Bill Text: CA ACR64 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Little Saigon.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 55-25)

Status: (Passed) 2013-09-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 109, Statutes of 2013. [ACR64 Detail]

Download: California-2013-ACR64-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: ACR 64	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  109
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 9, 2013
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 19, 2013
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 15, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 15, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Allen
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Bigelow, Bradford, Chávez,
Dickinson, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Nazarian, Patterson, Waldron, Wilk, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Donnelly,
Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell,
Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Perea, John A.
Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, and Yamada)
   (Coauthors: Senators Beall, Nielsen, Wyland, and Yee)

                        JUNE 6, 2013

   Relative to Little Saigon.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 64, Allen. Little Saigon.
   This measure would recognize the 25th anniversary of Little
Saigon.



   WHEREAS, In April 1975, the capitol of South Vietnam, Saigon, fell
to the Vietnamese communists, and over 38 years, millions of
Vietnamese fled communist oppression in their homeland; and
   WHEREAS, More than 1.5 million Vietnamese refugees became
permanent residents and citizens of the United States, and over
600,000 resettled in California; and
   WHEREAS, In June 1988 Governor George Deukmejian recognized the
importance of Little Saigon as a major cultural, social, and
commercial center of southern California, and freeway signs
officially designating the Vietnamese business district in
Westminster and Garden Grove "Little Saigon" were unveiled; and
   WHEREAS, The signs gave official status to the title "Little
Saigon," recalling the name of the South Vietnamese capital more than
a decade after it was changed to Ho Chi Minh City by the communist
government; and
   WHEREAS, Vietnamese refugees have turned the strip along the
Magnolia Street-Bolsa Avenue corridor, an economically depressed area
that was formerly populated with strawberry fields, old industrial
factories, and vacant lots, into a thriving commercial district with
thousands of shops and businesses; and
   WHEREAS, Little Saigon is the largest Vietnamese community outside
of Vietnam and is a destination for tourists and refugees from all
over the world; and
   WHEREAS, The designation of Little Saigon in Orange County
represents the very first "Little Saigon" in the United States, and
now there are other Vietnamese business districts of various sizes
also named "Little Saigon" in Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San
Francisco, and San Jose in California, and in other states including
Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia; and
   WHEREAS, One can find all types of services and businesses in
Little Saigon ranging from restaurants, supermarkets, medical clinics
and centers, pharmacies, and law offices serving the Vietnamese
American community as well as other local and surrounding area
residents in Orange County; and
   WHEREAS, With industrious drive and effective management,
particularly in food services and restaurants, prices and services in
Little Saigon are cheaper than in nearby areas, attracting not only
Vietnamese Americans, but other residents and immigrant groups to
visit; and
   WHEREAS, Education is a priority to many Vietnamese families, the
achievements of Vietnamese students are recognized in the Westminster
and Garden Grove school districts, the Vietnamese language is
becoming one of the main foreign languages being taught in those
districts as well as in Orange County community colleges, and as of
2008, in southern California alone, there are more than 80 Vietnamese
language centers teaching 17,000 students Vietnamese and Vietnamese
culture; and
   WHEREAS, Tet festivals and parades in Little Saigon celebrating
the Vietnamese lunar new year in early February have attracted
thousands of participants; and
   WHEREAS, Vietnamese voters in Little Saigon are now a significant
voting bloc, and Vietnamese Americans are political leaders on the
city councils of Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, and Westminster, and
on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, as well as on the school
boards in districts serving these areas; and
   WHEREAS, Tri Duc Ta was elected Mayor of Westminster on November
6, 2012, and became the first Vietnamese American elected mayor in
the United States; and
   WHEREAS, The Vietnamese community in Little Saigon pioneered many
political movements demanding freedom in Vietnam and fighting against
the oppression and dictatorship carried out by the totalitarian
communist regime, which oppression is the main reason for slow
economic growth in Vietnam. The Vietnamese community is launching a
campaign demanding the immediate release of all prisoners of
conscience who mainly ask that fundamental human rights be afforded
to all of Vietnam's citizens, and seek the separation of powers and
removal of the one-party system; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes the 25th
anniversary of Little Saigon; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.