Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 85

Introduced by Senator Correa

February 20, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 85—Relative to the Viet Dzung Human Rights Memorial Highway.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 85, as introduced, Correa. Viet Dzung Human Rights Memorial Highway.

This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 39 (Beach Boulevard) in the County of Orange as the Viet Dzung Human Rights Memorial Highway. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost for appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

Fiscal committee: yes.

WHEREAS, Prior to his death in December 2013, at the age of
55 years, Viet Dzung was a recognized musician, songwriter,
emcee, community leader, and an ardent voice for freedom, human
rights, and democracy, particularly in Vietnam; and

WHEREAS, Viet Dzung was born in Saigon, Vietnam, on
September 8, 1958, to a former member of parliament and a school
teacher; and

WHEREAS, After the end of the Vietnam War, he fled to
Singapore before moving to the United States in 1976 and being
reunited with his family; and

WHEREAS, Viet Dzung’s father served honorably as a South
Vietnamese military police officer and suffered at the hands of a
communist government as a prisoner in a concentration camp for
seven years, and his mother struggled every day to support her
family in postwar Vietnam; and

WHEREAS, Drawing strength from his family’s refugee
experience, Viet Dzung was a champion involved in and leading
the Vietnamese American community to honor the Vietnamese
culture and to celebrate, defend, and press for freedoms both here
and in Vietnam; and

WHEREAS, Viet Dzung was instrumental as an organizer and
emcee for the annual Black April Commemoration at the Vietnam
War Memorial in the City of Westminster to honor United States
and South Vietnamese veterans and the soldiers who sacrificed
their lives for freedom during the Vietnam War; and

WHEREAS, Viet Dzung reached out to and involved thousands
of Vietnamese Americans, including performers, singers, students,
business owners, religious leaders, and nonprofit leaders, as a daily
voice on Radio Bolsa every morning providing news and public
service announcements to the largest Vietnamese American
community in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Viet Dzung, whose real name was Nguyen Ngoc
Hung Dung, was respected in Little Saigon and worldwide for his
dedication to the Vietnamese refugee community and his
commitment to fighting for human rights, religious freedom, and
democracy in Vietnam; and

WHEREAS, Thousands of people have been inspired by Viet
Dzung’s activism, music, and art throughout his meaningful life;
and

WHEREAS, Viet Dzung’s life serves as an example of how one
person can have a positive impact on those around him and his
community; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
portion of State Highway Route 39 (Beach Boulevard) between
State Highway Route 405 and Talbert Avenue in the County of
Orange as the Viet Dzung Human Rights Memorial Highway; and
be it further

Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested
to determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the
signing requirements for the state highway system, showing this
special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it
further

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