[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 21, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E637-E638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  THE INTRODUCTION OF PRIVATE LEGISLATION FOR THE RELIEF OF NGUYEN QUY 
                       AN AND NGUYEN NGOC KIM QUY

                                 ______


                         HON. NORMAN Y. MINETA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 21, 1995
  Mr. MINETA. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to 
finally resolve the bureaucratic nightmare in which a brave hero of the 
Vietnam war, Maj. An Nguyen, has found himself.
  Major An is a decorated veteran of the South Vietnamese Air Force, 
decorated by the 
[[Page E638]] United States Pentagon. On January 17, 1969, as a 
helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war, Major An saved the lives of 
four United States servicemen.
  The account of that incident shows clearly that this is an individual 
to whom this country owes a great debt. The June 4, 1969 announcement 
of the U.S. Military Assistance Command's decision to award him the 
Distinguished Flying Cross stated:

       Captain An distinguished himself by heroic action on 17 
     January 1969 while serving as Flight Leader and Aircraft 
     Commander, 219th Squadron, 41st Wing, Vietnamese Air Force. 
     On that date, Captain An was called upon to lead his flight 
     deep into enemy held territory to insert a platoon of Special 
     Forces personnel into a bomb crater landing zone. His ship 
     was taken under enemy automatic weapons fire on his approach 
     but he steadfastly continued with this cargo of troops. While 
     he was a high orbit, one of the United States Army 
     helicopters in his flight was hit in the fuel cell by a heavy 
     caliber round during a climb from the jungle clearing.
       Captain An sighted the burning helicopter and entered a 
     high speed dive to overtake it. As he flew next to his 
     American comrades, he accurately vectored them toward what 
     appeared to be a suitable forced landing area. When he saw 
     that ground obstacles would preclude a safe landing, he 
     deftly maneuvered his aircraft and the Army helicopter away 
     from the landing zone and vectored them toward another jungle 
     clearing.
       While the crippled ship was making its approach into the 
     tall elephant grass, Captain An, with complete disregard for 
     is own safety, landed a scant few feet away. Here he calmly 
     awaited his beleaguered comrades and directed his crew chief 
     to cut a path to their ship.
       Captain An's heroic actions reflect great credit upon 
     himself and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam.

  The testaments of the U.S. servicemen whose lives he saved are 
equally compelling. With a record such as this, one would think it 
would be easy for Major An to do what he has sought to do for 20 years, 
immigrate to America.
  Unfortunately, Major An's case does not fit neatly into the 
categories in which Vietnamese refugees travel to the United States.
  U.S. law grants permanent residence to officers of the South 
Vietnamese Army who spent at least three years in the so-called red-
education camps reestablished by the communist regime.
  Major An, however, did not spend 3 years in the camps. In 1970, as 
part of another mission, he was wounded and both his arms were 
amputated. When South Vietnam fell, he was sent to the re-education 
camps.
  Unable to take care of himself because of his disability, he was 
expelled from the camp. Over the past two decades he has tried 
repeatedly to come to the United States, but was captured each time.
  Col. Noburo Masuoka--USAF, retired--contacted me on Major An's behalf 
in April 1992. It took almost 2 years to get the necessary waivers and 
permission for him to leave Vietnam and come to the United States. But 
the Clinton administration's decision to grant him humanitarian parole, 
Major An and his daughter Kim Ngoc Nguyen, arrived in the San Francisco 
Bay area in January 1994.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, humanitarian parole does not constitute 
permanent permission to remain in the United States. Major An and his 
daughter deserve permanent residency status, and the bill I am 
introducing today will grant them that status.
  I would like to thank my good friend, Representative Lamar Smith, the 
chair of the Immigration and Claims Subcommittee of the Judiciary 
Committee for his help and the help of his staff in putting this bill 
together.
  It is my hope that we can move this bill forward, but through the red 
tape which has entangled Major An's case for so many years, and 
demonstrate our respect and admiration for the noble self-sacrifice of 
this truly American hero. I urge all my colleagues to join me in that 
effort .


                          ____________________