July 26, 2008
The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of California
State Capital Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Assembly Bill 2064- Sponsored by Assembly Member Juan Arambula
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
I encourage your support of AB 2064, which would require the State Board of Education and the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission to adopt textbooks and instructional materials to include instruction on the Vietnam War specifically the Secret War in Laos, the role of Southeast Asians in that war, and the refugee/immigrant/new American experience as a result of the war.
Throughout the United States involvement in the Vietnam War, Southeast Asians were courageous allies in the struggle against the spread of communism. Their stories of heroism, sacrifices, and struggles need to be told as a part of the American history especially to our youth. By supporting Assembly Bill AB 2064, we are ensuring that the Southeast Asian stories and their legacies will be remembered beyond the generations that participated in the Vietnam War.
AB 2064 will have no cost to the State because adoption will be executed during normal book adoption cycle in 2011.
I am asking for your signature Assembly Bill 2064 reaches your desk. I also want to thank you for joining Assembly Member Arambula and I in support of this Bill.
Sincerely yours,
Thank you for listening to us with your heart. We are children of immigrants and refugees from the Vietnam War/Secret War era and we are asking for your help. Many of us are loosing a very important piece of our American History since this war ended in 1975 because it was never written into our Social Study text books or included in the supplemental materials. Your voice will get the Governor to support AB2064. This bill alone will mandate that the State adopted Social Study text books and supplemental materials for next year include the missing piece about the Vietnam War/Secret War, our courageous Allies who were the Southeast Asian people, and their new American experiences. This will help our youth gain new self-confidence, integrity, and respect for our ancestors.
Thank you for your support and taking the time from your busy schedule to connect heart to heart with us.
