HF 1886

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                             A resolution 
  1.2             memorializing the President and Congress to enact 
  1.3             legislation waiving the English-language and residency 
  1.4             requirements for American citizenship for Hmong and 
  1.5             other Laotian veterans of American-recruited and 
  1.6             -trained special guerrilla units fighting in Laos from 
  1.7             1961 to 1975. 
  1.8      
  1.9      WHEREAS, in an effort to stop the spread of communism in 
  1.10  southeast Asia, the United States government recruited and 
  1.11  trained Hmong and other Laotian people to serve in special 
  1.12  guerrilla forces that operated secretly in Laos; and 
  1.13     WHEREAS, from 1961 to 1978 these special guerrilla forces 
  1.14  fought from bases in Laos against the communist forces of North 
  1.15  Vietnam and the Pathet Lao; and 
  1.16     WHEREAS, the men in these forces often risked their safety 
  1.17  to rescue American pilots shot down over enemy territory; and 
  1.18     WHEREAS, after 1975, when Americans left Laos and communist 
  1.19  forces took control of the country, thousands of Hmong and other 
  1.20  Laotians were killed because of their association with the 
  1.21  United States; and 
  1.22     WHEREAS, many Hmong and other Laotians then fled to refugee 
  1.23  camps in Thailand and eventually made their way to the United 
  1.24  States; and 
  1.25     WHEREAS, there are currently between 30,000 and 40,000 
  1.26  Hmong living in Minnesota, of whom 5,000 to 7,000 are veterans 
  2.1   of the special guerrilla forces; and 
  2.2      WHEREAS, many of these veterans have long awaited the day 
  2.3   when they could become citizens of the country they bravely 
  2.4   served and for which they suffered much; and 
  2.5      WHEREAS, because of their age, lack of formal education in 
  2.6   their own country, illiteracy in their own language, and the 
  2.7   consequent difficulty of learning a second language, many of 
  2.8   these veterans and their spouses or widows cannot acquire the 
  2.9   necessary English skills to pass the citizenship test; NOW, 
  2.10  THEREFORE, 
  2.11     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.12  that Congress should speedily enact legislation to waive the 
  2.13  English-language and residency requirements for American 
  2.14  citizenship for veterans of the special guerrilla forces and 
  2.15  their spouses or widows. 
  2.16     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  2.17  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare certified copies of 
  2.18  this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  2.19  States, the President and Secretary of the Senate, the Speaker 
  2.20  and Clerk of the House of Representatives, and Minnesota's 
  2.21  Senators and Representatives in Congress.