III 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 289 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES August 1, 2007 Mrs. Boxer submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs November 8, 2007 Committee discharged; considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate that a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day should be established.

Whereas the Vietnam War was fought in Vietnam from 1961 to 1975, and involved North Vietnam and the Viet Cong 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 that 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 South Vietnamese in 1961; Whereas as a result of the Gulf of Tonkin incidents on August 2 and 4, 1964, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Public Law 88–408), on August 7, 1964, which effectively handed over war-making powers to President Johnson until such time as peace and security had returned to Vietnam; Whereas, in 1965, United States Armed Forces ground combat units arrived in Vietnam; Whereas, by the end of 1965, there were 80,000 United States troops in Vietnam, and by 1969 a peak of approximately 543,000 troops was reached; Whereas, on January 27, 1973, the Treaty of Paris was signed, which required the release of all United States prisoners of war held in North Vietnam and the withdrawal of all 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 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 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 crossfire of public debate about the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War; 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 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 there should be established a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day to honor those members of the United States Armed Forces who served in Vietnam.