VAOORC offers this template for your organization to take a stand for justice. Here are some of the resolutions from groups like yours.
Whereas it is estimated that between 1961 and 1971, approximately 77 million litres of herbicides, including 49.3 million litres of Agent Orange containing more than 360 kilograms of dioxin‐contaminated defoliants, were sprayed multiple times over 5.5 million acres in South Vietnam;
Whereas, the United States government, in violation of international law, waged this massive chemical warfare on Vietnam;
Whereas, chemical companies, including Dow and Monsanto, knew of the terrible dangers to humans related to dioxin and could have eliminated it from Agent Orange, but did not do so because it would have required additional costs; and maximizing profits came before human suffering and lives;
Whereas, dioxins are known to be risk factors for cancer, immune deficiency, reproductive and developmental disorders, and central nervous system and peripheral nervous system effects;
Whereas studies conducted by the international scientific community have shown the association between exposure to herbicides and health outcomes, including cancer, reproductive illnesses, immune deficiency, endocrine deficiencies, nervous system damage and other ill effects and developmental disabilities in children;
Whereas several generations of children who were born after the Vietnam war to parents exposed to Agent Orange during that war are now suffering from serious physical and mental disabilities that require medical, vocational, educational and other social services;
Whereas residues from herbicides that were transported, loaded, and stored at or near U.S. Air Force bases in Vietnam, and the spraying of Agent Orange by helicopters, backpacks, and Naval spraying in other locations have led to the contamination of the environment and food in the surrounding areas, resulting in exposure to herbicides by civilians that continues today;
Whereas the Vietnam Agent Relief and Responsibility Campaign is leading a national and international campaign to hold the U.S. government and those involved chemical companies accountable for the death and destruction of both humans and environment and to secure justice for Agent Orange victims;
Therefore Be It Resolved That, in support of the Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, we (name of organization) demand that:
• U.S. Congress appropriate funds to provide health care services, education, social services, chronic care, home care, medical equipment, support for family and other services as they may arise to the more than 3 million Vietnamese people hurt by Agent Orange, including second and third generations as well as to American veterans and their children and grandchildren and to Vietnamese Americans;
• Those involved chemical companies assume their responsibility and allocate a significant amount of money from the profit of Agent Orange/dioxin to make a significant contribution to meet the needs of the victims of Agent Orange;
• Both the U.S. government and involved chemical companies be responsible to remediate and or attempt to clean up those areas in Vietnam that continue to contain high levels of dioxin.
Submitted by ________ on _____ (date) ______. Approved by ___________ on ____ (date) ____
Name, address and contacts of the organization.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://vn-agentorange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/sample_Agent-_Orange_resolution.pdf” title=”sample_Agent _Orange_resolution”]
