III 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 269 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES October 6, 2005 Mrs. Boxer submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate that a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day should be established.

Whereas the Vietnam War took place in Vietnam from 1961 to 1975 in which North Vietnam and the Viet Cong were in conflict with the United States and South Vietnam; Whereas the United States became involved in Vietnam because policy makers in the United States believed that if South Vietnam fell to a communist government then communism would spread throughout the rest of Southeast Asia; Whereas members of the United States Armed Forces began serving in an advisory role to the people of South Vietnam in 1961; Whereas, as a result of the Gulf of Tonkin incidents on August 2, 1964 and August 4, 1964, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Joint Resolution entitled Joint Resolution to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia, approved August 10, 1964 (Public Law 88–408; 78 Stat. 384), which effectively granted war-making powers to President Johnson until such time as peace and security had returned to Vietnam; Whereas, in 1965, ground combat units of the United States Armed Forces arrived in Vietnam; Whereas, by the end of 1965, there were 80,000 troops of the United States Armed Forces in Vietnam, and by 1969 the number of troops reached a peak of approximately 543,000; Whereas, on January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed, which required the release of all United States prisoners-of-war held in North Vietnam and the withdrawal of all members of the United States Armed Forces from South Vietnam; Whereas, on March 30, 1973, the United States Armed Forces completed the withdrawal of combat troops from Vietnam; Whereas more than 58,000 members of the United States Armed Forces lost their lives in Vietnam and more than 300,000 members of the United States Armed Forces were wounded; Whereas, in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in the District of Columbia to commemorate those members of the United States Armed Forces who died or were declared missing-in-action in Vietnam; Whereas, as of 2005, more than 1,800 members of the United States Armed Forces remain unaccounted for in Vietnam and Southeast Asia and the Department of Defense continues efforts to recover these members; Whereas the Vietnam War was an extremely divisive issue among the people of the United States; Whereas members of the United States Armed Forces who served bravely and faithfully for the United States during the Vietnam War were caught, upon their return home, in the middle of public debate about the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War; Whereas the Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 250,000 veterans are homeless every night and that 47 percent of all homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era; Whereas veterans of the Vietnam War continue to be at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder and health problems related to Agent Orange exposure; Whereas veterans of the Vietnam War, and all veterans, are entitled to the best care and treatment the Government of the United States can provide; Whereas the establishment of a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day would be an appropriate way to honor those members of the United States Armed Forces who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War; and Whereas March 30, 2006 would be an appropriate day to establish as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of the Senate that a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day should be established to honor those members of the United States Armed Forces who served in Vietnam.