Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 29

Introduced by Senator Nguyen

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Travis Allen)

(Coauthors: Senators Bates, Huff, Morrell, Nielsen, and Vidak)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chu, Harper, Kim, Lackey, McCarty, and Wilk)

March 10, 2015

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 29—Relative to Black April Memorial Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 29, as introduced, Nguyen. Black April Memorial Month.

This act would proclaim the month of April 2015 as Black April Memorial Month, in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, April 30, 2015, marks the 40th year since 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, The combined United States and South Vietnamese
fatalities among servicemen and women during the Vietnam War
reached more than half a million, with approximately 800,000
additional troops being wounded in combat. Millions of
Vietnamese civilians suffered casualties and death as a result of
the extended conflict; and

WHEREAS, After the fall of Saigon, millions of Vietnamese
and their families fled Vietnam to surrounding areas and the United
States, including, but not limited to, former military personnel,
government officials, and those who had worked for the United
States during the war; and

WHEREAS, In the late 1970s to mid-1980s thousands of
Vietnamese risked their lives by fleeing Vietnam aboard small
wooden boats. These emigrants reached refugee camps in Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong; while
approximately one-half of the people fleeing Vietnam in search
of freedom and democracy perished at sea; and

WHEREAS, According to the United States Census for 2010,
more than 580,000 Vietnamese live in California, with the largest
concentration of Vietnamese residents found outside of Vietnam
residing in the County of Orange; and

WHEREAS, Human rights, religious freedom, democracy, and
protection against threats of aggression are important concerns of
Vietnamese Americans and the Vietnamese communities
worldwide stemming from the human rights abuses that continue
to occur in Vietnam in the following areas, but are not limited to,
child labor, human trafficking, religious and political persecution,
suppression of the press, unlawful deprivation of life, forced
disappearances, and land restitution; and

WHEREAS, The 2013 United States Department of State Report
on Human Rights Practices in Vietnam estimates more than 120
political detainees are being held, and diplomatic sources report
there are approximately 4,000 prisoners incarcerated in four
reeducation centers; and

WHEREAS, We must teach our children and future generations
important lessons from the Vietnam War and the continuing
situation in Vietnam, 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 democracy; 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 religion, freedom of expression, freedom of
press, and Internet freedom; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That in recognition of the great tragedy and
suffering and lives lost during the Vietnam War, the month of
April 2015 shall be proclaimed Black April Memorial Month, a
special time for Californians to remember the lives lost during the
Vietnam War era, and to hope for a more humane and just life for
the people of Vietnam; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.