BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 287
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Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Al Muratsuchi, Chair
AB 287 (Frazier) - As Amended: April 9, 2013
SUBJECT : Vietnam veterans' memorial: update.
SUMMARY : This bill requires annual updating of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial in the state Capitol Park. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires the California Department of Veterans Affairs
(CalVet) compile a list of names of Vietnam veterans (List) to
be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Memorial).
2)Directs CalVet to compile the List by November 1, 2014, and by
November 1 of each year thereafter.
3)Mandates that CalVet shall form a committee (Committee) by
July 1, 2014, chaired by the CalVet Secretary or his or her
designee and consisting of three representatives from the
California State Commanders Veterans Council and two
representatives from the Vietnam Veterans of America,
California State Council, to review and consider requests to
include names on the memorial pursuant to specified
requirements.
4)States that the Committee's decisions shall be final.
5)Specifies that the List shall contain the names of those
individuals that are not included on the memorial at the time
the List is compiled, including the names of veterans that
were inadvertently left off of the memorial and the names of
veterans who later died as a result of illness or injuries,
including physical or mental injuries documented by the
Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, or
licensed medical professionals, that can reasonably be assumed
to have resulted from military service in the Vietnam War.
6)States that any veterans' service organization or individual
may submit the name of a veteran to the Committee requesting
it to be included on the List.
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7)States that the names on the List may be added to the Memorial
if adequate private funding is available and there is
sufficient space on the Memorial to accommodate the names.
8)Specifies that this law shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a
later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020,
deletes or extends that date.
EXISTING LAW : Construction of the Memorial was authorized by
Military and Veterans Code section 1303.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown at this time.
COMMENTS : The Memorial was completed approximately 25 years ago.
The Memorial is circular in design, with full relief bronze
sculptures depicting scenes from the war. The 5,622 names of
California's dead and missing are engraved on twenty-two black
granite panels.
According to the author:
There are several reasons why veterans were not included on
the original memorial at the time it was constructed. Some
were inadvertently left off the original list. But many
others died after returning from service, as a direct
result of injuries or illness resulting from their service
in the Vietnam War, including conditions from Agent Orange
exposure which may take a long time to manifest.
The intent of the memorial is to honor and remember
California's Vietnam veterans who died as a result of their
injuries from the war or went missing during the war. The
bill would further that purpose by making the memorial as
complete as possible so that all California Vietnam
veterans are honored and no one is ever forgotten.
If this measure passes, the criteria for inclusion on the
Memorial will differ from those used for the National Vietnam
Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. In particular, the
National Memorial website notes:
? [W]hile the Memorial Fund finances the name additions to
The Wall, we do not determine whose names are to be
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inscribed. It is the Department of Defense that makes these
difficult and often very technical decisions. Our
organization does not have the authority to overrule those
who adjudicate these matters.
Neither victims of Agent Orange nor PTSD-induced suicides
fit the parameters for inclusion on The Wall.
However, there is no legal or policy reason that California's
Memorial criteria cannot differ from those used for the National
Memorial. Indeed there are some policy reasons to include those
who, although they did not die in combat in Vietnam died later
from injuries, visible, invisible, physical or emotional, that
they received in Vietnam in service of our Nation.
Suggested Technical Amendment:
In Section 1301(c) delete the word 'individuals' and replace it
with 'deceased Vietnam Veterans.'
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Vietnam Veterans of America
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550