IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1477 
Expressing support for the recognition of the month of September 2024 
as ‘‘Boat People Awareness Month’’ to honor the hundreds of thousands 
of boat people who fled Vietnam’s oppressive Communist regime during 
the decades following the Vietnam war. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 19, 2024 
Mrs. STEEL submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Accountability 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing support for the recognition of the month of Sep-
tember 2024 as ‘‘Boat People Awareness Month’’ to 
honor the hundreds of thousands of boat people who 
fled Vietnam’s oppressive Communist regime during the 
decades following the Vietnam war. 
Whereas the term ‘‘boat people’’ is used to refer to the Viet-
namese people who fled the oppressive Communist regime 
between 1975 and 1995, in which almost 800,000 people 
left Vietnam by boat to arrive safely in another country; 
Whereas many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, 
facing danger from pirates, overcrowded boats, and 
storms, and many people had no knowledge of sailing; 
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•HRES 1477 IH 
Whereas, according to the United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat 
people died at sea; 
Whereas Vietnamese citizens employed many methods to 
leave the country, and most were secret and done at 
night; 
Whereas, although a few thousand people fled Vietnam by 
boat between 1975 and 1978, the exodus of the boat peo-
ple began in September 1978; 
Whereas the fall of Saigon to the People’s Army of Vietnam, 
and the subsequent evacuation of more than 130,000 Vi-
etnamese closely associated with the United States in Op-
eration New Life and Operation New Arrivals, led to a 
major influx of Vietnamese into the United States; 
Whereas, in 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Indo-
china Migration and Refugee Assistance Act (Public Law 
94–3), budgeting roughly $415,000,000 in the effort to 
provide transportation, health care, and accommodations 
to 130,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao refugees; 
Whereas, in 1979, the plight of the boat people made inter-
national news when the United Nations called a con-
ference to address the situation, and the United Nations 
persuaded the United States, Canada, the United King-
dom, Australia, and France to allow more Vietnamese 
refugees into their countries; 
Whereas, in the United States, Congress passed the Refugee 
Act of 1980 (Public Law 96–212), allowing Vietnamese 
refugees to come directly to the United States; 
Whereas about 725,000 Vietnamese settled in the United 
States after the Vietnam war, and by 2000, more than 
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•HRES 1477 IH 
1,000,000 people of Vietnamese ancestry lived in the 
United States; 
Whereas the plight of the Vietnamese boat people and the en-
suing humanitarian crisis speaks to the resolve and spirit 
of the Vietnamese refugee community; and 
Whereas, in California, many refugees settled in the county 
of Orange, beginning in the 1970s, and settled in an area 
of the city of Westminster that then went on to become 
Little Saigon, as well as other locations throughout the 
State, including large communities in the cities of San 
Jose and San Diego: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses support for the designation of 
‘‘Boat People Awareness Month’’; and 
(2) calls on Congress to honor and recognize 
the Vietnamese people who fled Communist Vietnam 
by boats and ships following the end of the Vietnam 
war. 
Æ 
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