U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is sponsoring legislation that would allow Hmong-American veterans who served in covert operations in Vietnam to be buried in U.S. national cemeteries.
Murkowski testified on behalf of her bill before a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
According to Murkowski's office, the CIA, during the Vietnam War, conducted covert operations in Laos using thousands of Hmong volunteers. Murkowski's bill would allow the roughly 6,900 Hmong-American veterans currently living in the U.S. the right to be buried in national cemeteries.
Murkowski, in a release, said providing burial rights to the remaining Hmong veterans who fought for this country "is the least we can do to honor their service."