BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SCR 29
          Author:   Nguyen (R), et al.
          Amended:  3/19/15  
          Vote:     21  

           SUBJECT:   Black April Memorial Month


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This resolution proclaims the month of April 2015 as  
          Black April Memorial Month, in recognition of the 40th  
          anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.




          Senate Floor Amendments of 3/19/15 add coauthors and make  
          technical changes.


          ANALYSIS:   This resolution makes the following legislative  
          findings:


          1.April 30, 2015, marks the 40th year since the Fall of Saigon  
            on April 30, 1975, to communism.


          2.After the Fall of Saigon, millions of Vietnamese and their  
            families fled Vietnam to surrounding areas and the United  
            States.  From the late 1970s to mid-1980s thousands of  
            Vietnamese risked their lives by fleeing Vietnam aboard small  
            wooden boats to reach refugee camps in Thailand, Malaysia,  








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            Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, while approximately  
            one-half of the people fleeing Vietnam in search of freedom  
            and democracy perished at sea.


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


          4.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.


          5.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.


          This resolution proclaims the month of April 2015 as Black April  
          Memorial Month, in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the  
          Fall of Saigon.


          Comments


          According to the author's office, this resolution seeks to  
          educate California's children and future generations of the  
          important lessons learned by the tragedy of the Vietnam War, as  
          well as the conditions in Vietnam, which still lacks basic  
          freedoms and human rights protections.  Establishing April 2015  
          as Black April Memorial Month gives time for all 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.










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          Prior and Related Legislation


          HR 4 (Campos, 2015), as adopted by the Assembly, proclaims April  
          23 to 


          April 30, 2015, as Black April Memorial Week, to remember the  
          countless lives lost during the Vietnam War era, and to hope for  
          more justice and liberty for the people of Vietnam.
          SCR 111 (Correa, 2014) would have proclaimed the week of April  
          23 to April 30, 2014, as Black April Memorial Week, to remember  
          the countless lives lost during the Vietnam War era, and to hope  
          for more justice and liberty for the people of Vietnam.  The  
          resolution died in the Assembly Committee on Rules.


          SCR 34 (Correa, Resolution Chapter 90, Statutes of 2013)  
          proclaimed April 23 to April 30, 2013, as Black April Memorial  
          Week, to remember the countless lives lost during the Vietnam  
          War era, and to hope for a more humane and just life for the  
          people of Vietnam.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:NoLocal:    No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified3/20/15)


          None received


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified3/20/15)


          None received

          Prepared by:Melissa Ward / SFA / (916) 651-1520
          3/20/15 13:25:52









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