[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 193 (Tuesday, December 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7131-S7132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO CA VAN TRAN

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, in 1988, after speaking with Bobby 
Muller, a Vietnam veteran who was wounded and later founded the Vietnam 
Veterans of America Foundation--VVAF--to help alleviate the suffering 
of Vietnamese and Cambodians who were badly injured in the war, I met 
with President George H. W. Bush and Secretary of State James Baker at 
the White House.
  At the time, the United States and Vietnam did not have diplomatic 
relations. Vietnam's economy had been devastated by the war, but the 
U.S. had a trade embargo against the country which remained in effect 
for another 15 years. There were many hundreds of thousands of 
Vietnamese who had been severely disabled due to war injuries, with no 
access to rehabilitation services. President Bush and Secretary Baker 
and I agreed that it was in the interest of the United States to begin 
reconciling with Vietnam by addressing some of the worst legacies of 
the war and that the way to begin was to use what later became known as 
the ``Leahy War Victims Fund,'' administered by the U.S. Agency for 
International Development, to provide artificial limbs and wheelchairs 
to victims of landmines and other unexploded ordnance--UXO.
  That initiative, beginning in Vietnam, was expanded over the years to 
many other countries whose people have been harmed by armed conflict, 
and it continues to this day. One of the implementers of the Leahy War 
Victims Fund in Vietnam, starting in the early 1990s, has been Vietnam 
Assistance for the Handicapped--VNAH--whose founder and president, Ca 
Van Tran, left Vietnam as a refugee in 1975 with hardly a penny to his 
name. Over many years, through hard work and perseverance, Ca became a 
successful businessman in the United States. After returning to Vietnam 
and seeing

[[Page S7132]]

the ongoing suffering of people who had no access to prostheses or 
wheelchairs, he founded VNAH. Since then, VNAH has carried out 
successful projects in multiple provinces and was instrumental in 
working with the Vietnamese authorities to write Vietnam's disabilities 
law, the first of its kind in the country.
  Ca became a good friend to me and my wife Marcelle and to my staff. 
We have visited VNAH's projects in Vietnam, which now assist victims of 
Agent Orange as well as injured survivors of UXO accidents. The 
difference that Ca and VNAH's superb Vietnamese staff have made in the 
lives of the severely disabled and their families cannot be adequately 
described in words. People who lost one or both legs, who were crawling 
on the ground for years, finally received an artificial limb or 
wheelchair and their dignity restored. Parents, children, and siblings 
with cognitive and physical disabilities so severe they cannot speak, 
walk, sit up, feed, or clean themselves now have better care.
  In recent years, Ca has had to cope with his own health challenges 
due to separate motor vehicle accidents both of which were due entirely 
to the negligence of other drivers. At one point, his own mobility was 
limited to a wheelchair. Yet as soon as he was physically able and 
Vietnam relaxed its COVID restrictions, Ca went back there to explore 
ways to expand VNAH's activities.
  Ca has been an inspiration to me and to countless others in this 
country and in Vietnam. He overcame immense challenges as a refugee, 
and when he was financially able, he devoted his life to helping others 
far less fortunate. Although originally from the south, through sheer 
perseverance and dedication to helping others, he overcame the 
suspicions of the authorities in Hanoi. It is in no small measure 
thanks to Ca Van Tran and VNAH that the Leahy War Victims Fund became 
what it is today.
  As I prepare to retire after 48 years in the Senate, I want other 
Members of Congress to know about Ca Van Tran. He is an exceptional 
example of the life-changing difference that one compassionate, 
dedicated person has made to overcome some of the painful legacies of 
the war in Vietnam.

                          ____________________