# Plain Language Summary: Legacies of War Recognition and Unexploded Ordnance Removal Act

This bill is about two main things: honoring certain communities for their help during the Vietnam War era, and funding efforts to clean up dangerous leftover weapons in Southeast Asia. The bill recognizes that during the 1960s and 1970s, many Hmong, Cambodian, Lao, Vietnamese, and other Southeast Asian people helped the U.S. military by rescuing shot-down pilots, providing intelligence, and offering food and shelter to soldiers. The bill formally acknowledges their contributions and the sacrifices their communities made.

The practical part of the bill focuses on a serious ongoing problem: landmines and unexploded bombs left over from the war are still killing and injuring people today, more than 40 years later. Vietnam has an estimated 800,000 tons of unexploded ordnance scattered across the countryside, and since 1975 these weapons have killed or injured over 105,000 Vietnamese civilians. Laos and Cambodia face similar dangers, with tens of millions of unexploded cluster munitions and mines still contaminating farmland, villages, and roads. These weapons make it impossible for people to safely farm, build homes, or develop their communities.

To address this, the bill authorizes $100 million per year for five years (2024 through 2028) to help Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia clear these dangerous weapons. The money would support mapping contaminated areas, actually removing the mines and bombs, training local workers, helping survivors with medical care and prosthetics, and managing stockpiles of old weapons. The bill also requires the President to report back to Congress annually about progress and to work with international organizations to make sure efforts aren't duplicated and resources are used efficiently. Essentially, this bill commits significant U.S. resources to cleaning up a decades-old problem that continues to harm innocent civilians in Southeast Asia.

Legacies of War Recognition and Unexploded Ordnance Removal Act

Bera, Ami

Legacies of War Recognition and Unexploded Ordnance Removal Act This bill authorizes humanitarian assistance to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to clear landmines and other explosive remnants of war. Under the bill, the President may, from FY2024 through FY2029, provide humanitarian assistance to (1) develop national surveys of landmines and other explosive remnants of war; (2) clear such explosive remnants of war; (3) manage stockpiles of small arms, light weapons, and ammunition; (4) build capacity and improve physical security related to such explosive remnants of war; and (5) support survivors of incidents involving such explosive remnants of war, including by providing related medical assistance and prosthetic devices. The bill also requires the President to report to Congress about any assistance provided.