[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 952 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 952
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to recognize the
resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees, commemorate the contributions
of Southeast Asian Americans to the United States, urge the President
to halt the deportation of Southeast Asian refugees, and advance
equitable policies for Southeast-Asian-American communities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 5, 2020
Mr. Lowenthal (for himself, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Rouda, Mr.
Vargas, Mr. Bera, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Correa, Ms. Speier, Mr. Cisneros,
Ms. Pressley, Mr. Cox of California, Ms. Norton, and Mrs. Watson
Coleman) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to recognize the
resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees, commemorate the contributions
of Southeast Asian Americans to the United States, urge the President
to halt the deportation of Southeast Asian refugees, and advance
equitable policies for Southeast-Asian-American communities.
Whereas April 17, 2020, marks the 45th year since the Khmer Rouge began its
devastating reign in Cambodia, April 30, 2020, marks the 45th
anniversary of the fall of Saigon, December 2, 2020, marks the 45th year
since the abolition of the Lao monarchy, and May 1, 2020, marks the 45th
year since the Hmong, Lao, and other Lao ethnic minorities from Laos
began their evacuation from Laos;
Whereas 2020 commemorates the 45th year of the beginning of the resettlement of
Southeast Asian refugees to the United States;
Whereas Southeast Asian Americans comprise more than 3,000,000 individuals in
the United States and include the Cham, Hmong, Khmer, Khmer Kampuchea
Krom, Khmer Loeu, Khmu, Lahu, Lao, Iu Mien, Montagnards, Phutai, Pnong,
Tai Dam, Tai Deng, Tai Lue, and Vietnamese;
Whereas the United States intervened in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to prevent
the spread of communism in Southeast Asia through direct military
interventions and covert and clandestine operations;
Whereas the Vietnamese from South Vietnam allied with the United States in
opposition to the expansion of North Vietnam until the fall of Saigon on
April 30, 1975, and many Vietnamese still suffer lasting trauma from the
war, including exposure to Agent Orange and post-traumatic stress
disorder;
Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency and various different agencies enlisted
the Hmong, Lao, and Laotian ethnic groups in Laos as allies to aid
United States forces in Southeast Asia, waging a 13-year covert
operation called the ``Secret Wars'' against the Pathet Lao, Viet Cong,
and Northern Vietnamese Army;
Whereas the United States heavily bombed Laos, leaving the country as the most
heavily bombed country in the world, with over 580,000 bombing missions
between 1964 and 1973;
Whereas Cambodians assisted United States forces during American operations in
Cambodia, including Operation Menu;
Whereas the United States dropped 540,000 tons of bombs into Cambodia between
1969 and 1973 against Viet Cong forces located in Cambodia,
destabilizing a fragile government, resulting in the rise of the Khmer
Rouge, and leading to the genocide of an estimated 2,000,000 Cambodians;
Whereas the United States dispersed over 13,000,000 gallons of Agent Orange in
Vietnam, 475,000 gallons in Laos, and 40,900 in Cambodia during this
era, with many Southeast Asians still impacted by the effects of this
toxin;
Whereas over 3,000,000 individuals were displaced by war, conflict, and genocide
from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam;
Whereas between 1975 to the mid-2000s, the United States accepted over 1,200,000
Southeast Asians escaping the Vietnam war, persecution in Laos, and
Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia;
Whereas the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States
typically placed many individuals and families in communities with
inadequate financial, long-term resettlement support and many of these
individuals and their children languished in severe poverty;
Whereas many Southeast Asian refugees have thrived and contributed greatly to
the economic, educational, military, political, and social culture of
the United States since their resettlement;
Whereas despite the success of many Southeast Asian Americans, many still face
economic, educational, and linguistic barriers in the United States, in
particular, a significant percentage of Cambodian, Hmong, Lao,
Vietnamese, and other Southeast Asian Americans endure severe poverty,
lack of English proficiency, educational barriers, and unique health
disparities as survivors of war and genocide;
Whereas the War on Poverty, including the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act, decreased resources for low-income,
refugee, and immigrant communities to transform from generational
poverty;
Whereas, as survivors of war and genocide, Southeast Asian Americans still face
disparate health outcomes, including higher rates of physical, mental,
and chronic health challenges, including over 60 percent of Cambodians
and a significant number of other Southeast Asian Americans who continue
to experience post-traumatic stress disorder;
Whereas, as children of the survivors of war and genocide, first and second
generation Southeast Asian Americans have intergenerational, compounded
trauma that has created poor mental health conditions and education
barriers;
Whereas the War on Drugs, Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act,
expansion of the incarceration system, and over policing of low-income
refugee communities resulted in a significant number of Southeast Asian
Americans coming into contact with the criminal justice system;
Whereas the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
expanded the definition of what type of crime could result in
deportation and limited due process protections for immigrants,
refugees, and other noncitizens; the Act also allowed the expanded
definition to be applied retroactively without proper consideration of
an individual's lived circumstances;
Whereas more than 15,000 Southeast Asian Americans, many of whom were refugees,
live in the United States with a final order of removal and over 2,000
have been deported since 1998;
Whereas many Southeast Asian Americans with a final order of removal are United
States residents who are more than 10 years removed from the time of
their criminal convictions and have moved on to become pillars of their
communities, homeowners, fathers, mothers, caregivers, and tenured
employees;
Whereas the Trump administration's approach to deportation breaks up families
and, in some cases, the deportees have never lived in their country of
origin, do not speak the language of their country of origin, or do not
have a living relative in their country of origin;
Whereas, in December 2018, a total of 55 members of the House of Representatives
and 13 Senators signed onto two separate letters by Representatives Judy
Chu and Pramila Jayapal and Senators Mazie Hirono and Kamala Harris to
the President, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department
of State urging fiscal restraint in the deportation of Southeast Asian
Americans; and
Whereas, in December 2018, an additional 22 members of the House of
Representatives signed onto a letter to the Department of Homeland
Security opposing renegotiations of the bilateral United States and
Vietnam memorandum of understanding that would strip deportation
protections from Vietnamese Americans who arrived in the United States
before July 12, 1995, from deportation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) commemorates the 45 years since Southeast Asian
refugees began resettling in the United States;
(2) honors the sacrifices made by Southeast-Asian-American
communities on behalf of the United States;
(3) recognizes the contributions of Southeast Asian
Americans to the economic, educational, military, political,
and social culture of the United States;
(4) opposes the deportation of Southeast Asian Americans
who resettled to the United States as refugees from Cambodia,
Laos, and Vietnam;
(5) urges that President Trump and his administration place
an immediate moratorium on the deportation of thousands of
Southeast Asian Americans whose crimes occurred more than 10
years ago because the House of Representatives honors these
individuals as they hold fast to American values of
rehabilitation and the need for second chances;
(6) continues to pursue comprehensive policies that ensure
equity and justice for Southeast-Asian-American communities,
including in education and health; and
(7) honors the United States responsibility to refugees,
immigrants, and naturalized United States citizens in this
community.
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