STAND. COM. REP. NO. 94

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 669

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 669 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VIETNAM WAR COMMEMORATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the State Department of Defense for programs, ceremonies, and activities commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Vietnam War.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, State Office of Veterans Services, The Military Order of Foreign Wars Hawaii Commandery, and five individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii State Teachers Association and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that the Vietnam War is a chapter in American's history that must never be forgotten.  During the Vietnam War, more than 58,000 members of the United States Armed Forces were killed, over 153,000 were wounded, and as of 2014, there remain 1,638 Americans who are unaccounted for.  It is important that the State honor the sacrifices of the men and women who served and to remember the suffering and loss of life of all who were involved.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 669 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair