Today, May 2, 2009, is the Vietnamese Refugees Day.  Speaking in support of recognizing May 2, 2009, as the Vietnamese Refugees Day,Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) recalled the tragic but triumphant journey to freedom of millions of Vietnamese and praised the contributions and accomplishments of Vietnamese Americans to our country.  

 Mr. Speaker, in 1975, after the Vietnam War, a mass immigration to the United States of Vietnamese people began. These early Vietnamese immigrants were fleeing persecution by the Communists in power in that region of the world. They came to America, sometimes with barely the clothes on their back, seeking asylum and a better life.

Many of them can recount harrowing experiences in having to flee their homelands, some by boat, and others by land across Cambodia, Laos and Thai borders into refugee camps. In fact, over 2 million Vietnamese boat people and other refugees are now spread across the world, in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, England, Germany, China, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines and other nations.

And yet despite these harrowing escapes from oppressive regimes, Vietnamese-Americans have made significant contributions to the rich culture and economic prosperity of the United States. Vietnamese-Americans have distinguished themselves in the fields of literature, the arts, science and athletics. In fact, just a few months ago, the people of Louisiana's Second Congressional District, elected the first Vietnamese-American and sent the author of this piece of legislation, Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao to Congress.

According to Census Data, as of 2006, 72 percent of foreign-born Vietnamese are naturalized U.S. citizens. When combined with the 36 percent of Vietnamese born in America, a full 82 percent of Vietnamese are American citizens. Over half of all overseas Vietnamese are Vietnamese-Americans. What's more, there are well over 1 million people in the U.S. who identify themselves as Vietnamese alone or in combination with other ethnicities, ranking fourth among the Asian American groups.

According to 2006 Census Data, the Vietnamese American population has grown to 1.6 million and remains the second largest Southeast Asian American subgroup.