Expressing support for the designation of March 29, 2020, as "Vietnam Veterans Day".

IV 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 912 Expressing support for the designation of March 29, 2020, as ‘‘Vietnam Veterans Day’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 27, 2020 Ms. DEAN (for herself, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. PETERSON, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. COURTNEY, and Mr. HARDER of California) submitted the following resolution; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs RESOLUTION Expressing support for the designation of March 29, 2020, as ‘‘Vietnam Veterans Day’’. Whereas the Vietnam war was fought in the Republic of Viet- nam from 1955 to 1975 and involved regular forces from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Viet Cong guer- rilla forces in armed conflict with the Armed Forces of the United States, the Armed Forces of allies of the United States, and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam; Whereas the Armed Forces of the United States became in- volved in Vietnam because the United States Government wanted to provide direct support by the Armed Forces to the Government of the Republic of Vietnam to defend VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR912.IH HR912 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 912 IH against the growing threat of communism from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; Whereas members of the Armed Forces of the United States began serving in an advisory role to the Government of the Republic of Vietnam in 1955; Whereas, as a result of the incidents in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2 and 4, 1964, Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Public Law 88–408) by an over- whelming majority on August 7, 1964, which provided to the President of the United States the authority to use armed force to assist the Republic of Vietnam in the de- fense of its freedom against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; Whereas, in 1965, ground combat units of the Armed Forces of the United States arrived in the Republic of Vietnam to join approximately 23,000 personnel of the Armed Forces who were already present there; Whereas, by September 1965, between 150,000 and 190,000 troops of the Armed Forces of the United States were in Vietnam, and by 1969, the number of such troops reached a peak of approximately 549,500, including members of the Armed Forces who were supporting the combat operations from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and aboard Navy vessels; Whereas, on January 27, 1973, the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet-Nam (commonly known as the ‘‘Paris Peace Accords’’) was signed, which required the release of all prisoners-of-war of the United States held in North Vietnam and the withdrawal of all Armed Forces of the United States from South Vietnam; VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR912.IH HR912 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 912 IH Whereas, on March 29, 1973, the Armed Forces of the United States completed the withdrawal of combat units and combat support units from South Vietnam; Whereas, on April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese regular forces captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, effectively placing South Vietnam under Communist control; Whereas more than 58,000 members of the Armed Forces of the United States lost their lives in the Vietnam war, and more than 300,000 members of the Armed Forces of the United States were wounded in Vietnam; Whereas, in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedi- cated in the District of Columbia to commemorate the members of the Armed Forces of the United States who died or were declared missing in action in Vietnam; Whereas the Vietnam war was an extremely divisive issue among the people of the United States and a conflict that caused a generation of veterans to wait too long for the public of the United States to acknowledge and honor the efforts and services of those veterans; Whereas members of the Armed Forces who served bravely and faithfully for the United States during the Vietnam war were often wrongly criticized for the decisions of pol- icymakers that were beyond the control of those mem- bers; and Whereas designating March 29, 2020, as ‘‘Vietnam Veterans Day’’ would be an appropriate way to honor the members of the Armed Forces of the United States who served in South Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR912.IH HR912 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 912 IH (1) expresses support for designating ‘‘Vietnam 1 Veterans Day’’; 2 (2) honors and recognizes the contributions of 3 the veterans of the Armed Forces of the United 4 States who served in Vietnam during war and dur- 5 ing peace; 6 (3) encourages States and local governments to 7 designate ‘‘Vietnam Veterans Day’’; and 8 (4) encourages the people of the United States 9 to observe Vietnam Veterans Day with appropriate 10 ceremonies and activities that— 11 (A) provide the appreciation that veterans 12 of the Vietnam war deserve; 13 (B) demonstrate the resolve that the peo- 14 ple of the United States shall never forget the 15 sacrifices and service of a generation of vet- 16 erans who served in the Vietnam war; 17 (C) promote awareness of the faithful serv- 18 ice and contributions of the veterans of the 19 Vietnam war— 20 (i) during service in the Armed Forces 21 of the United States; and 22 (ii) to the communities of the veterans 23 since returning home; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR912.IH HR912 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 912 IH (D) promote awareness of the importance 1 of entire communities empowering veterans and 2 the families of veterans in helping the veterans 3 readjust to civilian life after service in the 4 Armed Forces; and 5 (E) promote opportunities for veterans of 6 the Vietnam war— 7 (i) to assist younger veterans return- 8 ing from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 9 in rehabilitation from wounds, both seen 10 and unseen; and 11 (ii) to support the reintegration of 12 younger veterans into civilian life. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Mar 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR912.IH HR912 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS