Supporting Hmong Veterans Who Fought During the Vietnam War

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call for the support of the Hmong Veterans' Service Recognition Act.

This bipartisan legislation extends veterans' burial benefits to Hmong and Laotian-American veterans who fought in the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam war. These brave men and women risked their lives fighting alongside American servicemen and -women as soldiers in the Special Guerilla Units, otherwise known as SGUs.

The SGUs were covertly trained by the CIA during the Vietnam war and then led into direct combat support for American forces, yet they have never been recognized for their service, which is why I introduced the legislation with Congressman Paul Cook, himself a decorated Vietnam veteran, who was a colonel in the United States Army and knows their story well.

There are only an estimated 5,000 Hmong veterans still alive today, with thousands of them in the San Joaquin Valley that I represent.

We extended this honor to Filipino soldiers years ago. I ask that we honor these courageous individuals with their choice of being laid to rest next to their brothers in arms. It is the right thing to do.

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