BILL NUMBER: SR 59INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Nguyen FEBRUARY 11, 2016 Relative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST WHEREAS, On February 15 and 16, 2016, President Obama will host the government leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a summit in the city of Rancho Mirage, California; and WHEREAS, International summits have historically provided venues for diplomatic discussions with government leaders on various policies, from economic prosperity and cultural tolerance, to the worldwide protection of human rights and intellectual property; and WHEREAS, All members of ASEAN are currently members of the General Assembly of the United Nations that penned The Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948, which proclaimed that every individual and every organ of society shall strive to promote respect for rights and freedoms of men and women; and WHEREAS, The preamble of the ASEAN Charter signed in Singapore on November 20, 2007, acknowledges its expanded membership's commitment to adhere "to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms"; and WHEREAS, The Human Rights Watch, in a report prepared for the February summit, has declared that most of ASEAN's 10 members have extraordinarily poor human rights records, including, but not limited to, restrictions on civil society, failures on women's rights, the political use of courts, high-level corruption, and lack of basic freedoms such as expression and peaceful assembly; and WHEREAS, The Human Rights Watch report dually urges President Obama to raise concerns involving political prisoners in Vietnam, politically motivated prosecutions in Malaysia, political repression in Cambodia, and the suppression of free expression in Thailand; and WHEREAS, The California State Legislature previously passed Senate Joint Resolution 5 which urged the President of the United States and the United States Congress to reauthorize the Humanitarian Resettlement Program and the Orderly Departure Program to allow disabled veterans of the South Vietnamese Army and their families currently living in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to apply to enter the United States, citing human rights concerns that persist in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Legislature respectfully urges the President of the United States to focus on the ongoing human rights injustices that continue to occur in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and in other Southeast Asian nations when the President hosts the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the Sunnylands Estate in Rancho Mirage, California on February 15 and 16, 2016; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature respectfully urges President Obama to discuss the implementation of Senate Joint Resolution 5 with the government leader of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, regarding the reauthorization of the Humanitarian Resettlement Program and the Orderly Departure Program to allow disabled veterans of the South Vietnamese Army and their families currently living in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to apply to enter the United States; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.