ENROLLED
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 12
BY REPRESENTATIVE DUBUISSON
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to establish
the "Agent Orange Veterans Service Medal" to commemorate the service and
sacrifice of veterans who were exposed to the Agent Orange herbicide during the
Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971.
WHEREAS, for generations, millions of Americans have answered the call to serve
and taken the sacred oath to defend and preserve our nation's ideals of liberty and
democracy; and
WHEREAS, such valiant men and women sacrifice their personal safety and time
with their families to protect the individual and collective freedom guaranteed to all
Americans; and
WHEREAS, more than eight million citizens of this country honorably served during
the Vietnam War, during which time Agent Orange was widely used in Vietnam by the
United States Armed Forces as part of the herbicidal warfare program Operation Ranch
Hand from 1961 until 1971; and
WHEREAS, nearly twenty million gallons of the orange powder were sprayed over
the land from helicopters or low-flying aircraft, destroying vegetation and crops in order to
deprive enemy guerrillas of food and cover for their activities and exposing more than two
million American soldiers to the herbicide and defoliant chemical; and
WHEREAS, Agent Orange is a dioxin and cancer-causing chemical that enters the
body through physical contact or ingestion and moves into the human cell nucleus, where
it attacks the genes and causes a number of serious illnesses, including leukemia, lymphoma,
myeloma, ischemic heart disease, soft tissue sarcoma, amyloidosis, diabetes, and cancers of
the throat, prostate, lung, and colon; and
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WHEREAS, Agent Orange also causes genetic damage, and in some cases, the
children and grandchildren of veterans exposed to Agent Orange have been born with spina
bifida and other abnormalities; and
WHEREAS, today, only eight hundred thousand Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent
Orange are alive, and approximately three hundred deaths occur among them every day; and
WHEREAS, while fallen comrades are memorialized at the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial in Washington, D.C., those veterans who are victims of Agent Orange are not
recognized as fatalities of the Vietnam War; and
WHEREAS, it is most appropriate that we should honor these veterans to the full
extent of our ability, as they have made untold and innumerable sacrifices to preserve the
liberties we enjoy today and that our progeny will hopefully continue to cherish for
generations to come.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to establish a
commemorative military service medal to be known as the "Agent Orange Veterans Service
Medal" to honor and recognize the victims of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War for
their courageous service to our nation as some of America's most heroic citizens.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States
Congress and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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