[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 123 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 123

  Expressing support for designation of May 2, 2009, as ``Vietnamese 
                            Refugees Day''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 30, 2009

 Mr. Webb submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
                               agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing support for designation of May 2, 2009, as ``Vietnamese 
                            Refugees Day''.

Whereas the Library of Congress' Asian Division together with many Vietnamese-
        American organizations across the United States will sponsor a ``Journey 
        to Freedom: A Boat People Retrospective'' symposium on May 2, 2009;
Whereas Vietnamese refugees were asylum-seekers from Communist-controlled 
        Vietnam;
Whereas many Vietnamese escaped in boats during the late 1970s, after the 
        Vietnam War and by land across the Cambodian, Laotian, and Thai borders 
        into refugee camps in Thailand;
Whereas over 2,000,000 Vietnamese boat people and other refugees are now spread 
        across the world, in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, 
        England, Germany, China, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines, 
        and other nations;
Whereas over half of all overseas Vietnamese are Vietnamese-Americans, and 
        Vietnamese-Americans are the fourth-largest Asian American group in the 
        United States;
Whereas, as of 2006, 72 percent of Vietnamese-Americans were naturalized United 
        States citizens, the highest rate among all Asian groups;
Whereas Vietnamese-Americans have made significant contributions to the rich 
        culture and economic prosperity of the United States;
Whereas Vietnamese-Americans have distinguished themselves in the fields of 
        literature, the arts, science, and athletics, and include actors and 
        actresses, physicists, an astronaut, and Olympic athletes; and
Whereas May 2, 2009, would be an appropriate day to designate as ``Vietnamese 
        Refugees Day'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate supports the designation of ``Vietnamese 
Refugees Day'' in order to commemorate the arrival of Vietnamese 
refugees in the United States, to document their harrowing experiences, 
and subsequent achievements in their new homeland, to honor the host 
countries that welcomed the boat people, and to recognize the voluntary 
agencies and nongovernmental organizations that facilitated their 
resettlement, adjustment, and assimilation into mainstream society in 
the United States.
                                 <all>