Bill Text: CA ACR138 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Vietnamese American history.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 48-20)
Status: (Passed) 2012-05-03 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 15, Statutes of 2012. [ACR138 Detail]
Download: California-2011-ACR138-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: ACR 138 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 15
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE MAY 3, 2012
ADOPTED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 2012
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Solorio
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano,
Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall,
Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Swanson,
Torres, Wagner, Wieckowski, and Yamada)
(Coauthors: Senators Correa and Lowenthal)
MARCH 22, 2012
Relative to Vietnamese American history.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 138, Solorio. Vietnamese American history.
This measure would recognize April 23, 2012, to April 30, 2012,
inclusive, as Black April Memorial Week, and April 2012 as Vietnamese
American month.
WHEREAS, April 30, 2012, marks the 37th anniversary of the end of
the Vietnam War and the start of the eventual exodus of several
million Vietnamese out of Vietnam after South Vietnam's capital of
Saigon fell to the Communists on April 30, 1975; 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, From 1961 to 1975, inclusive, approximately 250,000
members of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces and 58,000 members of
the United States Armed Forces were killed and 304,000 United States
Armed Forces and more than 1,000,000 members of the Republic of
Vietnam Armed Forces were wounded; and
WHEREAS, Out of the 2.59 million people who served in the Vietnam
War, one out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam became a
casualty of war; and
WHEREAS, After the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, more than
250,000 members of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces were sent to
reeducation camps where more than 20,000 died and many spent up to 17
years in captivity before they were released; and
WHEREAS, During the American evacuation of Saigon, the first wave
of Vietnamese refugees, 135,000 strong, mostly military officers and
their families, took temporary shelter through several international
refugee camps, and at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, Fort Chaffee in
Arkansas, and Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Starting in 1977, and lasting through the mid-1980s, a
second wave of Vietnamese refugees comprised mostly of "boat people"
began leaving Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, Seeing no future under communism, nearly 800,000 boat
people risked their lives in small, dangerous boats to travel to
resettlement camps in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and
the Philippines before eventually being resettled in the United
States; and
WHEREAS, The Red Cross estimated that during that time, at least
300,000 Vietnamese died on the high seas while trying to escape
communism; and
WHEREAS, After 1985, a third wave of Vietnamese refugees came to
the United States under the Orderly Department Program; and
WHEREAS, In 1988, Congress passed the Operation Homecoming Act, a
program allowing approximately 80,000 Amerasian children (offspring
of GI fathers and Vietnamese mothers) to come to America; and
WHEREAS, By 1990, the fourth wave of Vietnamese refugees began
arriving in the United States under the Humanitarian Operation, and
today, more than 1.5 million Vietnamese Americans identified their
race as Vietnamese alone in the 2010 United States Census; and
WHEREAS, Studies using census data show that foreign-born
Vietnamese entering the United States in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000
to 2010, inclusive, have seen an increase in terms of English
proficiency, proportion of college graduates, the number of
owner-occupied housing, family median income, and naturalization; and
WHEREAS, Over the years, Vietnamese immigrants have overcome
social, economic, and language barriers of unforeseen magnitude to
grow and become the most assimilated along civic dimensions of any
large group in America; and
WHEREAS, Through emphasis on intense study, Vietnamese Americans
have reached the pinnacles of American success in a variety of
fields, including business and entrepreneurship, science and
technology, space travel, medicine, the executive branch of the
United States government, politics, the United States military, the
United States judicial system, professional sports, and most
recently, cultural icon status in cooking, modeling, acting, and
comedy; and
WHEREAS, In order to serve their community and prosper in America,
Vietnamese Americans formed well-established and thriving Vietnamese
American commercial districts throughout the United States and
California, including enclaves in Oakland, Orange County, Sacramento,
San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose; and
WHEREAS, More than 581,986 Vietnamese now live in California, with
the largest concentration of Vietnamese found outside of Vietnam
residing in Orange County, particularly in the cities of Garden
Grove, Santa Ana, Westminster, and Fountain Valley; and
WHEREAS, San Jose has the largest concentration of Vietnamese of
any American city, with more than 100,000 people or 10 percent of the
city's population; and
WHEREAS, In 2007, the United States Census Bureau survey of
business owners reported that there are 68,812 Vietnamese businesses
in California with receipts of $13.4 billion; and
WHEREAS, As we must teach our children and future generations
important lessons from the Vietnam War, including how the plight of
the Vietnamese refugees following the end of the war serves as a
powerful example of the values of freedom and democracy; and
WHEREAS, Refugees and immigrants from the former Republic of
Vietnam who came to the United States and settled as free Vietnamese
Americans are honored and remembered for their sacrifices for freedom
and human rights and for their ongoing contributions to our
democratic society; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order S-14-06 was issued by Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger and continued by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. who also
issued an official statement acknowledging his support of the
Vietnamese Freedom and Heritage flag. The executive order honors the
contributions of the Vietnamese American community to the State of
California and recognizes their love for democracy, justice, and
tolerance, upon which the symbol of the Vietnamese Heritage and
Freedom flag was established; and
WHEREAS, The Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom flag, yellow, with
three horizontal red stripes, is the only symbol that can unite most
Vietnamese around the world and bring them together under the banner
that symbolizes the aspiration for freedom and democracy in their
homeland; and
WHEREAS, The Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom flag, dating back to
1948, has been and will continue to be a symbol of resilience,
freedom, and democracy to many Vietnamese Americans in California,
and is also an important symbol in the history of Vietnamese
Americans; and
WHEREAS, Although also united in sorrow as they commemorate April
30, 2012, as Black April, an occasion to reflect on the sacrifices of
the past, Vietnamese American communities throughout California
consider Black April a celebration of the resilience of the
Vietnamese people; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That in recognition of the great tragedy and
suffering and lives lost during the Vietnam War era, the week of
April 23, 2012, to April 30, 2012, inclusive, shall be proclaimed
Black April Memorial Week, a special time for Californians 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; and
be it further
Resolved, That the month of April 2012 be recognized as Vietnamese
American Month to honor a community that has added so much personal,
cultural, and economic value to the social fabric of the great State
of California, which embraces ethnic and cultural diversity; and be
it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
