2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 110
BY SENATOR CROWE
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request Governor Bobby Jindal to appoint a cosmetologist or owner of a beauty
shop or salon from the Vietnamese-American Community in Louisiana to serve on
the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology at the occurrence of the next vacancy.
WHEREAS, the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, which ended the Vietnam War,
prompted immigration from Vietnam with most Vietnamese leaving because they feared the
promised communist reprisals; and
WHEREAS, during the spring of 1975, one hundred twenty-five thousand
Vietnamese left South Vietnam, followed by approximately more than five thousand people
in 1976-1977 and arrived in the United States to reception camps, by way of the Philippines
and Guam, to be transferred to temporary housing at U.S. Army bases in the United States,
including Camp Pendleton (California), Fort Chaffee (Arkansas), Eglin Air Force Base
(Florida), and Fort Indiantown Gap (Pennsylvania); and
WHEREAS, additional immigration of the Vietnamese refugees began in 1978 and
lasted until the mid-1980s due to the instability of Vietnam's politics and economy under the
new communist government, with the communists seizing and nationalizing private
businesses which led to widespread famine; and
WHEREAS, due to the hostility by the Communists against Christians, in particular
Catholics, many left Vietnam and immigrated to the United States to find religious freedom;
and
WHEREAS, the members of the Vietnamese community are known for their family
values, hard work and self sufficiency; and
WHEREAS, in 1975, as part of the need to provide for job training to the new
Vietnamese-American population, actress Tippi Hedren established a job training program
to teach twenty Vietnamese women in the profession of manicurists; and
WHEREAS, since that time, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese-Americans have
chosen to become manicurists as a career, many of whom reside in Louisiana; and
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WHEREAS, Louisiana is one of the states that require manicurists to be licensed as
cosmetologists; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 37:572(B) requires each member of the Louisiana Board of
Cosmetology to be appointed by the governor and be credentialed as a registered
cosmetologist or an owner of a beauty shop or salon; and
WHEREAS, even though thousands of Louisiana's Vietnamese-Americans are
licenced as cosmetologists or are owners of salons, no member of Louisiana's
Vietnamese-American community has ever been appointed to the Louisiana Board of
Cosmetology.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request Governor Bobby Jindal to appoint a cosmetologist or owner
of a beauty shop or salon from the Vietnamese-American Community in Louisiana to serve
on the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology at the occurrence of the next vacancy.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Governor Bobby Jindal.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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