BILL NUMBER: HR 4	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 8, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 18, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Campos  , Chu,  and Daly
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Calderon,   Low,   Mullin,   and
Williams   ) 

                        JANUARY 5, 2015

   Relative to Black April Memorial Week.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, April 30, 2015, marks the 40th anniversary of the fall of
Saigon on April 30, 1975, to communism; and
   WHEREAS, For many Vietnam and Vietnam-era veterans who were
directly involved in the war and Vietnamese Americans who have
settled in the United States, the Vietnam War was a tragedy full of
great suffering and the loss of American, Vietnamese, and Southeast
Asian lives; and
   WHEREAS, Fifty-eight thousand one hundred sixty-nine people were
killed and 304,000 were wounded out of the 2.59 million people who
served in the Vietnam War. One out of every 10 Americans who served
in Vietnam became a casualty of war; and
   WHEREAS, After the fall of Saigon, over 135,000 Vietnamese people
and their families fled to the United States, including former
military personnel, government officials, and those who had worked
for the United States during the war; and
   WHEREAS, Thousands of people took boats in order to leave Vietnam
in the late 1970s to mid-1980s. The successful emigrants reached
refugee camps in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and
Hong Kong; while approximately one-half of the people fleeing Vietnam
perished at sea; and
   WHEREAS, According to the United States Census for 2010, more than
465,000 Vietnamese live in California, with the largest
concentration of Vietnamese found outside of Vietnam residing in
Orange  County;   County and Santa Clara County;
 and
   WHEREAS, Human rights, religious freedom, democracy, and
protection against threats of aggression are important concerns of
Vietnamese Americans; and
   WHEREAS, We must teach our children and future generations
important lessons from the Vietnam War, including how the plight of
the Vietnamese refugees following the end of war serves as a powerful
example of the values of freedom and democracy; and
   WHEREAS, We, the people of California, should actively rededicate
ourselves to the principles of human rights, individual freedom,
sovereignty, and equal protection under the laws of a just and
democratic world. Californians should set aside moments of time every
year on April 30 to give remembrance to the soldiers, medical
personnel, and civilians who died during the Vietnam War in pursuit
of freedom; and
   WHEREAS, Vietnamese American communities throughout California
will commemorate April 30, 2015, as Black April, a day of remembrance
and rededication to the principles of freedom, including freedom of
expression, freedom of press, and Internet freedom; now, therefore,
be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That in
recognition of the great tragedy and suffering and lives lost during
the Vietnam War, the week of April 23, 2015, to April 30, 2015,
inclusive, shall be proclaimed Black April Memorial Week, a special
time for Californians to remember the countless lives lost during the
Vietnam War era, and to hope for more justice and liberty for the
people of Vietnam; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.