[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 238 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 238
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 15, 2005
Received
January 27, 2006
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Honoring the victims of the Cambodian genocide that took place from
April 1975 to January 1979.
Whereas beginning in April 1975, Pol Pot led the Communist guerilla group, the
Khmer Rouge, in a large-scale insurgency in Cambodia that forcibly
removed Cambodians from their homes and into labor camps in an attempt
to restructure Khmer society;
Whereas traditional Khmer culture and society were systematically destroyed,
including the destruction of temples, schools, hospitals, homes, and
historic buildings;
Whereas the Khmer Rouge separated and destroyed families and punished and killed
innocent civilians, including women, children, doctors, nurses, clergy,
teachers, business owners, intellectuals and artisans;
Whereas more than 1.7 million Cambodians, or approximately 21 percent of the
population, were killed in one of the worst atrocities of the last
century;
Whereas many people were executed simply for being educated, wealthy, or even
for wearing glasses as they were seen as bourgeois or contaminated with
Western influence;
Whereas after the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown in 1979, thousands of
Cambodians fled on foot to refugee camps in Thailand and many refugees
were processed again in other camps in the Philippines and Indonesia;
Whereas from these refugee camps approximately 145,149 Cambodians made their way
to the United States, with the majority arriving in the early 1980s and
settling in communities across the United States;
Whereas despite the tremendous loss of family members, homes, and even parts of
their heritage during the Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodians have shown
courage and enormous resiliency;
Whereas, according to United States Census Bureau figures, there are
approximately 206,053 Cambodians currently living in the United States;
Whereas the new generation of Cambodian-Americans continues to contribute to all
aspects of American society as writers, doctors, professors, and
community leaders; and
Whereas the United Nations has taken affirmative steps to establish an
international criminal tribunal to bring to justice the perpetrators of
the Cambodian genocide: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) honors the victims of the genocide in Cambodia that
took place beginning in April 1975 and ending in January 1979;
and
(2) welcomes the establishment of an international criminal
tribunal to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Cambodian
genocide, with the hope that proceedings of the tribunal will
meet international standards of justice.
Passed the House of Representatives December 14, 2005.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.