Title: 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.
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
This resolution recognizes the hardships, sacrifice, and heroism of the Vietnamese refugees who fled their country by boat and other means 45 years ago, since April 30, 1975. It also applauds their accomplishments and significant contributions to the United States since their resettlement.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 941 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 941

 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

                             April 28, 2020

  Mr. Correa (for himself, Mr. Lowenthal, Ms. Lofgren, and Ms. Lee of 
 California) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 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.

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 freedom 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-threatening and torturous; meanwhile, 
        farmlands, personal possessions, 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 challenges 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 shelter at refugee camps 
        within those Southeast Asian countries, a great majority of people 
        fleeing by boat were resettled in developed countries, such as the 
        United States, Canada, Italy, France, West Germany, the United Kingdom, 
        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 currently reside in the 
        United States, making the United States home to the largest number of 
        individuals of Vietnamese 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, including discrimination, language 
        and cultural barriers, and poverty, to emerge as significant 
        contributors to American society; and
Whereas Vietnamese Americans contribute to American society through their work 
        in business, education, science and technology, engineering, 
        mathematics, literature and the arts, gastronomy, the Armed Forces, and 
        public service at every level of government: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives to 
recognize the hardships, sacrifice, and heroism 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 
significant contributions to the United States since their 
resettlement.
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