Vento served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1971 until 1976 before entering the House. Vento is recognized for his efforts in cleaning the environment and promoting affordable housing. He is also widely known for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1986, which provides federal money for shelter programs.
Legacy
The Bruce Vento Regional Trail runs through St. Paul, Minnesota. Along this path, by the Johnson Parkway just north of Phalen Avenue, a memorial grove has also been named in his honor. The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, a former railroad yard and informal trash dumping area in Lowertown St. Paul is also named for the Congressman, who lived nearby and supported this model reclamation project. East Consolidated Elementary School in St. Paul was renamed Bruce Vento Elementary School in 2000.[1]
Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act
Vento introduced the first bill in the US Congress to grant honorary U.S. citizenship to Laotian and Hmong veterans who served in the "U.S. Secret Army" in Laos during the Vietnam War. The legislation, the Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 2000 was passed by the House and Senate following his death and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Vento worked with the Lao Veterans of America, the Lao Veterans of America Institute, the Center for Public Policy Analysis and others to research and advance the legislation in Congress, Washington, D.C., and the Lao- and Hmong-American community. Vento worked with Hmong elders and community leaders in the Twin Cities and across the United States, including Cherzong Vang, Colonel Wangyee Vang and others to build support for the legislation which took over 10 years to gain the bipartisan support for passage on Capitol Hill, Congress and the White House.
Death
Vento died in 2000 while still a member of Congress from pleural mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer, as a result of exposure to asbestos. He had already announced that he would not run for a 13th term in 2000. Since he died a month before the election, no special election or new candidates were needed to replace him. State Representative Betty McCollum, a fellow DFLer, succeeded him.
