[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 64 (Thursday, April 30, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S2579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 157--RECOGNIZING THE ECONOMIC, CULTURAL, AND 
 POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SOUTHEAST-ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY ON 
  THE 40TH ANNIVERSARIES OF THE BEGINNING OF KHMER ROUGE CONTROL OVER 
CAMBODIA AND THE BEGINNING OF THE CAMBODIAN GENOCIDE AND THE END OF THE 
       VIETNAM WAR AND THE ``SECRET WAR'' IN THE KINGDOM OF LAOS

  Ms. HIRONO submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 157

       Whereas April 17, 2015, marks the 40th anniversary of the 
     beginning of Khmer Rouge control over Cambodia and the 
     beginning of the Cambodian Genocide;
       Whereas April 30, 2015, marks the 40th anniversary of the 
     end of the Vietnam War;
       Whereas December 2, 2015, marks the 40th anniversary of the 
     end of the ``Secret War'' in which Communists declared 
     victory over the Kingdom of Laos and established a Communist 
     regime in that country;
       Whereas those historic events led to the forced migration 
     to the United States, after 1975, of over 1,000,000 refugees 
     from Cambodia, the Kingdom of Laos, and Vietnam;
       Whereas over 600,000 Vietnamese refugees were resettled in 
     the United States, many of whom had worked with the United 
     States Government as translators and civil servants during 
     the Vietnam War and were paroled into the United States after 
     the enactment of the Indochina Migration and Refugee 
     Assistance Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-23), and in the 1990s, 
     over 30,000 survivors of Communist reeducation camps and 
     150,000 family members of those survivors were resettled in 
     the United States;
       Whereas approximately 250,000 refugees from the Kingdom of 
     Laos were resettled in the United States, many of whom 
     assisted the war effort of the United States during the 
     ``Secret War'' in Laos, including 35,000 individuals who 
     served as Special Guerrilla Unit fighters in the surrogate 
     army for the United States and others who served as civil 
     servants;
       Whereas at least 115,000 Cambodian refugees were resettled 
     in the United States after 1 of the worst genocides of the 
     20th century, during which about 20 percent of the Cambodian 
     population perished;
       Whereas the exodus of refugees from Southeast Asia prompted 
     the United States to enact the Refugee Act of 1980 (Public 
     Law 96-212) and establish the Office of Refugee Resettlement, 
     which established the first formal refugee resettlement 
     system in the United States;
       Whereas the Office of Refugee Resettlement recognized the 
     critical importance of Southeast Asian American Mutual 
     Assistance Associations (MAAs) with the establishment in 1980 
     of a special grant program that lay the groundwork for a 
     strong network of Southeast-Asian American community-based 
     organizations in the United States;
       Whereas, as of April 2015, over 2,500,000 Southeast-Asian 
     Americans trace their heritage to Cambodia, the Kingdom of 
     Laos, and Vietnam;
       Whereas Southeast-Asian Americans include a broad diversity 
     of ethnic groups, including--
       (1) Cham, Khmer, and Khmer Loeu from Cambodia;
       (2) Hmong, Iu-Mien, Khmu, Taidam, and Lao Theung from the 
     Kingdom of Laos; and
       (3) ethnic Khmer, Montagnards, and Vietnamese from Vietnam; 
     and
       Whereas Southeast-Asian Americans--
       (1) have blazed trails to own small businesses, lead 
     community-based organizations, serve in public office, and 
     nurture emerging leaders;
       (2) carry on a rich cultural tradition of music and dance, 
     and pioneer hybrid art forms such as spoken word poetry and 
     hip-hop;
       (3) continue to face significant challenges to full 
     economic and social empowerment, such as low rates of high 
     school completion, high rates of poverty, and 
     disproportionate rates of arrest and incarceration; and
       (4) remain resilient, rooted both in Southeast-Asian 
     heritage and in the society of the United States, and rising 
     toward a hopeful, equitable future: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the significance of the 40th anniversaries 
     of--
       (A) the beginning of the Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia and 
     the Cambodian Genocide;
       (B) the end of the Vietnam War and the ``Secret War'' in 
     Laos;
       (C) the humanitarian response of the people and Government 
     of the United States to receive over 1,000,000 refugees from 
     Southeast Asia; and
       (D) the beginning of the Southeast-Asian American community 
     in the United States; and
       (2) recognizes the ongoing contributions of the Southeast-
     Asian American community to the economic, cultural, and 
     political vitality of the United States.

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