Ngày 28 tháng 4, 2009 DB Cao Quang Ánh đưa vào Hạ Viện Nghị Quyết H.Res. 342 để vinh danh người Việt tị nạn. DB Stephen Lynch (Dân Chủ - MA) mở đầu phần phát biểu trước khi bỏ phiếu. DB Lynch cám ơn DB Ánh đã đưa ra nghị quyết đầy ý nghĩa này và kêu gọi các đồng viện bỏ phiếu ủng hộ.
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Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I stand to join my colleagues in the consideration of House Resolution 342, which expresses our support for the designation of May 2, 2009, as ``Vietnamese Refugees Day.''
And House Resolution 342 was introduced by the gentleman from Louisiana, Congressman Cao, on April 21, 2009, and was considered by and reported from the Oversight Committee on April 23, 2009, by unanimous consent. This measure has the support and cosponsorship of 67 Members of Congress.
Basically, Vietnamese refugees were asylum-seekers from Communist-controlled Vietnam. In the late 1970s, many Vietnamese escaped in boats and by land across the Cambodian, Laotian and the Thai borders into refugee camps in Thailand after the Vietnam war. Over 2 million Vietnamese boat people and other refugees are now spread across the world, in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, England, Germany, Japan, China, Hong Kong and South Korea, also in the Philippines and other nations. Over half of all overseas Vietnamese are Vietnamese Americans, and Vietnamese Americans are the fourth largest Asian American group in the United States.
As of 2006, 72 percent of Vietnamese Americans were naturalized United States citizens, the highest rate among all Asian groups. Vietnamese Americans have made significant contributions to the rich culture and economic prosperity of the United States.
Vietnamese Americans have distinguished themselves in fields of literature, the arts, science and athletics, and include actors and actresses, physicists, an astronaut, and Olympic athletes and so on. And on May 2, 2009, many will come together to recognize what has been designated as ``Vietnamese Refugees Day.''
Mr. Speaker, with this bill, we have the opportunity to commemorate the arrival and integration of Vietnamese refugees into the United States and remember the arduous task that many citizens and the citizens of the world have had to travel to attain for their liberty, safety and prosperity.
I thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cao) for authoring such an important resolution, and I urge my colleagues to join all of us here on the floor now in support of the bill.
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