Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam should provide former members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam, who served alongside the United States Armed Forces in defense of their nation during the Vietnam War, with appropriate levels of support and services.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Calls upon Vietnam to:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 296 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 296

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Socialist 
 Republic of Vietnam should provide former members of the Armed Forces 
  of the Republic of Vietnam, who served alongside the United States 
 Armed Forces in defense of their nation during the Vietnam War, with 
              appropriate levels of support and services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2017

   Mr. Cook (for himself and Mr. Lowenthal) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Socialist 
 Republic of Vietnam should provide former members of the Armed Forces 
  of the Republic of Vietnam, who served alongside the United States 
 Armed Forces in defense of their nation during the Vietnam War, with 
              appropriate levels of support and services.

Whereas the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces performed admirably during a long 
        and difficult struggle;
Whereas the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, despite political and social 
        instability formed into an effective fighting force with the assistance 
        of American advisors;
Whereas the Army of the Republic of Vietnam bore the brunt of early fighting 
        during the 1968 Tet Offensive and repelled Viet Cong attacks with 
        bravery and elan, in the words of Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, ``it 
        reacted strongly, quickly, and decisively. It set about the task of 
        recovery with great energy'';
Whereas the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces displayed an ability to conduct 
        independent offensive operations and determined resistance against 
        incursion on multiple occasions;
Whereas 275,000 Republic of Vietnam servicemembers lost their lives during the 
        Vietnam War in defense of their nation;
Whereas after the Fall of Saigon, many South Vietnamese veterans spent a decade 
        or more in incarceration or re-education camps;
Whereas veterans of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, and their families, 
        have during the more than four decades since the conclusion of the war 
        comported themselves respectably and contributed importantly as citizens 
        of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
Whereas, as many as 15,000 South Vietnamese veterans still reside in Vietnam, 
        surviving with little support or acknowledgment from their government;
Whereas those veterans and their families have in many instances not been 
        accorded support and services comparable to that accorded their fellow 
        citizens; and
Whereas cemeteries and other memorials to the fallen comrades of these veterans 
        and their families have not been maintained and respected appropriately: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses great concern that the Socialist Republic of 
        Vietnam fails to provide adequate support or services to 
        thousands of South Vietnamese Veterans;
            (2) calls on the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to provide 
        aid to Republic of Vietnam Veterans and support disabled 
        Veterans;
            (3) calls on the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to recognize 
        the service of South Vietnam's Veterans as a means to heal the 
        scars of war;
            (4) urges the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to honor their 
        former opponents by providing for the maintenance and upkeep of 
        the Binh An Cemetery (formerly the Bien Hoa Military Cemetery); 
        and
            (5) calls on the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to designate 
        the Binh An Cemetery as a protected historic site of cultural 
        significance.
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