[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 695 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 695

          Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 20, 2016

     Ms. Lee (for herself and Mr. Conyers) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
  in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
          Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

Whereas the Vietnam War began in 1964 and ended in 1973;
Whereas more than 58,000 United States citizens were killed, approximately 
        10,786 were wounded, and 75,000 veterans left seriously disabled;
Whereas it is estimated that more than 1,500,000 people from Vietnam, Laos, and 
        Cambodia died as a result of the war, and many more were wounded or 
        displaced;
Whereas thousands of people continue to suffer from the lethal effects of 
        exposure to Agent Orange and unexploded ordnance;
Whereas the movement to end the Vietnam War was one of the largest and most 
        prolonged efforts to achieve peace and justice in recent generations and 
        was critical to bringing an end to the war;
Whereas the movement to end the Vietnam War was broad and included students, 
        professors, workers, draft resisters, United States servicemembers and 
        veterans, musicians and artists, candidates for Congress and the 
        Presidency, and mobilized a majority in opposition to the Vietnam War;
Whereas the movement generated the largest protests, moratorium actions, and 
        mobilizations in United States history, including a strike of 4,000,000 
        students from across the Nation following the United States invasion of 
        Cambodia in 1970, multiple acts of protest and resistance on military 
        bases and ships around the world, and the rise of Vietnam Veterans 
        Against the War;
Whereas United States expenditures on the Vietnam War impacted domestic 
        resources, including for President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty;
Whereas the 1970 blue-ribbon Scranton Report on campus unrest in the United 
        States recognized the growing opposition to the Vietnam War by stating 
        that, ``The crisis on American campuses has no parallel in the history 
        of this nation. This crisis has roots in divisions of American society 
        as deep as any since the Civil War. If this trend continues, if this 
        crisis of understanding endures, the very survival of the nation will be 
        threatened'';
Whereas Vietnam peace memorials have been erected at Kent State University in 
        Ohio, the steps of Sproul Hall at the University of California, and the 
        peace memorial adjacent to the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, 
        California; and
Whereas peace and reconciliation research programs were widely incorporated in 
        high school and university classrooms after the Vietnam War era: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War;
            (2) recognizes that the movement to end the Vietnam War was 
        one of the largest and most prolonged efforts to achieve peace 
        and justice in recent generations and was critical to bringing 
        an end to the war;
            (3) acknowledges the role of those who participated in 
        public protests, teach-ins, and opposition to the war, and the 
        many people who supported political candidates of both parties 
        who sought to end the war;
            (4) applauds the establishment of educational programs at 
        colleges and universities across the United States that are 
        focused on conflict transformation and peace building; and
            (5) urges continued efforts during this 50th anniversary 
        period to reflect on the lessons learned from the Vietnam War 
        and to recommit to sustained diplomacy that prevents conflict.
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