Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 45
CHAPTER 102
Relative to Jimmy Tran.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 26, 1995.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 45, Morrissey.
Jimmy Tran.
This measure would memorialize the President to use the United States’ new diplomatic relations with Vietnam to secure the release of Jimmy Tran from prison and his return to the United States.
Digest Key
WHEREAS, Jimmy Tran valiantly fought for the freedom of his country for seven years as a member of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, After the fall of Saigon, Jimmy Tran escaped from a reeducation camp and continued to fight the totalitarian regime as a member of the democratic movement; and
WHEREAS, Jimmy Tran escaped Vietnam in 1978 and came to the United States to start a new life in a free nation; and
WHEREAS, Jimmy Tran became a citizen of the United States and continued to work for freedom and democracy through patriotic organizations in his adopted country; and
WHEREAS, Jimmy Tran returned to Vietnam in January 1993 to promote the cause of freedom in Vietnam; and
WHEREAS, Jimmy Tran was arrested on February 15, 1993, and charged with planning to denigrate symbols of the Hanoi regime; and
WHEREAS, Jimmy Tran was denied a lawyer of his choice, tried in secret with a predetermined verdict, and sentenced to 20 years in one of Vietnam’s most notorious prisons; and
WHEREAS, Jimmy Tran now suffers in prison from severe malnutrition and, at the age of 44, has become nearly blind; and
WHEREAS, The United States has formally recognized the communist government of Vietnam in hopes of bringing democratic reforms to that nation; and
WHEREAS, Jimmy Tran should be enabled to return home to his wife and four young children; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully memorialize the President of the United States to use our new diplomatic relations with Vietnam to secure the release of Jimmy Tran and his return to his wife and children in the United States; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.