congressional_record: CREC-1998-11-12-pt1-PgE2310-2
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
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| CREC-1998-11-12-pt1-PgE2310-2 | 1998-11-12 | 105 | 2 | RECOGNITION AND CITIZENSHIP FOR HMONG-AMERICAN VETERANS | HOUSE | EXTENSIONS | RECOGNIZING | E2310 | E2310 | [{"name": "Dana Rohrabacher", "role": "speaking"}] | 144 Cong. Rec. E2310 | Congressional Record, Volume 144 Issue 152 (Thursday, November 12, 1998) [Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 152 (Thursday, November 12, 1998)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E2310] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] RECOGNITION AND CITIZENSHIP FOR HMONG-AMERICAN VETERANS ______ HON. DANA ROHRABACHER of california in the house of representatives Thursday, November 12, 1998 Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that the years of the 105th Congress have been historic for the Hmong and Lao people. For the first time in their long history, the Hmong and Lao people have received long overdue national recognition from the United States Congress and American officials for their pivotal efforts in fighting for freedom and helping to defend U.S. national security interests during the Southeast Asian conflict. I was honored to play a role, along with many bipartisan Congressional colleagues, to honor these courageous veterans and speak at both of the two Lao Veterans of American National Recognition Day ceremonies held in 1997 and 1998 at the Vietnam War Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my utmost appreciation to General Vang Pao, Colonel Wangyee Vang, Cherzong Vang, Ching Bee Vang, Ying Vang, Song Ge Kue, Philip Smith, Grant McClure and Dr. Jane Hamilton- Merritt of the Lao Veterans of America and the Lao Family Community organization for helping to organize these historic ceremonies which received national media attention. I would also like to include in the Record the following important article from the Washington Times about these events, as well as the ongoing patriotic efforts of elderly Hmong combat veterans to become American citizens. [From the Washington Times, May 15, 1998] Hmong Army Veterans Ask for U.S. Citizenship--Want To Take Exam With Interpreters' Help (By Ben Barber) Thousands of Hmong veterans of the CIA's secret army in Laos from 1960 to 1975 assembled in camouflage uniforms at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial yesterday to mark their flight from communism and to ask for U.S. citizenship. ``We fought in Laos so that young American soldiers would not have to fight in the mountains,'' said Gen. Vang Pao, leader of the one-time secret Hmong army. ``Members of Congress: These former soldiers who escaped death at the hands of the Lao communists and stand here in from of us today appeal for your assistance'' in becoming U.S. citizens. Thousands of aging soldiers dressed in camouflage and hundreds of Hmong women wearing traditional colored dresses, jewelry and headcoverings, spread out in a neat formation on the grass of the Mall. ``America has been good to us--four of my children have good jobs, another is in college, and one is in high school,'' said former Capt. Lapien Sphabmixay, 64, from Charlotte, N.C. Philip Smith, executive director of the Lao Veterans of America, said 4,000 Hmong-Americans arrived in Washington yesterday for the second annual celebration of the start of the Hmong exodus across the Mekong River into Thailand. From 1975 until about 1988, some 300,000 Hmong fled Laos after its takeover by Laotian communists, with the help of then-North Vietnamese troops. About 25,000 of the refugees came to the United States and largely collected in Fresno, Calif., and St. Paul, Minn. Last year was the first time since the war that the Hmong veterans had assembled. Then, as yesterday, members of Congress and former CIA officers honored the sacrifices the Laotian hill tribe made during the war. The Hmong continued yesterday to call for passage of a bill to allow the refugees to take U.S. citizenship exams with the help of interpreters, since many of the aging fighters and their spouses still have not mastered English. In Laos, most Hmong did not attend school and could not read Hmong or Lao. Fifty-seven members of Congress have co- sponsored a bill to grant the Hmong exemptions from the English language exam. The Hmong also observed a memorial to victims of a Laotian offensive against Hmong fighters and villages around Phu Bia mountain, where many had retreated after the 1975 communist takeover of the country. ____________________ |