WHEREAS, The term “boat people” is used to refer to the Vietnamese people who fled the oppressive communist regime between 1975 and 1995, in which almost 800,000 people left Vietnam by boat to arrive safely in another country; and

WHEREAS, Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger from pirates, overcrowded boats, and storms. Many people had no knowledge of sailing; and

WHEREAS, According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, between 200,000 and 400,000 boat people died at sea; and

WHEREAS, Vietnamese citizens employed many methods to leave the country. Most were secret and done at night; and

WHEREAS, Although a few thousand people fled Vietnam by boat between 1975 and 1978, the exodus of the boat people began in September 1978; and

WHEREAS, The fall of Saigon to the People’s Army of Vietnam, and the subsequent evacuation of more than 130,000 Vietnamese closely associated with the United States in Operation New Life and Operation New Arrivals, led to a major influx of Vietnamese into the United States; and

WHEREAS, In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act (Public Law 94-23), budgeting roughly $415 million in the effort to provide transportation, health care, and accommodations to 130,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao refugees; and

WHEREAS, In 1979, the plight of the boat people made international news when the United Nations called a conference to address the situation. The UN persuaded the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and France to allow more Vietnamese refugees into their countries; and

WHEREAS, In the United States, Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-212), allowing Vietnamese refugees to come directly to America. About 725,000 Vietnamese settled in the United States after the Vietnam War. By 2000, more than 1,000,000 people of Vietnamese ancestry lived in the United States; and

WHEREAS, The plight of the Vietnamese boat people and the ensuing humanitarian crisis speaks to the resolve and spirit of the Vietnamese refugee community; and

WHEREAS, Many refugees settled in the County of Orange, beginning in the 1970s, and settled in an area of the City of Westminster that then went on to become Little Saigon, as well as other locations throughout the state, including large communities in the Cities of San Jose and San Diego; now, therefore, be it