[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10896-10898]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR VIETNAMESE REFUGEES DAY

  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 342) expressing support for designation of May 2, 
2009, as ``Vietnamese Refugees Day''.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 342

       Whereas the Library of Congress' Asian Division together 
     with many Vietnamese-American organizations across the United 
     States will sponsor a ``Journey to Freedom: A Boat People 
     Retrospective'' symposium on May 2, 2009;
       Whereas Vietnamese refugees were asylum-seekers from 
     Communist-controlled Vietnam;
       Whereas many Vietnamese escaped in boats during the late 
     1970s, after the Vietnam War and by land across the 
     Cambodian, Laotian, and Thai borders into refugee camps in 
     Thailand;
       Whereas over 2,000,000 Vietnamese boat people and other 
     refugees are now spread across the world, in the United 
     States, Australia, Canada, France, England, Germany, China, 
     Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines, and other 
     nations;
       Whereas over half of all overseas Vietnamese are 
     Vietnamese-Americans, and Vietnamese-Americans are the 
     fourth-largest Asian American group in the United States;
       Whereas, as of 2006, 72 percent of Vietnamese-Americans 
     were naturalized United States citizens, the highest rate 
     among all Asian groups;
       Whereas Vietnamese-Americans have made significant 
     contributions to the rich culture and economic prosperity of 
     the United States;
       Whereas Vietnamese-Americans have distinguished themselves 
     in the fields of literature, the arts, science, and 
     athletics, and include actors and actresses, physicists, an 
     astronaut, and Olympic athletes; and
       Whereas May 2, 2009, would be an appropriate day to 
     designate as ``Vietnamese Refugees Day'': Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports the 
     designation of ``Vietnamese Refugees Day'' in order to 
     commemorate the arrival of Vietnamese refugees in the United 
     States, to document their harrowing experiences, and 
     subsequent achievements in their new homeland, to honor the 
     host countries that welcomed the boat people, and to 
     recognize the voluntary agencies and nongovernmental 
     organizations that facilitated their resettlement, 
     adjustment, and assimilation into mainstream society in the 
     United States.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Westmoreland) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Massachusetts?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I now yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the House Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform, I stand to join my colleagues in the consideration 
of House Resolution 342, which expresses our support for the 
designation of May 2, 2009, as ``Vietnamese Refugees Day.''
  And House Resolution 342 was introduced by the gentleman from 
Louisiana, Congressman Cao, on April 21, 2009, and was considered by 
and reported from the Oversight Committee on April 23, 2009, by 
unanimous consent. This measure has the support and cosponsorship of 67 
Members of Congress.
  Basically, Vietnamese refugees were asylum-seekers from Communist-
controlled Vietnam. In the late 1970s, many Vietnamese escaped in boats 
and by land across the Cambodian, Laotian and the Thai borders into 
refugee camps in Thailand after the Vietnam war. Over 2 million 
Vietnamese boat people and other refugees are now spread across the 
world, in the United

[[Page 10897]]

States, Australia, Canada, France, England, Germany, Japan, China, Hong 
Kong and South Korea, also in the Philippines and other nations. Over 
half of all overseas Vietnamese are Vietnamese Americans, and 
Vietnamese Americans are the fourth largest Asian American group in the 
United States.
  As of 2006, 72 percent of Vietnamese Americans were naturalized 
United States citizens, the highest rate among all Asian groups. 
Vietnamese Americans have made significant contributions to the rich 
culture and economic prosperity of the United States.
  Vietnamese Americans have distinguished themselves in fields of 
literature, the arts, science and athletics, and include actors and 
actresses, physicists, an astronaut, and Olympic athletes and so on. 
And on May 2, 2009, many will come together to recognize what has been 
designated as ``Vietnamese Refugees Day.''
  Mr. Speaker, with this bill, we have the opportunity to commemorate 
the arrival and integration of Vietnamese refugees into the United 
States and remember the arduous task that many citizens and the 
citizens of the world have had to travel to attain for their liberty, 
safety and prosperity.
  I thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cao) for authoring such an 
important resolution, and I urge my colleagues to join all of us here 
on the floor now in support of the bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, and I wish to yield as 
much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the 
great State of Louisiana (Mr. Cao), the original sponsor of this 
legislation.
  Mr. CAO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 
342, to designate May 2, 2009, as ``Vietnamese Refugees Day.''
  As the Vietnam war came to an end, millions fled Communist-controlled 
Vietnam by boat and by land, across the Cambodian, Laotian and Thai 
borders into refugee camps.
  Like me, many of the conflict's refugees came to the United States. 
In fact, it was April 28, 1975, exactly 34 years ago today, that, as 
Saigon fell, I climbed aboard a C-130 destined for the United States 
and my new life. To date, over 2 million Vietnamese boat people and 
other refugees of the conflict remain dispersed globally.
  In the United States, as of 2006, 72 percent of Vietnamese Americans 
are naturalized United States citizens, the highest rate among Asian 
groups. Vietnamese Americans have made significant contributions to the 
cultural and economic prosperity of the United States. They count among 
their ranks artists, singers, actors, scientists, astronauts, 
restaurateurs, Olympians and elected officials. While Vietnamese 
Americans' accomplishments are significant and notable, it is critical 
that their history and the history of their ancestors be recorded.
  Mr. Speaker, on May 2, 2009, the Library of Congress Asian Division 
is joining many Vietnamese American organizations across the United 
States in sponsoring a symposium entitled ``Journey to Freedom: A Boat 
People Retrospective.'' In honor of this significant event, I ask my 
colleagues to support House Resolution 342 to designate May 2, 2009, as 
``Vietnamese Refugees Day.'' By doing so, we enshrine in the hearts and 
consciousness of Americans the tragic, heroic and uplifting stories of 
perseverance and the pursuit of freedom of millions of Vietnamese 
refugees to ensure those stories will stand as an inspiration to 
generations of Americans to come.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers, but I continue 
to reserve my time.
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my distinguished 
colleague from the State of Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry), and my good 
friend and classmate, a great American.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Westmoreland) for the time and for recognizing our valuable partnership 
in this fine august body.
  Mr. Speaker, today I also rise, as the Vietnamese community in my 
district gathers for their regular meeting, to express my support for a 
national Vietnamese Refugees Day.
  Throughout the past years, I have listened with great interest and 
admiration to the poignant stories of hardship and triumph that many 
members of the Vietnamese community have shared with me. I am deeply 
moved by their dedication to the principles of liberty that have 
distinguished our American experience. This is expressed in the 
difficult decisions to leave their beloved homeland of Vietnam and to 
embrace our Nation's founding principles, principles that those of us 
who have never experienced life under oppression and communism 
invariably run the risk of taking for granted.
  Even today, Vietnamese American refugees gather across this Nation to 
raise awareness of concerns affecting their loved ones back in Vietnam. 
Lincoln's Vietnamese American community has been particularly concerned 
with religious freedom and Vietnam's two-child policy. And I have tried 
to make it a priority to urge the Government of Vietnam to uphold its 
stated commitments to religious freedom. I deeply value the active 
civic engagement of the Vietnamese American community in Nebraska with 
regards to these and other important human rights issues.
  It is my privilege to serve the Vietnamese American community. And I 
want to thank Congressman Cao, who, as he mentioned, at 8 years old, 34 
years ago today, fled his homeland of Vietnam on a United States of 
America C-130 transport plane, for bringing this important resolution 
forward and allowing us to reflect on the profound commitment of the 
Vietnamese refugee population to the well-being of our Nation.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, we continue to reserve.
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, it's my privilege to yield 3 minutes 
to my friend and colleague from the State of New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. 
Res. 342, offered by my good friend and colleague, Mr. Joseph Cao. The 
``Vietnamese Refugees Day'' resolution sets aside May 2, 2009, as a day 
of remembrance and celebration for the growing Vietnamese American 
community in the United States and throughout the world.
  First, I would like to say a few words about Mr. Cao, the first 
Vietnamese-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. 
Joseph is a husband, proud father and man of deep and abiding religious 
faith and currently serves the people of Louisiana's Second District 
with honor and distinction.
  Mr. Cao is far too modest and humble to say it, but he is the 
quintessential example of a refugee success story.
  Joseph Cao's father, a lieutenant in the Army of the Republic of 
Vietnam, was captured by the North Vietnamese at the end of the war and 
was incarcerated for seven terrible years in a reeducation camp.
  In 1975, at the age of 8, Joseph escaped Vietnam with two of his 
siblings. His mom and jailed father remained behind. Joseph Cao worked 
hard in his new adopted homeland. Smart, resourceful, devout and 
generous to a fault, Joseph earned his Bachelor's Degree at Baylor, his 
Master's from Fordham University, and his J.D. from Loyola Law School.

                              {time}  1315

  Never forgetting the plight of refugees, and wanting to make a 
difference in the lives of the disenfranchised, Joseph became an 
immigration lawyer. He worked tirelessly to aid refugees and to assist 
in unifying families. He served as a member of the board of directors 
of Boat People SOS, and he is now a member of the United States 
Congress and is a rising star in the House.
   Mr. Speaker, Joseph Cao is an inspiration to all who escape tyranny 
and come to America. With persistence and hard work and faith, Joseph 
inspires a new generation of refugees and, really, everyone else as 
well that you can achieve much and do wonderful things if you put your 
mind to it and you persist.
  Joseph's legislation highlights the extraordinary work and the 
contributions made by Vietnamese Americans

[[Page 10898]]

and the work of groups like Boat People SOS and the work of people like 
Dr. Thang, who have welcomed Vietnamese asylum seekers fleeing 
reeducation camps, harassment, and religious persecution, labor 
violations and other human rights abuses.
  Over 2 million boat people and other refugees from Vietnam have 
received asylum in the United States and around the world. Half of 
those individuals have made their home in the U.S. Vietnamese Americans 
have made and continue to make a significant contributions to our 
country, bringing their rich heritage and culture and work ethic to the 
United States, their new, cherished permanent home.
  The sad thing, Mr. Speaker, is that Vietnam's government continues to 
repress its own citizens, and the human rights record of that country's 
government remains deplorable. So many Vietnamese suffer each day at 
the hands of the government and secret police. It's deplorable.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. I yield the gentleman 30 additional seconds.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Additionally, ethnic religious minority 
groups such as the Montagnards in the Central Highlands and the Khmer 
Krom Buddhists continue to face intense persecution, beatings and even 
death.
  I would hope that Mr. Cao's resolution causes this Congress to 
reexamine Vietnam's human rights record and redouble our efforts to 
promote freedom and democracy in Vietnam and to remove hindrances for 
Vietnamese people seeking asylum in the U.S. and elsewhere around the 
world.
  Again, I congratulate my good friend and colleague. His is a success 
story that needs to be held up in neon lights. Joseph Cao, you are an 
extraordinarily talented and courageous leader.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, we continue to reserve.
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Cao, 
for introducing this piece of legislation, and I urge my fellow Members 
to support the passage of H. Res. 342.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1975, after the Vietnam War, a mass immigration to 
the United States of Vietnamese people began. These early Vietnamese 
immigrants were fleeing persecution by the Communists in power in that 
region of the world. They came to America, sometimes with barely the 
clothes on their back, seeking asylum and a better life.
  Many of them can recount harrowing experiences in having to flee 
their homelands, some by boat, and others by land across Cambodia, Laos 
and Thai borders into refugee camps. In fact, over 2 million Vietnamese 
boat people and other refugees are now spread across the world, in the 
United States, Australia, Canada, France, England, Germany, China, 
Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines and other nations.
  And yet despite these harrowing escapes from oppressive regimes, 
Vietnamese-Americans have made significant contributions to the rich 
culture and economic prosperity of the United States. Vietnamese-
Americans have distinguished themselves in the fields of literature, 
the arts, science and athletics. In fact, just a few months ago, the 
people of Louisiana's Second Congressional District, elected the first 
Vietnamese-American and sent the author of this piece of legislation, 
Representative Anh ``Joseph'' Cao, to Congress.
  According to Census Data, as of 2006, 72 percent of foreign-born 
Vietnamese are naturalized U.S. citizens. When combined with the 36 
percent of Vietnamese born in America, a full 82 percent of Vietnamese 
are American citizens. Over half of all overseas Vietnamese are 
Vietnamese-Americans. What's more, there are well over 1 million people 
in the U.S. who identify themselves as Vietnamese alone or in 
combination with other ethnicities, ranking fourth among the Asian 
American groups.
  According to 2006 Census Data, the Vietnamese American population has 
grown to 1.6 million and remains the second largest Southeast Asian 
American subgroup.
  In light of the civic achievements of Vietnamese-Americans, I am 
pleased to support, and urge my colleagues to support this resolution, 
designating May 2, 2009 as ``Vietnamese Refugees Day'' in order to 
commemorate the arrival of Vietnamese refugees in the United States, to 
document their harrowing experiences and subsequent achievements in 
their new homeland, to honor the host countries that welcomed the boat 
people, and to recognize the voluntary agencies and nongovernmental 
organizations that facilitated their resettlement, adjustment, and 
assimilation into mainstream society in the United States.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to congratulate Mr. Cao on 
his leadership in sponsoring this resolution. I want to thank the 
gentleman from Georgia for his leadership as well.
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of 
House Resolution 342 and the designation of May 2, 2009 as ``Vietnamese 
Refugees Day.''
  Millions of Boat People and other Vietnamese refugees endured 
harrowing voyages to escape the tyranny and depravation of communist 
Vietnam. Hundreds of thousands of those refugees reached the United 
States, and we are all better for it. Like so many immigrants before 
and since, they came seeking freedom, and in turn became valuable 
members of their new communities. I have the privilege of representing 
many Vietnamese-Americans in San Jose, California, and can attest to 
this first-hand.
  Unfortunately, I cannot speak with the same warmth about the 
situation inside Vietnam. To this day, the Vietnamese government 
refuses to respect the basic human rights of its own citizens. Reports 
by the State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Religious 
Freedom, and non-governmental and Vietnamese American organizations 
document egregious abuses of free speech and expression, religious 
liberty, and many other fundamental freedoms.
  So today I rise to honor the experiences of Vietnamese refugees, and 
to commend the Vietnamese Americans who have successfully rebuilt their 
lives in the United States while fighting for the rights of those left 
in Vietnam.
  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 342 
encouraging the designation of May 2, 2009 as ``Vietnamese Refugees 
Day''.
  H. Res. 342 expresses the support of the House of Representatives for 
a day to commemorate the arrival of Vietnamese refugees in the United 
States and document their harrowing experiences and subsequent 
achievements. May 2, 2009 has aptly been chosen for this day of 
commemoration since it also the date on which a powerful symposium 
entitled ``Journey to Freedom: A Boat People Retrospective'' is being 
sponsored by the Library of Congress and Vietnamese-American 
organizations across the United States.
  More than one million Vietnamese refugees left their home country 
following the Vietnam War. Many risked their lives fleeing peril and 
destruction on small, overcrowded ships. Others escaped by land to 
refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia. Over 22,000 of these 
courageous individuals settled in Minnesota and I am proud to say that 
many now call Minnesota's 4th District their home.
  Despite the difficult conditions they left behind, Vietnamese 
refugees have prospered in the United States. In Minnesota, and across 
the United States, Vietnamese-Americans have made their communities 
more prosperous and more vibrant. Today, Vietnamese-Americans are 
amongst the most distinguished contributors to the fields of 
literature, the arts, science and athletics in America. Vietnamese 
restaurants, retail services, and grocery stores have helped turn 
University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota into a thriving business 
center.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on my colleagues to recognize the great courage 
and achievement of Vietnamese refugees everywhere by joining me in 
supporting H. Res. 342.
  Mr. LYNCH. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 342.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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