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RESOLUTION NO. 3835 <br />A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF <br />WESTMINSTER RELATING TO THE BURDENS PLACED UPON THE <br />CITY BY REPRESENTATIVES AND OFFICIALS FROM THE SOCIALIST <br />REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM TRAVELING IN OR THROUGH THE CITY OF <br />WESTMINSTER <br />WHEREAS, the City of Westminster was recently informed, with less than <br />twenty-four (24) hours notice, of a pending visit to Orange County, including specifically <br />the City of Westminster and its Little Saigon business district and Vietnam Veterans <br />War Memorial, by representatives and/or officials of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; <br />WHEREAS, such a visit to the Little Saigon business district and the Vietnam <br />Veterans War Memorial would be highly provocative to large segments of the <br />population, Including veterans of the Vietnam War and Americans of Vietnamese <br />descent, in the same manner that a visit to a Jewish Cemetery by a National Socialist <br />war criminal would be provocative; <br />WHEREAS, the City of Westminster was inundated by telephone calls from <br />concerned citizens who opposed the visit, and the City of Westminster was faced with <br />the prospect of tens of thousands of demonstrators lining the streets to protest the visit, <br />with potential expenses to the taxpayers of tens of thousands of dollars for police <br />overtime and reimbursement for support from neighboring law enforcement agencies; <br />WHEREAS, the City of Westminster is home to the highest percentage of <br />Vietnamese-American citizens and residents of any city in the United States; <br />WHEREAS, the vast majority of American citizens and residents of Vietnamese <br />descent residing in the United States, and particularly in Westminster, reject the current <br />dictatorial rule of the Vietnamese Communist Party; <br />WHEREAS, many citizens and residents of Vietnamese descent residing In <br />Westminster risked their lives to escape from communist-occupied Vietnam following <br />the fall of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975 and came to the United States in their <br />search for freedom and democracy, <br />WHEREAS, visits and proposed visits by representatives or officials of the <br />Socialist Republic of Vietnam to large concentrations of Vietnamese-American citizens <br />and residents, especially in the Little Saigon area of Westminster and neighboring <br />Garden Grove, have previously met with angry protests and demonstrations; <br />WHEREAS, in 1999, the Vietnamese-American population was outraged by a <br />sympathizer of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, who provoked the community by <br />displaying a photograph of the deceased tyrant, Ho Chi Minh, and the flag of <br />communist-oc cupled Vietnam; <br />3835-1 <br />85C-3