On July 12th, Rep. Ami Bera introduced the bipartisan Legacies of War Recognition and Unexploded Ordnance Removal Act in the House of Representatives. The bill, which gathered 20 original co-sponsors, authorizes the President to provide humanitarian assistance to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam for the removal of landmines and other explosives. The bill also recognizes the Hmong, Cham, Cambodian, Iu-Mien, Khmu, Lao, Montagnard, and Vietnamese American communities who supported the United States during the Vietnam war.
In these three countries, Vietnam war-era and American-made explosives have caused tens of thousands of civilian injuries and deaths. This legislation is crucial in advancing the effort to clear U.S. legacy explosives which will save countless lives, improve diplomatic relations with the region, and provide closure to veterans of the Vietnam war.
Original co-sponsors of the bill include: Dean Phillips (MN-03), Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (AS-AL), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Bill Johnson (OH-06), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Brad Schneider (IL-10), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Dan Kildee (MI-08), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Dina Titus (NV-01), Jim Himes (CT-04), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), James P. McGovern (MA-02), André Carson (IN-07), and David Trone (MD-06).
Read Rep. Bera’s press release on the bill here.
Read the full bill text here.
