108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 83
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas beginning in April 1975 and ending in January
1979 at least 1,700,000 to 3,000,000 people were delib-
erately and systematically killed in Cambodia in one of
the worst human tragedies of the modern era;
Whereas in 1975, Pol Pot led the Communist guerilla group,
the Khmer Rouge, in a large-scale insurgency in Cam-
bodia that resulted in the removal of Cambodians from
•HCON 83 EH
their homes and into labor camps in an attempt to re-
structure Khmer society;
Whereas traditional Khmer culture and society were system-
atically destroyed, including the destruction of temples,
schools, hospitals, and other buildings;
Whereas families were separated in an attempt by the Khmer
Rouge to prevent family formation, many individuals
were punished or killed for education, wealth, or sophis-
tication, and doctors, nurses, clergy, teachers, business
owners, artisans, city dwellers, and even those individuals
who wore glasses were singled out for execution since
they were seen as bourgeois or contaminated with West-
ern influence;
Whereas the Khmer Rouge maintained control by mass public
torture, executions, and dismantling of the social order;
Whereas men, women, and children were sent to labor camps
and forced to do strenuous farm work and famine and
disease became epidemic while medicine and medical care
were non-existent;
Whereas after the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown in
1979 thousands of Cambodians fled on foot to refugee
camps in Thailand and many refugees were processed
again in other camps in the Philippines and Indonesia;
Whereas from these refugee camps approximately 145,149
Cambodians made their way to the United States be-
tween 1975 and 1999, with the majority of Cambodians
arriving in the early 1980s;
Whereas these Cambodians were subsequently resettled in
communities across the United States;
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Whereas according to United States Bureau of the Census
figures for 2000, there are approximately 206,053 Cam-
bodians currently living in the United States;
Whereas despite their tremendous loss, Cambodians and
Cambodian-Americans have shown courage and resiliency;
Whereas the memory of those Cambodians who were killed
during the Cambodian genocide must never be forgotten
and the survivors of the Cambodian genocide should be
honored;
Whereas the resettlement of Cambodians reflected the hard
work of voluntary agencies through funding by the Fed-
eral government, individual citizens, and Federal, State,
and local governmental agencies, all working together to
assist the new arrivals in adjusting to American society;
Whereas Cambodian refugees have done much to further suc-
cessful resettlement in the United States, including
through mutual assistance associations organized by pre-
viously resettled Southeast Asian refugees to help new
refugees through the provision of essential social, psycho-
logical, cultural, educational, and economic services; and
Whereas while remembering and honoring both their tradi-
tional culture and their traumatic past, the new genera-
tion of Cambodian Americans is contributing to American
society in meaningful ways: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress—
(1) honors the victims of the genocide in Cam-
bodia that took place beginning in April 1975 and
ending in January 1979; and
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(2) is committed to pursue justice for the vic-
tims of the Cambodian genocide.
Passed the House of Representatives November 19,
2003.
Attest:
Clerk.