Amended in Senate April 29, 2015

Amended in Senate April 22, 2015

Amended in Senate March 19, 2015

Senate Joint Resolution No. 5

Introduced by Senator Nguyen

(Coauthors: Senators begin delete Hertzberg and Huff end delete begin insert Hertzberg, Huff, and Runner end insert )

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Chu, Kim, and McCarty)

March 10, 2015

Senate Joint Resolution No. 5—Relative to humanitarian resettlement.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 5, as amended, Nguyen. Vietnam: humanitarian resettlement.

This measure would urge Congress and the President of the United States to expand the Humanitarian Resettlement Program to allow disabled veteran officers of the South Vietnamese Army currently living in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to enter the United States.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The Vietnamese-American community plays an
important role in the social, cultural, and economic landscape of
the State of California and the United States; and

WHEREAS, The United States government and the American
people have a commitment to assisting individuals that fought as
allies in the Vietnam War and continue to face persecution and
threats from the Communist government of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam; and

WHEREAS, The veterans of the South Vietnamese Army, also
known as the Quân Lực Việt Nam Cộng Hòa, showed their
commitment to the United States by fighting alongside the United
States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War; and

WHEREAS, The Humanitarian Resettlement Program and the
Orderly Departure Program have allowed for the resettlement to
the United States of former reeducation center detainees, former
Vietnamese employees of the United States government, and
former Vietnamese employees of private American companies
and organizations prior to April 30, 1975, and from 1997 to 2009,
inclusive, sons and daughters of former Vietnamese were included
in what became known as the McCain Amendment; and

WHEREAS, Disabled veterans of the South Vietnamese Army,
also known as the Quân Lực Việt Nam Cộng Hòa, have suffered
a lifetime of great challenges and discrimination. Yet, some
disabled veterans were excluded from the Humanitarian
Resettlement Program and the Orderly Departure Program because
they were not detained in reeducation camps for the requisite
number of years due to their physical disabilities; and

WHEREAS, April 30, 2015, marks the 40th year since the Fall
of Saigon; and

WHEREAS, Promoting the Humanitarian Resettlement Program
and the Orderly Departure Program to include disabled veterans
of the South Vietnamese Army, also known as the Quân Lực Việt
Nam Cộng Hòa, and their sons and daughters, would rightfully
bring these veterans and their families into programs that, by their
terms, excluded some begin delete disable end delete begin insert disabled end insert veterans; now, therefore,
be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges the
President and the Vice President of the United States and the
United States Congress to reauthorize the Humanitarian
Resettlement Program and the Orderly Departure Program to allow
disabled veterans of the South Vietnamese Army and their families
currently living in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to apply to
enter the United States; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United
States, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.