IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 565 
Recognizing the historical significance and the heroic struggles and sacrifices 
of the Vietnamese people who fled their war-torn country by boat and 
other means in search of freedom and democracy. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 30, 2023 
Mr. CORREA submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the historical significance and the heroic strug-
gles and sacrifices of the Vietnamese people who fled 
their war-torn country by boat and other means in search 
of freedom and democracy. 
Whereas, after the Fall of Saigon in 1975 marked the end 
to the Vietnam war, many Vietnamese civilians were 
stripped from their basic human freedoms, such as free-
dom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of religion, 
and even faced relentless discrimination in their own 
homeland; 
Whereas many Vietnamese civilians feared the possible reality 
of reeducation camps where conditions were life-threat-
ening and torturous; meanwhile, farmlands, personal pos-
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•HRES 565 IH 
sessions, and private commerce were all eradicated and 
regulated under the new Vietnamese regime; 
Whereas, following the end of the Vietnam war, from 1975 
to 1992, approximately 1,200,000 Vietnamese refugees 
fled their country by boat or ship seeking a better future 
because of the bleakness of their reality; 
Whereas while 900,000 Vietnamese refugees made it safely to 
shore, about 300,000 refugees were lost at sea; 
Whereas, as Vietnamese refugees took the opportunity to flee 
by boat, all faced daunting fears and unforeseeable chal-
lenges such as starvation, dehydration, illness, drowning, 
kidnapping and killings by pirates, overcrowded boats, 
unpredictable weather, or simply failure to reach shore; 
Whereas while thousands of Vietnamese refugees found shel-
ter at refugee camps within those Southeast Asian coun-
tries, a great majority of people fleeing by boat were re-
settled in developed countries, such as the United States, 
Canada, Italy, France, West Germany, the United King-
dom, and Australia, to begin their new lives; 
Whereas approximately 800,000 Vietnamese refugees who 
fled persecution resettled in the United States; 
Whereas an estimated 1,700,000 Vietnamese Americans cur-
rently reside in the United States, making the United 
States home to the largest number of individuals of Viet-
namese descent outside of Vietnam; 
Whereas Vietnamese Americans are the fourth-largest Asian- 
American population in the United States; 
Whereas first- and second-generation Vietnamese Americans 
have overcome tremendous socioeconomic challenges, in-
cluding discrimination, language and cultural barriers, 
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•HRES 565 IH 
and poverty, to emerge as significant contributors to 
American society; and 
Whereas Vietnamese Americans contribute to American soci-
ety through their work in business, education, science 
and technology, engineering, mathematics, literature and 
the arts, gastronomy, the Armed Forces, and public serv-
ice at every level of government: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives to recognize the hardships, sacrifice, and her-
oism of the Vietnamese refugees who fled their country 
by boat and other means 45 years ago, since April 30, 
1975, and to applaud their accomplishments and signifi-
cant contributions to the United States since their reset-
tlement. 
Æ 
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