Legacies of War Recognition and Unexploded Ordnance Removal Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2097 To recognize the Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and other ethnic groups commonly referred to as Montagnards, who supported and defended the Armed Forces during the conflict in Southeast Asia, authorize assistance to support activities relating to clearance of unexploded ordnance and other explosive remnants of war, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 4, 2019 Mr. DUFFY (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, and Ms. SPEIER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To recognize the Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and other ethnic groups commonly referred to as Montagnards, who sup- ported and defended the Armed Forces during the con- flict in Southeast Asia, authorize assistance to support activities relating to clearance of unexploded ordnance and other explosive remnants of war, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2097.IH H2097 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2097 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legacies of War Rec- 2 ognition and Unexploded Ordnance Removal Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. RECOGNITION OF HMONG, KHMER, LAOTIAN, 4 MONTAGNARDS, AND OTHER ETHNIC 5 GROUPS WHO SUPPORTED AND DEFENDED 6 THE ARMED FORCES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. 7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 8 (1) Many Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and 9 Montagnards— 10 (A) fought and died with United States 11 Armed Forces during the conflict in Southeast 12 Asia in the 1960s and 1970s; 13 (B) rescued United States pilots shot down 14 in enemy-controlled territory and returned the 15 pilots to safety; 16 (C) captured and destroyed enemy supplies 17 and prevented enemy forces from using the sup- 18 plies to kill members of the United States 19 Armed Forces; 20 (D) gathered and provided to the United 21 States Armed Forces intelligence about enemy 22 troop positions, movement, and strength; and 23 (E) provided food, shelter, and support to 24 the United States Armed Forces. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2097.IH H2097 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2097 IH (2) The National Armed Forces of Cambodia 1 facilitated the evacuation of the United States Em- 2 bassy in Phnom Penh on April 12, 1975, by con- 3 tinuing to fight Khmer Rouge forces as they ad- 4 vanced upon the capital. 5 (3) A tragic legacy of the conflict in Southeast 6 Asia is the lethal risk posed by unexploded ordnance 7 (UXO) in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia that still 8 litter forests, rice fields, villages, school grounds, 9 roads, and other populated areas—hindering devel- 10 opment and poverty reduction efforts. 11 (4) Vietnam remains one of the world’s most 12 contaminated countries, with an estimated 800,000 13 tons of UXO left over from the conflict in Southeast 14 Asia that ended more than 40 years ago. It has 15 caused more than 100,000 casualties, including 16 40,000 deaths. 17 (5) From 1964–1973, the United States 18 dropped more than 2,000,000 tons of bombs on 19 Laos during American operations to disrupt North 20 Vietnamese military supply routes. As a result, Laos 21 is the most heavily bombed country per capita in the 22 world. Much of the country’s land remains contami- 23 nated with more than 80,000,000 small, unexploded 24 cluster munitions. Since the end of the conflict, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2097.IH H2097 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2097 IH UXO have injured or killed more than 25,000 civil- 1 ians in Laos. 2 (6) Cambodia suffers from one of the highest 3 rates of landmine and UXO accidents in the world. 4 Over 64,000 Cambodians have been killed or injured 5 by unexploded ordnance and other explosive rem- 6 nants of war since 1979, with an average of one cas- 7 ualty every week. 8 (7) The United States is the world’s leading fi- 9 nancial supporter of conventional weapons destruc- 10 tion worldwide. Since 1993, the United States has 11 provided more than $3,400,000,000 in assistance to 12 more than 100 countries, including more than 13 $132,000,000 in Vietnam, $200,000,000 in Laos, 14 and $140,000,000 in Cambodia. 15 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 16 gress that— 17 (1) the Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and 18 Montagnard Freedom Fighters deserve recognition 19 for their support and defense of the Armed Forces 20 and freedom during the conflict in Southeast Asia; 21 and 22 (2) the United States should continue to sup- 23 port activities to clear unexploded ordnance and 24 other explosive remnants of war in Vietnam, Laos, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2097.IH H2097 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2097 IH and Cambodia, and strengthen people-to-people ties 1 and reaffirm America’s long-standing commitment 2 to Southeast Asia. 3 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE IN VIETNAM, 4 LAOS, AND CAMBODIA. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to 6 provide humanitarian assistance for programs to support 7 the activities described in subsection (b). 8 (b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may be 9 supported by assistance under subsection (a) include the 10 following: 11 (1) Developing national surveys of unexploded 12 ordnance and other explosive remnants of war in 13 Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. 14 (2) Providing for clearance of such unexploded 15 ordnance. 16 (3) Providing assistance for capacity building, 17 risk education, and victims in Vietnam, Laos, and 18 Cambodia related to both unexploded ordnance and 19 other explosive remnants of war. 20 (c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 21 President shall seek to consult, partner, and coordinate 22 with international organizations, civil society, donor gov- 23 ernments through the Mine Action Support Group, and 24 other stakeholders, as appropriate, to leverage their exper- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2097.IH H2097 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2097 IH tise, financial support, and resources to minimize duplica- 1 tion of efforts and maximize the efficient and effective pro- 2 vision of United States assistance. 3 (d) BRIEFING.—The President shall provide annual 4 briefings to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 5 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa- 6 tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 7 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate on activities 8 undertaken in accordance with this section. 9 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry 11 out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 12 through 2024. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2097.IH H2097 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS