[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1477 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1477

 Expressing support for the recognition of the month of September 2024 
 as ``Boat People Awareness Month'' to honor the hundreds of thousands 
 of boat people who fled Vietnam's oppressive Communist regime during 
                 the decades following the Vietnam war.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 19, 2024

 Mrs. Steel submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
             the Committee on Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing support for the recognition of the month of September 2024 
 as ``Boat People Awareness Month'' to honor the hundreds of thousands 
 of boat people who fled Vietnam's oppressive Communist regime during 
                 the decades following the Vietnam war.

Whereas the term ``boat people'' is used to refer to the Vietnamese people who 
        fled the oppressive Communist regime between 1975 and 1995, in which 
        almost 800,000 people left Vietnam by boat to arrive safely in another 
        country;
Whereas many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger from 
        pirates, overcrowded boats, and storms, and many people had no knowledge 
        of sailing;
Whereas, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, between 
        200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea;
Whereas Vietnamese citizens employed many methods to leave the country, and most 
        were secret and done at night;
Whereas, although a few thousand people fled Vietnam by boat between 1975 and 
        1978, the exodus of the boat people began in September 1978;
Whereas the fall of Saigon to the People's Army of Vietnam, and the subsequent 
        evacuation of more than 130,000 Vietnamese closely associated with the 
        United States in Operation New Life and Operation New Arrivals, led to a 
        major influx of Vietnamese into the United States;
Whereas, in 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Indochina Migration and 
        Refugee Assistance Act (Public Law 94-3), budgeting roughly $415,000,000 
        in the effort to provide transportation, health care, and accommodations 
        to 130,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao refugees;
Whereas, in 1979, the plight of the boat people made international news when the 
        United Nations called a conference to address the situation, and the 
        United Nations persuaded the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, 
        Australia, and France to allow more Vietnamese refugees into their 
        countries;
Whereas, in the United States, Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980 (Public 
        Law 96-212), allowing Vietnamese refugees to come directly to the United 
        States;
Whereas about 725,000 Vietnamese settled in the United States after the Vietnam 
        war, and by 2000, more than 1,000,000 people of Vietnamese ancestry 
        lived in the United States;
Whereas the plight of the Vietnamese boat people and the ensuing humanitarian 
        crisis speaks to the resolve and spirit of the Vietnamese refugee 
        community; and
Whereas, in California, many refugees settled in the county of Orange, beginning 
        in the 1970s, and settled in an area of the city of Westminster that 
        then went on to become Little Saigon, as well as other locations 
        throughout the State, including large communities in the cities of San 
        Jose and San Diego: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses support for the designation of ``Boat People 
        Awareness Month''; and
            (2) calls on Congress to honor and recognize the Vietnamese 
        people who fled Communist Vietnam by boats and ships following 
        the end of the Vietnam war.
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