encouraging the people of the United 

7 States to observe Vietnam Veterans Day with appro8 priate ceremonies and activities that— 

9 ‘‘(A) provide the appreciation veterans of 

10 the Vietnam War deserve, but did not receive 

11 upon returning home from the war; 

12 ‘‘(B) demonstrate the resolve that never 

13 again shall the people of the United States dis14 regard and denigrate a generation of veterans; 

15 ‘‘(C) promote awareness of the faithful 

16 service and contributions of the veterans of the 

17 Vietnam War during military service as well as 

18 to the communities of the veterans since return19 ing home; 

20 ‘‘(D) promote awareness of the importance 

21 of entire communities empowering veterans and 

22 the families of veterans in helping the veterans 

23 readjust to civilian life after military service; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(E) promote opportunities for veterans of 

2 the Vietnam War to assist younger veterans re3 turning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 

4 in rehabilitation from wounds, both seen and 

5 unseen, and to support the reintegration of 

6 younger veterans into civilian life.’’. 

7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec8 tions for chapter 1 of title 36, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘145. Vietnam Veterans Day.’’. 

Æ 


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