BILL NUMBER: SCR 89 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Correa
(Coauthor: Senator Harman)
MARCH 15, 2010
Relative to the Nguyen Ngoc Phu Human Rights Memorial
Highway Interchange .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 89, as amended, Correa. Nguyen Ngoc Phu Human Rights Memorial
Highway. Interchange.
This measure would designate a specified portion of
the Beach Boulevard interchange on State Highway
Route 22 in the County of Orange as the Nguyen Ngoc Phu Human Rights
Memorial Highway Interchange . The
measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine
the cost of appropriate signs showing this designation and, upon
receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to
erect those signs.
Fiscal committee: yes.
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen was a young student, a community leader,
and an ardent voice for freedom, human rights, and democracy,
particularly in Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen was born in Vietnam on November 27, 1983,
and immediately faced challenging conditions. His father served
honorably as a South Vietnamese military police officer and suffered
at the hands of a communist government as a prisoner in a
concentration camp for seven years. His mother struggled every day to
support her family in postwar Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, In 1991, Phu, his brother, Nguyen Ngoc Phong, his sister,
Nguyen Kim Phung, and his parents, Nguyen Ngoc Luu and Vo Kim Cuc,
seized the opportunity to make a new life for themselves when the
United States welcomed Vietnamese veterans who fought alongside
American forces in South Vietnam through the Orderly Departure
Program; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen and his family settled in Santa Ana,
California, and became a part of the growing Orange County Vietnamese
American community; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen excelled academically at Thomas Paine
Elementary School, McGarvin Intermediate School, and Valley High
School. Phu Ngoc Nguyen thereafter attended and graduated Summa Cum
Laude from California State University, Fullerton, and was selected
as a McNair Scholar. He was later accepted into the University of
California, Los Angeles, preparatory program for medical students;
and
WHEREAS, In addition to his educational pursuits, Phu Ngoc Nguyen
was an active member and a scout leader in the Hue Quang Buddhist
Youth Group and a dedicated member of the Doan Thanh Nien Phan Boi
Chau youth group; and
WHEREAS, In 2001, Phu Ngoc Nguyen returned to visit Vietnam and
witnessed the abject poverty that challenged the daily lives of many
Vietnamese people; and
WHEREAS, Drawing strength from that experience, Phu Ngoc Nguyen
recommitted himself to helping the Vietnamese American community by
becoming involved in and leading student organizations to honor the
Vietnamese culture and to celebrate, defend, and press for freedom
both here and in Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, In his role as a community activist, Phu Ngoc Nguyen
served as vice president of the Union of Vietnamese Students
Association of Southern California and executive board member of the
Vietnamese Student Union at the California State University; and
WHEREAS, In 2002, Phu Ngoc Nguyen organized a two-day hunger
strike to protest human rights and religious freedom violations in
Vietnam. In 2003, Phu Ngoc Nguyen served as a lead organizer of the
International Vietnamese Youth Conference, which highlighted human
rights, social justice, and community service; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen served the greater Orange County
community as chair of the Orange County Human Rights Night on
International Human Rights Day in 2004; and
WHEREAS, As chair of the 2005 Tet Festival in Garden Grove,
California, Phu Ngoc Nguyen mobilized over 700 students and 50
organizations to participate in an event that drew tens of thousands
of people; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen served as a citizen advisor to the Mayor
of Westminster, California, from 2004 to 2005 and helped bridge
communities through cultural understanding and community service; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen was instrumental in organizing an annual
commemoration event at the Vietnam War Memorial in the City of
Westminster to honor United States and South Vietnamese veterans and
the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for freedom during the
Vietnam War; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen reached out to and involved young
Vietnamese Americans by hosting a weekly radio program entitled
"Tieng Noi Sing Vien" on Sai Gon Radio Hai Ngoai; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen pressed for the passage of a resolution
in Orange County recognizing the yellow flag with three red stripes
as the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag in the county and the
county passed this resolution on June 7, 2005, the day Phu Ngoc
Nguyen passed away; and
WHEREAS, Hundreds of people have been inspired by Phu Ngoc Nguyen'
s short but meaningful life. Local organizations, including the Union
of Vietnamese Students Association, California State University,
Fullerton, Viet Bao Daily News, and the Vietnamese Community of
Southern California have named scholarships and programs in the
memory of Phu Ngoc Nguyen; and
WHEREAS, Phu Ngoc Nguyen's life serves as an example of how one
young person can have a positive impact on those around him and his
community; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
eastbound and westbound portions of State Highway Route 22
between State Highway Route 39 and Bolsa Chica Road in the
Beach Boulevard (State Highway Route 39) interchange on State
Highway Route 22 in the County of Orange as the Nguyen Ngoc Phu
Human Rights Memorial Highway Interchange
; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system, showing this special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author for
appropriate distribution.