BILL NUMBER: SCR 104	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Nguyen
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Travis Allen)
   (Coauthors: Senators Bates, Hall, Huff, Liu, Morrell, Nielsen, and
Vidak)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Baker, Brough, Chang, Chávez, Harper,
Kim, Lackey, McCarty, Ting, and Wilk)

                        FEBRUARY 1, 2016

   Relative to Black April Memorial Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 104, as introduced, Nguyen. Black April Memorial Month.
   This measure would proclaim the month of April 2016 as Black April
Memorial Month.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, April 30, 2016, marks the 41st 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 a half 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, among others, child labor, human
trafficking, religious and political persecution, suppression of the
press, unlawful deprivation of life, forced disappearances, and land
seizure; and
   WHEREAS, The 2014 United States Department of State's Report on
Human Rights Practices in Vietnam estimates 125 political detainees
are being held, and the International Labor Rights Forum reports that
mistreatment has continued at reeducation centers, including forcing
detainees to produce goods for private companies; 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, 2016, 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
2016 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.