1.1A Senate resolution
1.2recognizing September 6, 2021, as Hmong Minnesota Day at the Minnesota State Fair.
1.3WHEREAS, the Minnesota State Fair has operated for 162 years as a festive gathering where
1.4Minnesotans showcase competition, agriculture, food, merchandise, rides, and industry; and
1.5WHEREAS, Hmong, the original highland people of Laos, were recruited to fight for the
1.6United States during the Secret War in Laos from 1961 to 1975; and
1.7WHEREAS, after America withdrew from the Vietnam War, Hmong people became the
1.8target of government persecution. Thousands escaped to the United States and other countries; and
1.9WHEREAS, the first Hmong family to resettle in Minnesota arrived in November 1975.
1.10The largest wave came after the passage of the United States Refugee Act of 1980; and
1.11WHEREAS, the majority of 90,000 Hmong Minnesotans live in the Twin Cities Metro and
1.12have contributed to the progress of our state; and
1.13WHEREAS, 2020-2021 has brought unique and difficult challenges to the Hmong Minnesota
1.14community having faced higher than usual hospitalization and deaths rates due to COVID-19; and
1.15WHEREAS, in 2020-2021, the Hmong in Minnesota along with other Asian American
1.16communities across the country have experienced a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and harassment;
1.17and
1.18WHEREAS, in 2021, the Hmong Minnesotan story was on the world stage when St. Paul's
1.19very own, Sunisa Lee, won all-around gold in women's gymnastics at the Olympics in Tokyo,
1.20Japan; and
1.21WHEREAS, in 2021, despite the challenges the Hmong in Minnesota continue to be resilient
1.22and proud of their rich cultural heritage, celebrating their 6th annual Hmong Day celebration at the
1.23Minnesota State Fair with the theme that together, we are stronger, better, and safer; and
2.1NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the State of Minnesota that it
2.2celebrates September 6, 2021, as Hmong Minnesota Day at the Minnesota State Fair.
2.3BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is directed to prepare an
2.4enrolled copy of this resolution, to be authenticated by the Secretary's signature and that of the
2.5Chair of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, and transmit them to the State Fair's
2.6board of managers and Minnesota's Hmong American community.

Cal R. LudemanSecretary of the Senate

Paul E. GazelkaChair, Senate Committee onRules and Administration

Foung HawjState Senator, District 67