Senator Reed spoke at the Hmong and Lao SGU Veterans of America National Recognition Day ceremony, which commemorated the 40th anniversary since these veterans, who were recruited by the CIA to fight in the Vietnam War, left Laos and resettled in the United States. The event was held at the Fisher Student Center at Bryant University. Other speakers at the event included representatives from the Hmong United Association of RI and the PWC Center for Diversity Inclusion at Bryant University. Traditional Lao and Hmong dances were performed.
In 2000, Senator Reed cosponsored the Hmong Veterans’ Naturalization Act, a law that gave Hmong and Laotians who fought alongside Americans in Vietnam -- and their wives and widows who came to the U.S. -- the opportunity to become American citizens. The law allowed up to 45,000 Hmong veterans and their spouses who aided the U.S. during the Vietnam War to take the citizenship exam. Senator Reed is also a cosponsor of the Hmong Veterans Service Recognition Act (S. 1358) to give these individuals the right to be buried in U.S. national cemeteries.
