[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 238 Referred in Senate (RFS)]


109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 238


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 15, 2005

                                Received

                            January 27, 2006

             Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Honoring the victims of the Cambodian genocide that took place from 
                      April 1975 to January 1979.

Whereas beginning in April 1975, Pol Pot led the Communist guerilla group, the 
        Khmer Rouge, in a large-scale insurgency in Cambodia that forcibly 
        removed Cambodians from their homes and into labor camps in an attempt 
        to restructure Khmer society;
Whereas traditional Khmer culture and society were systematically destroyed, 
        including the destruction of temples, schools, hospitals, homes, and 
        historic buildings;
Whereas the Khmer Rouge separated and destroyed families and punished and killed 
        innocent civilians, including women, children, doctors, nurses, clergy, 
        teachers, business owners, intellectuals and artisans;
Whereas more than 1.7 million Cambodians, or approximately 21 percent of the 
        population, were killed in one of the worst atrocities of the last 
        century;
Whereas many people were executed simply for being educated, wealthy, or even 
        for wearing glasses as they were seen as bourgeois or contaminated with 
        Western influence;
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, with the majority arriving in the early 1980s and 
        settling in communities across the United States;
Whereas despite the tremendous loss of family members, homes, and even parts of 
        their heritage during the Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodians have shown 
        courage and enormous resiliency;
Whereas, according to United States Census Bureau figures, there are 
        approximately 206,053 Cambodians currently living in the United States;
Whereas the new generation of Cambodian-Americans continues to contribute to all 
        aspects of American society as writers, doctors, professors, and 
        community leaders; and
Whereas the United Nations has taken affirmative steps to establish an 
        international criminal tribunal to bring to justice the perpetrators of 
        the Cambodian genocide: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) honors the victims of the genocide in Cambodia that 
        took place beginning in April 1975 and ending in January 1979; 
        and
            (2) welcomes the establishment of an international criminal 
        tribunal to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Cambodian 
        genocide, with the hope that proceedings of the tribunal will 
        meet international standards of justice.

            Passed the House of Representatives December 14, 2005.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.