[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST
ASIAN AMERICANS
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL
RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
__________
Serial No. 117-12
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
48-312 WASHINGTON : 2022
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COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
JERROLD NADLER, New York, Chair
MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania, Vice-Chair
ZOE LOFGREN, California JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Ranking Member
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr., DARRELL ISSA, California
Georgia KEN BUCK, Colorado
THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida MATT GAETZ, Florida
KAREN BASS, California MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana
HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island TOM McCLINTOCK, California
ERIC SWALWELL, California W. GREGORY STEUBE, Florida
TED LIEU, California TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin
JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington CHIP ROY, Texas
VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida DAN BISHOP, North Carolina
J. LUIS CORREA, California MICHELLE FISCHBACH, Minnesota
SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
JOE NEGUSE, Colorado SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
LUCY McBATH, Georgia CLIFF BENTZ, OREGON
GREG STANTON, Arizona BURGESS OWENS, Utah
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
MONDAIRE JONES, New York
DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
CORI BUSH, Missouri
PERRY APELBAUM, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Minority Staff Director
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS,
AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee, Chair
DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina, Vice-Chair
JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana, Ranking
HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, JR., Member
Georgia TOM MCCLINTOCK, California
SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas CHIP ROY, Texas
CORI BUSH, Missouri MICHELLE FISCHBACH, Minnesota
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas BURGESS OWENS, Utah
JAMES PARK, Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Page
OPENING STATEMENTS
The Honorable Steve Cohen, Chair of the Subcommittee on the
Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State
of Tennessee................................................... 2
The Honorable Chip Roy, a Member of the Subcommittee on the
Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State
of Texas....................................................... 4
The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the Committee on the
Judiciary from the State of New York........................... 6
WITNESSES
Panel I
The Honorable Doris Matsui, Member of Congress
Oral Testimony................................................. 8
Prepared Testimony............................................. 11
The Honorable Judy Chu, Member of Congress
Oral Testimony................................................. 17
Prepared Testimony............................................. 19
The Honorable Tammy Duckworth, United States Senator
Oral Testimony................................................. 21
Prepared Testimony............................................. 23
The Honorable Young Kim, Member of Congress
Oral Testimony................................................. 25
Prepared Testimony............................................. 27
The Honorable Michelle Steel, Member of Congress
Oral Testimony................................................. 31
Prepared Testimony............................................. 33
The Honorable Grace Meng, Member of Congress
Oral Testimony................................................. 36
Prepared Testimony............................................. 38
Panel II
John C. Yang, President & Executive Director, Asian Americans
Advancing Justice--AAJC
Oral Testimony................................................. 39
Prepared Testimony............................................. 42
Manjusha P. Kulkarni, Executive Director, Stop AAPI Hate, Asian
Pacific Policy and Planning Council
Oral Testimony................................................. 56
Prepared Testimony............................................. 58
Erika Lee, Regents Professor of History and Asian American
Studies and Director, Immigration History Research Center,
University of Minnesota
Oral Testimony................................................. 63
Prepared Testimony............................................. 66
Charles Lehman, Fellow, Manhattan Institute and Contributing
Editor, City Journal
Oral Testimony................................................. 76
Prepared Testimony............................................. 78
Wencong Fa, Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Oral Testimony................................................. 82
Prepared Testimony............................................. 84
Daniel Dae Kim, Actor and Producer
Oral Testimony................................................. 86
Prepared Testimony............................................. 89
Shirin Sinnar, Professor of Law & John A. Wilson Faculty Scholar,
Stanford Law School
Oral Testimony................................................. 94
Prepared Testimony............................................. 96
Hiroshi Motomura, Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor
of Law and Faculty Co-Director, Center for Immigration Law and
Policy, UCLA School of Law
Oral Testimony................................................. 107
Prepared Testimony............................................. 109
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC. SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
A video submitted by the Honorable Steve Cohen, Chair of the
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil
Liberties from the State of Tennessee for the record........... 3
A video submitted by the Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the
Committee on the Judiciary from the State of New York for the
record......................................................... 6
An article entitled, ``Triangle-area Asian Americans suffer
`grief, devastation' in wake of Atlanta killings,'' Raleigh
News & Observer, submitted by the Honorable Deborah Ross, Vice-
Chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights,
and Civil Liberties from the State of North Carolina for the
record......................................................... 122
Materials submitted by the Honorable Hank Johnson, a Member of
the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil
Liberties from the State of Georgia for the record
A video produced by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta.. 136
A letter submitted by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-
Atlanta, March 18, 2021...................................... 137
A video submitted by the Honorable Sylvia R. Garcia, a Member of
the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil
Liberties from the State of Texas for the record............... 149
Materials available online submitted by the Honorable Sylvia R.
Garcia, a Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil
Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State of Texas for the
record......................................................... 152
A statement from Asian American Leaders Table, submitted by the
Honorable Cori Bush, a Member of the Subcommittee on the
Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State
of Missouri for the record..................................... 156
Materials submitted by the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, a Member
of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and
Civil Liberties from the State of Texas for the record
A video entitled, ``Victims Recovering From Sam's Club
Stabbing''................................................... 158
An article entitled, ``A Man Who Allegedly Tried To Kill An
Asian American Family Because Of The Coronavirus Could Face
Hate Crime Charges,'' BuzzFeed News.......................... 160
Photos of Bawi Kung and his son, victims of anti-Asian violence 163
Materials available online submitted by the Honorable Steve
Cohen, Chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil
Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State of Tennessee for the
record......................................................... 168
APPENDIX
Materials available online submitted by the Honorable Steve
Cohen, Chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil
Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State of Tennessee for the
record......................................................... 178
A letter from Grace Huang, Director of Policy, Asian Pacific
Institute, March 17, 2021, submitted by the Honorable Pramila
Jayapal, a Member of the Committee on the Judiciary from the
State of Washington for the record............................. 179
A press release entitled, ``AACE Denounces the Rising Violence
and Hate Crimes Targeting Asian Americans, Calls for Thorough
Investigations and Policies to Address Root Causes: AACE Policy
Statement on Anti-Asian Violence and Hate Crimes,'' Asian
American Coalition for Education, submitted by the Honorable
Mike Johnson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the
Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State
of Louisiana for the record.................................... 181
DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST ASIAN AMERICANS
----------
Thursday, March 18, 2021
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights,
and Civil Liberties
Committee on the Judiciary
Washington, DC
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:09 a.m., in Room
2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steve Cohen [Chair of
the Subcommittee] presiding.
Members present: Representatives Cohen, Nadler, Raskin,
Ross, Johnson of Georgia, Garcia, Bush, Jackson Lee, Jordan,
McClintock, Roy, Fischbach, and Owens.
Also present: Representatives Jayapal and Lieu.
Staff present: Arya Hariharan, Deputy Chief Oversight
Counsel; David Greengrass, Senior Counsel; John Doty, Senior
Advisor; Madeline Strasser, Chief Clerk; Moh Sharma, Member
Services and Outreach Advisor; Priyanka Mara, Professional
Staff Member/Legislative Aide; Cierra Fontenot, Staff
Assistant; John Williams, Parliamentarian; Keenan Keller,
Senior Counsel; James Park, Chief Counsel for Constitution;
Caroline Nabity, Minority Counsel; Sarah Trentman, Minority
Senior Professional Staff Member; and Kiley Bidelman, Minority
Clerk.
Mr. Cohen. The Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on
the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will come
to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to repair
to a recess to the Subcommittee at any time.
I welcome everyone to today's hearing on Discrimination and
Violence Against Asian Americans. Before we begin this meeting,
I would like to ask that we have a moment of silence in memory
of the individuals tragically killed, murdered, in Atlanta,
Georgia.
Thank you. I would like to remind Members that we have
established an email address and distribution list dedicated to
circulating exhibits, motions, or other written materials that
Members may want to offer as part of our hearing today. If you
would like to submit those materials, the site is
[email protected] .gov. We will distribute them to
Members and staff as quickly as possible.
I also ask unanimous consent that our Judiciary Committee
colleagues, Representatives Jayapal and Lieu participate in
today's hearing. Hearing no objection, I welcome them to our
Subcommittee. They will be able to question our Witnesses if
they are yielded time by Subcommittee Members.
Finally, I would ask all Members, both those in person and
those appearing remotely to mute your microphones when you are
not speaking. This will help prevent feedback, other technical
issues, and unmute yourself when you are recognized.
I will now recognize myself for an opening statement. While
there are still many details to be learned about Tuesday's
horrific shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six
of them reportedly of Asian descent, one thing is certain. For
many Asian Americans, Tuesday's shocking events felt like the
inevitable culmination of a year in which there were nearly
3,800 reported incidents of anti-Asian hate incidents that grew
increasingly more violent over time as the COVID-19 pandemic
worsened and some people wrongly blamed Asian Americans or
implied such by calling it the China virus.
These incidents include cases of verbal harassment, being
spat at, slapped in the face, lit on fire, slashed with a box
cutter, or shoved violently to the ground. That number of
reported incidents is just likely the tip of the iceberg.
I want to make clear that all Asian Americans who are
understandably feeling hurt and afraid right now and wondering
whether anyone else in America cares, that Congress sees you,
we stand with you, and we will do everything in our power to
protect you. Anti-Asian hate did not begin with the COVID-19
pandemic and will not end when the pandemic is over. All the
pandemic did was exacerbate latent anti-Asian prejudices have a
long and ugly history in America. It also provided an excuse
for some to Act on those prejudices. In fact, there has been
discrimination against lots of people in this country and all
that has been exacerbated, but the Asian situation has been the
most extreme.
Pandemics worsen geopolitical tensions and economic
competition and the fear and resentment that these situations
create, have historically provided the conditions for anti-
Asian racism and xenophobia to take root, often leading to
tragic consequences for Asian Americans. For example, social
and economic resentment against Chinese laborers in the 1800s
led to the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which
barred nearly all immigration from China. The 1924 Immigration
Act effectively barred immigration from all Asian countries.
In 1942, the United States Government committed the most
sweeping violation of civil liberties in American history,
other than slavery itself, when it ordered the forced
internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans, many of them second
and third generation Americans during the Second World War,
based not on any legitimate national security concerns, but on
the racist and xenophobic assumption that Americans of Japanese
ancestry would be disloyal.
In 1982, Chinese American Vincent Chen was beaten to death
by two White auto workers because his attackers thought he was
Japanese and therefore responsible for the decline of the U.S.
automobile industry.
On September 15, 2001, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh gas
station owner in Arizona, was murdered by a man who blamed him
for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
To this list, we now add the more recent victims of anti-
Asian hate as Asian Americans are wrongfully blamed for the
COVID-19 pandemic. While many of the recent anti-Asian
incidents may not meet legal definition of hate crime, these
attacks nonetheless create an unacceptable environment of fear
and terror in Asian American communities.
Attacks like the one on 84-year-old, Vichar Ratanapakdee on
January 28 of this year, was on a walk in his neighborhood. He
was walking in his neighborhood. He was violently slammed to
the ground. He died a few days later from the brain trauma that
he sustained.
Now, I would like to play a video of that attack caught by
a nearby surveillance camera.
[Video available at https://www.dropbox.com/s/6huk2gqtx0kgo7y/
Cohen%20Video .mp4?dl=0]
Mr. Cohen. Sadly, this incident was one of several recent
ones where elderly Asian Americans were similarly knocked
violently to the ground. Left unchecked, racist attitudes
stoked by racist rhetoric can have deadly consequences for
innocent people as we have just witnessed in that sad clip.
In such a fraught time as the ones we are living in it is
incumbent on all elected, all public officials, elected or
otherwise, and public figures to speak out against the
irrational hatreds and prejudices that could overtake society
in the face of a national emergency. In short, words matter.
Indeed, the wrong words can be very harmful. Leaders who
promote stereotypes or use rhetoric aimed at a particular
ethnic or racial group can cause increases the levels of
discrimination or violence directed against that group.
When politicians use terms like ``China virus'' or ``kung
flu'' or to refer to COVID-19 has the effect and intention of
putting a target on the back of all Asian Americans.
Use of the right words of our leaders can help calm fears,
reassure those feelings, those feeling under threat and remind
everyone that we all share the same basic dignity as human
beings and that we should treat each other accordingly.
Thankfully, we have two panels of Witnesses who can help
show us the way forward and I eagerly await their testimony. As
best we can tell, the last time there was a congressional
hearing specifically focused on anti-Asian hate was in 1987
before this Subcommittee. That hearing took place during
another time when economic and social problems were getting
blamed on an Asian country, and by unfair extension, Asian
Americans.
We can't ever forget Asian Americans, not Asians, Asian
Americans. Clearly more work needs to be done. Let us use this
hearing as a chance to do better.
Now, I would like to recognize--the Ranking Member is not
here.
Mr. Roy, are you taking his place?
Mr. Roy. Yes, sir.
Mr. Cohen. In lieu of Mr. Johnson, Mr. Chip Roy of Texas,
will give the statement for the minority as the Ranking Member.
You are recognized for five minutes, Mr. Roy.
Mr. Roy. Well, thank you, Chair Cohen, and I appreciate our
gathering here today. This is obviously an important subject
matter.
To be clear, all Americans deserve protection and to live
in a free and secure society and the fundamental nature of what
we expect out of government, right, to secure the blessings of
liberty as we say in the Constitution of the United States.
The victims of race-based violence and their families
deserve justice. The case where we are talking about here with
the tragedy what we just saw occur in Atlanta, Georgia. I would
also suggest that the victims of cartels moving illegal aliens
deserve justice. The American citizens in South Texas, they are
getting absolutely decimated by what is happening at our
southern borders deserve justice. The victims of rioting and
looting in the streets last week, businesses closed--I am
sorry, last summer--deserve justice.
We believe in justice. I think there are old sayings in
Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a taller tree.
We take justice very seriously. We ought to do that, round up
the bad guys. That is what we believe.
My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to
venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society, free
speech, and away from the rule of law in taking out bad guys.
As a former Federal prosecutor, I am kind of predisposed and
wired to want to go take out bad guys. That is bad guys of all
colors. That is bad guys of all persuasions. That is bad guys
targeting people for all different reasons. I think we need to
be mindful of that.
So, now we are talking about whether talking about China,
the ChinaComs, the Chinese Communist Party, whatever phrasing
we want to use and if some people are saying hey, we think
those guys are the bad guys, for whatever reason. Let me just
state clearly, I do. I think the Chinese Communist Party
running the country of China, I think they are the bad guys. I
think that they are harming people. I think they are engaging
in modern-day slavery and I think that what they are doing to
the Uighurs and I think what they are doing targeting our
country and I think that what they are doing to undermine our
national security and what they are doing to steal our
intellectual property and what they are doing to build up their
military and rattle throughout the Pacific, I think it is
patently evil and deserving of condemnation. I think that what
they did to hide the reality of this virus is equally deserving
of condemnation.
There is hardly any getting around that, in fact, happened,
right? We have got the World Health Organization, on Twitter,
saying preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese
authorities found no clear evidence of human-to-human
transmissions of the novel coronavirus. Well, WHO had to go
back and redo all that. We know full well, I have got a bill
that I introduced that posthumously awarded Congressional Gold
Medal to Li Wenliang for coming out and exposing what the
Chinese Communist Government has done to hide the virus.
Dr. Wenliang was a 34-year-old ophthalmologist in Wuhan,
China who died in 2019 coronavirus after he sought to draw
attention to the spread of the virus. Research indicates the
first patient, in fact, did exhibit symptoms in early December
2019. On January 3rd, after raising concerns about the spread,
Dr. Wenliang and seven other doctors were detained and
questioned by Chinese officials. He was forced to sign a
statement retracting his warnings and confessing he spread only
rumors. That is the reality. He ended up dying, but he was
beaten. They were targeted for engaging in free speech to try
to bring to light what was happening.
That is the reality of what I tend to refer to as the
ChinaComs. I am not going to be ashamed of saying I oppose the
ChinaComs. I oppose the Chinese Communist Party. When we say
things like that, and we are talking about that, we shouldn't
be worried about having a Committee of Members in Congress
policing our rhetoric because some evildoers go engage in some
evil activity as occurred in Atlanta, Georgia. Because when we
start policing free speech, we are doing the very thing that we
are condemning when we condemn what the Chinese Communist Party
does to their country.
That is exactly where this wants to go. This is the road
this wants to head down. Nothing could be more dangerous than
going down that road. Because who decides what is hate? Who
decides what is the kind of speech that deserves policing? A
panel? A panel of this body? A panel in the Executive Branch? A
panel in the Department of Justice? Then what does that mean?
Who is deciding?
When we get into making crimes out of thought, crimes out
of speech, as opposed to crimes out of the action of the
evildoers. Find those who perpetrated what happened in Atlanta.
Find those who engage in hate of all forms and punish the
absolute hell out of them, but don't go around policing
thought.
One other thing, I hope today's hearing will examine the
discrimination against Asian Americans in educational settings,
a matter that the Trump Administration prioritized, took
seriously, and acted upon. In October, for example, the
Department of Justice sued Yale for race and national origin
discrimination after determining that Yale was noncompliant
with title VI of the '64 Civil Rights Act which prohibits
Federal financial assistance to any program engaged in racial
or discriminatory practices.
Following a two-year investigation, the Department of
Justice concluded that Asian American and White students have
only one tenth to one fourth the likelihood of admissions as
African American applicants with comparable academic
credentials. The Justice Department alleged that Yale
discriminated against Asian Americans by favoring certain
applicants based upon their race, rather than looking for race-
neutral alternatives to achieve the university's goals.
Then Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights
Division explained all persons who apply for admission to
colleges and universities should expect and know that they will
be judged by their character, talent, and achievements, and not
the color of their skin. To do otherwise, would permit our
institutions to foster stereotypes, bitterness, and division. I
couldn't agree more. However, only two weeks into President
Biden's term, the Biden Administration suddenly reversed course
and dropped the lawsuit against Yale.
Mr. Chair, I will close, but I will just say I will just
say I hope this is the direction we will go. I hope we will
look at this and we will look through the lens of clarity and
objective truth, trying to seek justice and not trying to
police speech and trying to achieve the objectives we want to
achieve. I thank the Chair.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Roy. Before I recognize the Chair
for his statement, I would just like to reiterate that while
speech is important and has meaning, the incidents I mentioned
in my opening statement were being spat at, slapped in the
face, lit on fire, slashed with a box cutter, and shoved bodily
to the ground as the video showed. That is not speech.
Mr. Roy. Just as a reminder, I didn't say it exactly was
speech.
Mr. Cohen. That is not speech. That is action. I would like
to recognize the Chair for his opening statement, Mr. Nadler.
Chair Nadler. Thank you. Mr. Chair, we are here today to
address the horrific rise in violence, harassment, and
discrimination against Asian Americans that is surging across
the country.
As we convene this hearing, our thoughts are with the
victims, but especially the Asian American victims in Georgia
who were brutally murdered on Tuesday night. Although the
motive is still to be investigated, the effect on the Asian
American community has been profound and it is certainly
appropriate for us to address the fear gripping the Asian
American community. So, I want to thank the Chair for convening
this hearing.
Hate crimes and hate incidents against Asian Americans have
been on the rise since 2017. Last year alone, nearly 3,800
hundred incidents were reported, with about 68 percent of Asian
Americans reporting that they have experienced racial slurs or
verbal harassment since the pandemic began.
Distressingly, one of the largest increases in the country
of hatred and violence against Asian Americans has occurred in
my own congressional district in New York City.
This short clip shows just some of the verbal and physical
abuse many Asian Americans have faced in recent years.
[Video available at https://www.dropbox.com/s/3pe9ip35m3vfid5/
Nadler%20Video .mp4?dl=0]
Chair Nadler. Last February, a woman was hit in the face on
the subway and called ``diseased.''
Last March, a Chinese-American dad from Queens and his 10-
year-old son were harassed and attacked by an assailant who was
screaming at him for appearing to be Chinese.
Last April, an Asian-American woman in Brooklyn suffered
significant burns after a chemical attack.
Last July, an 89-year-old grandmother in Bensonhurst was
attacked and set on fire by two men.
Just last month, a New Yorker was slashed across the face
with a box cutter. He needed more than 100 stitches.
Also, last month, in separate incidents on the same day,
two elderly women were punched in the face on the subway.
A few weeks ago, a man was stabbed outside of the Federal
courthouse.
Just this Tuesday, a woman in Midtown had an unknown liquid
poured on her neck as she was picking up packages.
The common denominator? All the victims were Asian American
or of Asian descent.
These are our neighbors, friends, family members,
constituents, and fellow Americans.
It is not only severe violence that Asian Americans in New
York have had to fear. There has also been a barrage of verbal
attacks and discrimination against the community. New Yorkers
have had racially derogatory remarks written onto the outside
of their restaurants and had flyers posted around New York City
neighborhoods blaming Asian Americans for the virus. Many of
these attacks go unreported and official statistics represent
only a fraction of hate crimes or hate incidents.
These examples are certainly not exhaustive, and the
harassment, abuse, and violence extend to communities across
the country. We have Witnessed Asian Americans bloodied and
beaten in stores; learned that Asian-American parents fear
sending their children back to schools because of racial
violence; and observed harrowing videos of verbal attacks aimed
at Asian Americans in our public spaces.
Perhaps even more heartbreaking, we have seen our Asian-
American frontline workers battle not only the pandemic, but
also racism and disproportionately high death rates.
It is important to recognize that this surge did not
spontaneously arise only out of fears regarding the coronavirus
pandemic. Some of this blame lies squarely on political leaders
who have demonized China, both because of the virus and ongoing
geopolitical tensions, and in turn, Asian Americans have fallen
in harm's way.
Words have power. What we say matters. How we treat each
other matters. The expectations and standards we set in how we
address this pandemic matter. The conversation we are having
today is long overdue, and it is vital that Congress shine a
light on this issue.
The last congressional hearing held on violence against
Asian Americans was in 1987, in this Subcommittee. Thirty-four
years is too long for Congress to leave this issue untouched.
Our government must thoroughly investigate and swiftly address
growing tensions and violence against the Asian-American
community, especially in light of the pandemic, because lives
and livelihoods are truly at stake.
Last week, we reached the one-year anniversary of the
COVID-19 pandemic in this country, a solemn and difficult
moment for our Nation as we reflected on all we have suffered
and lost. Such hardship cannot be used as an excuse for
dismissing the pain of our fellow Americans, enabling
discrimination against them, or devaluing their sense of
belonging and citizenship.
Today, we are privileged to have our fellow Members of
Congress, from both sides of the aisle, testifying about their
personal experiences.
In addition, we have an expert panel that will walk us
through the rise in discrimination and violence and its impact
on the community, as well as historical perspectives and
challenges to inform our legislative efforts moving forward. I
look forward to hearing how we can better ensure protection,
justice, and healing for our Asian-American neighbors, in this
time of crisis and moving forward.
Thank you, and I yield back.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Nadler. We welcome our Witnesses
and thank them for participating in today's hearing.
I will now introduce each of the Witnesses and after each
introduction will recognize that Witness for his or her oral
testimony. Please note that each of your written statements
will be entered into the record in its entirety. Accordingly, I
ask you to summarize your testimony in five minutes.
To help you stay within that five minutes while you are
testifying, there is a timing light on your table. Of course,
we don't have a table. Is there a process? On the screen, they
can see if it is green, you are good. If it is yellow, you are
in the last minutes. If it is red, finish it. It means your
five minutes are up. That is on your Webex view.
Before proceeding with the testimony, I would like to
remind all the Witnesses appearing on the panel that you have a
legal obligation to provide truthful testimony and answers. Any
false statements you make today could subject you to
prosecution under section 1001 of title 18 of the United States
Code.
Today we have two Witness panels. Our first panel will be
Members. Our first Witness is Representative Doris Matsui.
Congressman Matsui represents the 6th Congressional District of
California and has represented that area of Sacramento environs
since 2005.
Congressman Matsui, you are recognized for five minutes.
Apparently, Congressman Matsui, you are recognized for five
minutes. Apparently, there is a technical problem with Webex
and not with my iPad. We are going to recess for as much time
as is necessary to correct this error. Technology is not
perfect.
[Recess.]
Mr. Cohen. The hearing will now come back to order. Now,
being in order, I recognize the distinguished lady from
Sacramento, California, the Honorable Doris Matsui for five
minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DORIS MATSUI
Ms. Matsui. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, Ranking Member,
and Members of the Committee for this opportunity to testify.
I am very proud to join this distinguished panel of our
colleagues and yet, I wish it were not necessary for us to be
here under such troubling circumstances to address the
disturbing spike in discrimination and violence against AAPI
communities across the nation. Just a couple days ago, eight
people, six of whom were women of Asian descent, were shot and
killed outside of Atlanta. This latest attack stands as a
horrible reminder of the fear and pain felt by the AAPI
communities across this country.
I have lived an American story. I grew up on a farm in
California, went to UC Berkeley, and got a great public
education. I got married and settled in Sacramento with my
husband where we raised our son and I have had the privilege to
work in public service in the White House and here in Congress
where we work together on issues of healthcare, and clean
energy, and all the issues that define us as a country.
I have a responsibility and a moral obligation to speak out
about the normalizing of attacks on the AAPI community. Since
the beginning of the pandemic, we have heard constant hostile
rhetoric directed at the AAPI community, including from leaders
at the highest levels of our government. There is a systemic
problem here and we are duty bound to stop the spread of
xenophobic and racist ideas that have escalated to physical
threats.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who fought against
discrimination in her remarkable life, used to talk about her
mother and ask questions about what the difference was between
a bookkeeper in Brooklyn's garment district and a Supreme Court
Justice. Her answer: ``One generation.'' This kind of family
history is essential to understanding American history. We all
share the charge to ensure that our country not only learns
from but does not forget its past. Because of my history and
background, I know I have a duty to speak up. Future
generations are listening, especially my grandchildren.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive
Order 9066, approving the removal of American citizens of
Japanese descent to remote camps. My parents and grandparents
were among 120,000 forced to leave their homes and businesses.
They were sent by their own government, our government, to a
camp in Poston, Arizona. They lived in appalling conditions,
surrounded by a barbed wire fence, armed guards on towers,
incarcerated, solely because of their ancestry.
Despite the good fortune in my life, I am not even one
generation removed from that experience. I was born in the
Poston internment camp, but because I was a baby, I have no
personal memories. My parents rarely talked to me about their
time there. I had an ordinary childhood. I think my parents
didn't want to burden me with that experience. They just wanted
me to move forward and reach for the stars. I would hear
conversations from time to time about life in the camp. I sort
of knew what happened, but I did not realize at that time how
much their lives had been turned upside down.
It was when I went to college that I met students whose
parents were very affected by the internment, and we started
talking. The vast majority of the people who were sent to camp
were American citizens. You wonder how did this happen? It was
then that we all realized that we had to learn more about it.
It is part of our family history. It is part of American
history.
During World War II, many were blinded by prejudice. Our
government and many of its leaders advanced the myth that the
Japanese-American community was inherently the enemy. Americans
across the country believed it, acceded to institutionalized
racism, and acted on it. It was not uncommon to accuse an
innocent person of violating our country's trust with no
evidence. This societal shift to accept and normalize
wrongdoing was exactly what kept Japanese Americans imprisoned
for over three years.
These were Americans who previously lived normal lives.
They owned homes, shops; were farmers, doctors, lawyers,
teachers, just regular folks who were betrayed by their country
because of a dangerous spiral of injustice.
Last year, when I heard at the highest levels of government
those people use racist slurs like ``China Virus'' to spread
xenophobia and cast blame on innocent communities, it was all
too familiar. Comments like these only build upon the legacy of
racism, anti-Asian sentiment, and insensitivity that seeks to
divide our nation.
So, yes, I was deeply shaken by the angry currents in our
nation. The heated discourse at the highest levels of our
government cannot be viewed in isolation from the ensuing
violence in our communities. The fear of ``the other,'' whether
racial, religious, or tribal, that works to suppress the better
angels of our nature, we have seen the consequences when we go
down this path. My family has lived through these consequences.
This is what we are working to root out from its deepest place
in our social conscience.
After the incarceration of the Japanese-American community,
our country moved on for decades without coming to terms with
what our government did and what many Americans turned a blind
eye to. It took decades for testimonies to be heard in
Congress. It took decades for lawmakers to hear our pain.
My late husband, Bob Matsui, was first elected to Congress
in 1978 and served on the Ways and Means Committee. He loved
that work. Because of his parents' experience, the experience
of the Japanese-American community, he passionately believed
that justice could not be denied and therefore devoted an
enormous amount of time and dedication to the passage of the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988, by which the United States
Government apologized and paid token compensation to the
Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated. Bob said in the
floor debate on that legislation that he believed it was
possible because ``this is a great and wonderful country.''
Today's hearing is another reminder that our country is
capable of growth, that this legislative body will no longer
sit in silence while our communities suffer racism and hatred.
Now, is the time we recommit to moving forward with a shared
vision for our future built upon basic human dignity. Again, I
thank the Chair, the Ranking Member and I yield back. Thank
you.
[The statement of Ms. Matsui follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Congressman Matsui for that history
and that testimony.
Our next Witness is Representative Judy Chu. Congressman
Chu represents the 27th Congressional District of California
which includes Pasadena Polytechnic School and the San Gabriel
Valley, in that order. She has been a Member of Congress since
2009. Among other things, she is Chair of the Congressional
Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Congressman Chu, you are recognized for five minutes.
Congressman Chu, you need to unmute, unmute.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JUDY CHU
Ms. Chu. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chair Nadler,
Ranking Member Jordan, Subcommittee Chair Cohen, Ranking Member
Johnson, and other distinguished Members of the Committee for
the opportunity to testify before you today.
It is with a heavy heart that we are here today still
shocked and heartbroken about the murder of eight in Georgia,
including six Asian-American women by a gunman who targeted
three Asian businesses, the first one being Young's Asian
Massage, then driving 27 miles to two other Asian spas. His
targets were no accident. What we know is that this day was
coming.
Because of crimes like this, I as Chair of the
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus or CAPAC, urged the
Committee to undertake this hearing because the Asian-American
community has reached a crisis point that cannot be ignored.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian
Americans have been terrified by the alarming surge in anti-
Asian bigotry and violence we have Witnessed across our nation.
In fact, it was over one year ago that CAPAC first began to
sound the alarm bells about the anti-Asian discrimination we
were beginning to see due to misinformation and stigma that
wrongly associated Asian Americans with the coronavirus.
What started out last January, just dirty looks and verbal
assaults, has escalated to physical attacks and violence
against innocent Asian Americans. These attacks have
increasingly become more deadly. Just as many Asian Americans
were preparing for the Lunar New Year last month, we saw a
surge in anti-Asian violence. Many of the victims are older and
vulnerable like Vicha Ratana-pakdee, an 84-year-old Thai man in
San Francisco who was killed in an unprovoked assault while on
his morning walk.
In New York, 61-year-old Noel Quintana's face was slashed
from ear to ear with a box cutter in the subway, requiring 100
stitches.
In Oakland's Chinatown, a camera captured a 91-year-old man
being thrown to the ground by an assailant.
In my own congressional district, a Chinese-American man
was attacked at a bus stop in Rosemead with his own cane
causing him to lose part of his fingers. This has become almost
a daily tragedy and has had a chilling effect on our community.
Today, we find that there has been nearly 3,800 anti-Asian
hate crimes and incidents in just a year alone. They were
stoked by work of former President Donald Trump who sought to
shift blame and anger away from his own flawed response to the
coronavirus. He used racial slurs like ``Wuhan virus,'' ``China
plague,'' and ``Kung flu'' despite the fact that the CDC and
the World Health Organization warned not to associate the virus
with a specific ethnicity, country, or geographic region due to
the stigma it causes.
Immediately, we in CAPAC took Donald Trump on about this
racist terminology. We issued statements, held press
conferences, and sent letters. Our pleas and the guidance from
experts were ignored. Instead, he doubled down on using these
slurs, directing more hate and blame at the Asian-American
community.
Over the past year, hostile anti-Asian COVID comments on
Twitter increased by 900 percent and we saw a nearly 150
percent surge in anti-Asian hate crimes in major U.S. cities.
Even though Donald Trump is no longer President, I believe the
most recent round of anti-Asian attacks are the aftermath of
one year of hateful attacks and four years of ugly comments
about immigrants and people of color.
That is why I am so grateful that we have a new President
Joe Biden, who is working to stop these attacks, not incite
them. Within his first week as President, President Biden
issued a Presidential Memorandum to combat and condemn
xenophobia against AAPIs and ensures the Department of Justice
works with our community to address these surging hate crimes.
Congress must do its part as well. That is why CAPAC pushed
for legislation, such as Congresswoman Grace Meng's resolution
to condemn anti-Asian sentiment related to COVID-19, which
passed the House last fall. That is why it is important to pass
critical legislation like Congressman Beyer's NO HATE Act and
Congresswoman Meng's COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act that will help us
to better track and respond to hate crimes and incidents
against Asian Americans. We are calling for a National Day to
speak out against Asian hate on March 26.
It is time that we continue to push back against xenophobia
every time it rears its ugly head. Asian Americans must not be
used as scape goats in times of crisis. Lives are at stake, and
it is critical that Congress take bold action to address this
pandemic of discrimination and hate.
I yield back.
[The statement of Ms. Chu follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Congressman Chu. I remember the smog
in the San Gabriel Valley.
Our next Witness is Senator Tammy Duckworth and after her,
we will hear from Representative Young Kim. Senator Duckworth
represents the State of Illinois in the United States Senate,
first elected in 2016. She previously served in the United
States House of Representatives, and she represented the 8th
Congressional District of Illinois for two terms. She has an
outstanding communications team and standing record in
Congress.
Senator Duckworth, you are recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE TAMMY DUCKWORTH
Ms. Duckworth. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and it was a pleasure
to serve alongside you previously in the House. It is good to
see you up on the dais today. Thank you for this hearing.
In New York, as you have heard, an 89-year-old was slapped
and, in California, a 91-year-old was pushed to the ground.
In the middle of a park, a little girl was shoved off her
bike and, in the middle of a city sidewalk, a little boy
watched as his father was beaten up.
Families have had rocks thrown at them. Nurses have been
spit on. Heroes, frontline workers, hospital staff have been
blamed for COVID-19. They have been denied service and treated
as other-than or less-than, simply because they are members of
the AAPI community.
Now, less than 48 hours ago, six members of the Asian-
American community were murdered in Atlanta, Georgia, another
unspeakable tragedy after a year of unfathomable cruelty. There
is nothing, nothing we can say today that will piece back
together the shattered lives of the victims' loved ones. There
is nothing we can do that will give them the solace they
deserve, nothing we can provide that will even begin to make
sense of this senseless tragedy.
What we can say and should say clearly and unambiguously is
that blaming the AAPI community for a public health crisis is
racist and wrong and continuing to treat our fellow Americans
as others only further divides our country at a time when we
should be pushing, pulling, tugging at our Nation with all our
might until it lives up to its founding ideas of equality and
justice for all.
Unfortunately, this type of prejudice is far from new. It
is a similar brand of discrimination to the one that marred
some of our country's darkest days and toughest fights, from
segregation to immigration. As Congresswoman Matsui mentioned,
it is in a similar vein as to what was witnessed in World War
II as our Nation incarcerated Japanese Americans because of
their heritage and trapped thousands of families, like
Congresswoman Matsui's, even as their loved ones sacrificed
everything on the war front to defend our Nation overseas.
Fortunately, the United States Government recognized that
this type of bigotry was un-American. Yet, the risk of
repeating past grave errors is real and chilling. That is why I
introduced the Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act
which would be a first step toward safeguarding freedom and
establishing a clear statutory prohibition against un-American
policies that seek to imprison or otherwise detain American
citizens on the basis of who they are, rather than what they
have done.
As the daughter of an American Vietnam Veteran and an
immigrant with Chinese-Thai heritage, I am deeply committed to
supporting our community's fight against discrimination.
I applaud the efforts of this Subcommittee to raise
awareness of this crisis and to discuss a plan to advance civil
rights for Asian Americans and protect the well-being of all
our families.
The American story as we know it, would not exist without
the strength of the AAPI community. Quite literally, Asian
Americans helped build this country. With their bare hands and
bent backs, they laid the railroad tracks that connected us
from coast to coast. They tilled the fields and started the
businesses and also picked up the rifles necessary to develop
and defend this Nation that we all love. Today, even as we face
so much bigotry and violence, our community is helping to keep
the country running.
So, I just want to take a minute to thank all the
incredible, heroic, front line workers who are getting our
Nation through this crisis. From the doctors and the nurses
risking their own lives to try to save the lives of strangers
to the cashier at the market who is helping our families stay
fed, from the janitors sweeping up hospital rooms at night to
the teachers patiently helping our kids learn their ABCs over
Zoom, I hope you know that we see you and we see your
sacrifices and that we are forever in your debt.
We will never be able to fully express our gratitude for
all the AAPIs on the front lines, but every hour of every day,
I am going to keep trying because that is the least that these
folks deserve.
So, I just want to say thank you one more time for
everything that you do. Going forward, I hope that all
Americans will speak up against such hatred towards their
neighbors and I look forward to continuing to work with
President Biden's Executive Order that assists States and
community organizations make this kind of discrimination a
thing of the past.
Please note that we have so much work ahead of us and I
thank this Committee for holding this hearing to shed a light
on this very, very serious issue that will divide our Nation
and make us weaker, not stronger.
With that, I yield back, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
[The statement of Ms. Duckworth follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, you Senator. It is nice to see you
and have you back in the House again.
Now, we would like to recognize a new Member of the House,
Representative Young Kim. Representative Kim represents the
39th Congressional District of California which includes the
northern parts of Orange County. I am not sure if she has got
the big A in Anaheim, the ballpark or Disney World or Knott's
Berry Farm or those places. They are all out there. First
elected in 2020, you are recognized for five minutes, please.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE YOUNG KIM
Mr. Kim. Thank you, Chair, and Ranking Member and the
Members of the Committee for holding this hearing today on a
very important topic that has been prevalent in our national
conversation, but one that is very, very personal to me as an
Asian American.
I represent California's 39th Congressional District. This
is one of the most diverse districts in the country and it is
also a home to a vibrant Asian-American community. My district
is truly a representation of America and what makes our country
great. Asian Americans have and continue to make countless
contributions to communities across the country and right here
in the halls of Congress.
Since the beginning of COVID-19, we have increasingly seen
Asian Americans becoming targets of hate across the nation,
with more than 3,000 hate crimes against the Asian-American and
Pacific-Islander community. Those crimes have been reported
nationwide, with an increased number of attacks against
seniors.
This week, we saw senseless violence in Atlanta that took
the lives of six Asian-American women. While the investigation
is ongoing and we wait for more information, this comes during
a time when violence and attacks against Asian Americans are on
the rise. The hate, the bias, and the attacks that we have seen
against the Asian-American community are unacceptable and they
must be stopped. This is wrong, and it has no place in our
political discourse and is contrary to the values America
stands for.
This should not have to be said, but I want to be very
clear. No American of any race or ethnic group is responsible
for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus does not discriminate. It
affects everyone. We must come together as Americans, not just
to fight COVID-19, but also to stand against the rise of hate
and discrimination against the AAPI community and any other
group of Americans. We also cannot forget that discrimination
we have seen against the AAPI community is not limited to the
violence and attacks.
I hope we can look at the nation's elite universities and
other institutions of learning. We have seen institutions
discriminating against Asian Americans in their admissions
process to deny them the entry. Discrimination is wrong and
goes against our fundamental American values that we hold dear.
In America, we value the individual, and we believe that people
deserve to be judged on their merits and not penalized because
of their heritage, race, or background. These are the values
that my family and countless of immigrants came here for.
When our country seems more divided than ever, we should
work together to unify our country and ensure future
generations of Americans, regardless of their background, have
the same opportunity to access the promise of America.
No matter our race or background, we are all Americans.
Asian Americans are Americans. As an Asian American and a
Member of Congress, I feel a duty to speak out. So, I stand
with the AAPI community today and always.
I want to thank you for allowing me to speak on this very,
very important issue. I yield back the balance of my time.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Kim follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Congressman Kim. Our next Witness is
Representative Michelle Park Steel. Congressman Steel
represents the 48th Congressional District in California which
includes other portions of Orange County. She was first elected
in 2020. Congressman Steel, you are recognized for five
minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE MICHELLE STEEL
Ms. Steel. Chair Steve Cohen and Ranking Member Chip Roy,
thank you for holding this important conversation today.
It has been heartbreaking to see the rise in Anti-Asian
American hate and harassment over the last year. As we will
hear today from our Witnesses, and we have been hearing from
our Witnesses, hate against the Asian-American community is not
new.
According to Shan Wu, a former Federal prosecutor, violence
against Asian Americans has been ``under scrutinized, under
prosecuted and often condoned.'' This is a long, sad history of
intolerance and hate directed at our community.
In the last year, almost 4,000 incidents of verbal
harassment, physical assault, and discrimination have been
reported. California is at the top of the list, with 44 percent
of all incidents reported happening in my home State. New York
is second on the list, making up 13 percent of all the
incidents reported. Sixty-eight percent of these incidents and
crimes were targeted towards Asian-American women. This has to
stop.
When I was chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors,
I introduced a resolution that called for tolerance and
compassion towards all residents, and condemned discrimination
against the AAPI community.
I was proud this year to introduce a similar resolution in
Congress, with another Orange County Congresswoman Katie
Porter. That is because combating hate is not a partisan issue.
We can all agree that violence against any community should
never be tolerated.
As a first generation Korean American, who is now serving
her community in the halls of Congress, this is my American
dream. I want future generations of Americans to know they can
achieve anything in this great country.
That is why I would also like to use some of my time today
to talk about the discrimination that the AAPI community is
experiencing in our nation's education system. It is one of the
reasons why my colleague Representative Kim and I joined
Ranking Member Jordan and Subcommittee Ranking Member Johnson
to request the President of Yale University to testify at
today's hearing.
Last year, the Department of Justice filed a case alleging
that Yale University was discriminating against Asian-American
and White applicants. The Biden Administration dropped the suit
last month. This is totally wrong and sets a dangerous
precedent.
In 1996, I supported and campaigned for California's
Proposition 209, which banned racial preferences in public
hiring, education, and contracting. It was modeled after the
Civil Rights Act. Before Proposition 209 was passed, the four-
year graduation rate for underrepresented racial minorities in
the University of California system was 31.3 percent. By 2014,
that had increased to 51.1 percent. The six-year graduation
rate is even better, increasing from 66.5 percent in 1998 to
75.1 percent in 2013.
Last year in California, Democrats introduced Proposition
16 to bring back racial preferences in hiring, contracting, and
our education system. Californians overwhelmingly rejected it.
As a new Member of Congress and an immigrant to this
country, we should be encouraging all students and young people
to succeed, especially in our education system.
Discrimination is against the fundamental values of
American culture, and that includes discrimination against the
AAPI community in the halls of our schools and universities.
This is wrong. This type of behavior is only hurting future
generations. We should be working together to stop this
discrimination and hate in its tracks, and to encourage the
next generation to achieve their own American dream.
I thank the Committee for the opportunity to testify and
share this with you today. I yield back.
[The statement of Ms. Steel follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Congresswoman Steel. Thank you very
much.
Final Witness on this first panel is the Honorable
Representative Grace Meng. Congressman Meng represents the 6th
Congressional District of the Empire State, New York that
includes Flushing, Bayside, Fresh Meadows, and other portions
of northeastern Queens. She has been in Congress since 2013.
Congressman Meng, you are recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE GRACE MENG
Ms. Meng. Thank you, Chair Nadler, Chair Cohen, Ranking
Member Johnson, and distinguished Members of this Committee for
organizing today's hearing. The topic is discrimination and
violence against Asian Americans. Some of us seem to be going a
little off topic. I am not sure why.
For over a year, Asian Americans have been fighting an
additional virus of hate and bigotry. Anti-Asian rhetoric like
``China-virus'' or ``Kung-flu,'' misinformation, racism, have
left Asian Americans traumatized and fearful for their lives.
Mr. Roy mentioned the WHO and it is the same World Health
Organization that actually said not to use countries of origin
when we are referring to diseases. Since last year, there has
been over 3,800 reported incidents of anti-Asian hate. We know
that the majority of incidents go unreported and in fact,
nearly 70 percent of reported anti-Asian hate incidents have
happened to Asian-American women. In fact, just this week, we
saw the terrible news about the six Asian women who were shot
and killed in the Atlanta-area. Our community is bleeding. We
are in pain, and for the last year, we have been screaming out
for help
Asian American discrimination, however, is not new in this
country. From the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act to the World War
II incarceration of Japanese Americans and from the 1975 police
brutality in Manhattan's Chinatown to the 1982 murder of
Vincent Chin, discrimination against Asian Americans is a
shameful part of our history. Unfortunately, so much of this
history is not taught in our schools. Excluding Asian Americans
from our history books renders us invisible and deems us the
``perpetual foreigner.'' In fact, history has excluded the
history of Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latino, and Native
Americans and that has led to the systemic inequities at many
institutions including our academic institutions.
In the 116th Congress, I introduced my resolution to
condemn anti-Asian sentiment related to COVID. I was grateful
my resolution passed the House with bipartisan support except
for 164 of our Republican colleagues who voted against it, even
though some had the audacity to tweet condolences after events
of tragedy.
I am glad to hear about my colleague, Representative
Steel's resolution and I hope that she has better luck getting
her party to support the resolution.
During this last year, it became painfully apparent that we
need a comprehensive effort from our local communities to the
Federal level. That is why I support bills like the No Hate Act
and that is why Senator Hirono and I introduced the COVID-19
Hate Crimes Act which would assign a point person at the
Department of Justice to quickly review hate crimes and to make
it easier for people to report these incidents. My bill also
builds on President Biden's Presidential Memorandum by
directing relevant Federal agencies to work with community-
based organizations to find ways to talk about the virus in a
way that is not racist. I urge my colleagues on this Committee
for swift consideration of these bills. We cannot turn a blind
eye to people living in fear.
I want to go back to something that Mr. Roy said earlier.
Your President and your party and your colleagues can talk
about issues with any other country that you want, but you
don't have to do it by putting a bull's eye on the back of
Asian Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on
our kids. This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our
community to find solutions and we will not let you take our
voice away from us.
Thank you. I yield back.
[The statement of Ms. Meng follows:]
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Congressman Meng, thank you very much. You are
correct about the genesis of this hearing.
Now, we will go to our second panel. The second member
panel should turn their cameras on. There we go. We are coming
along there. First member panel can turn their cameras off.
Great light show. I guess we are ready. We are going to be
ready.
We are now on our second panel. The first Witness is Mr.
John Yang. Mr. Yang is President and Executive Director of
Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the AAJC, which seeks to
advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and to
build and promote a fair and equitable society for all through
policy, advocacy, education, and litigation. He received a JD
from George Washington University School of Law and a B.A. from
Washington University in St. Louis.
Mr. Yang, you are recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF JOHN YANG
Mr. Yang. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Chair
Cohen. Thank you to the Ranking Member, Ranking Member Johnson,
and the other Members of the Committee.
Really appreciate the opportunity to testify before all of
you today, and I really appreciate the powerful words from
Representative Meng and the other CAPAC members as to why we
are here today.
When I agreed to testify at this hearing, no one could have
imagined that this would come two days after the horrific
shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, and so I also want to take a
moment to recognize and honor the victims and their families,
and the suffering that they are going through at this moment,
and to remember that we must center ourselves in the Atlanta
community and all the local communities that have been affected
during this past year with respect to the anti-Asian violence.
Well, for a year now, Asian Americans have been fighting
two viruses: The COVID-19 pandemic affecting all of us, as well
as this virus of racism.
Asian Americans, like all Americans, have suffered the
economic and health consequences of COVID-19. At the same time,
Asian Americans have been at the front lines as essential
workers in grocery stores, delivery trucks, custodial services,
as well as in health professions.
Unfortunately, Asian Americans have also been fighting the
second virus, this virus of racism. We have long struggled for
visibility and equity, and now our communities are faced with
this additional physical and mental harm that is arising out of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Ms. Kulkarni will testify, web-based self-reporting
tools have recorded a tremendous increase in the number of
anti-Asian hate that we have seen this past year.
A Pew report from last year confirmed what that data shows,
that a majority of Asian Americans say it is more common for
people to blame Asians for COVID-19 and have expressed
insensitive and completely inappropriate views about Asian
Americans than before COVID-19.
An ISPOS survey shows the same thing, where over 30 percent
of the American population say that they have witnessed
harassment or blame of the Asian community for COVID-19 and 60
percent of the Asian-American population showed that this was
similar behavior that they were seeing.
So, these fears are real. The other thing is the impact on
the Asian-American communities is clear with respect to their
businesses.
As noted in a report by McKinsey and Company, misguided
fears of the virus effectively shuttered businesses in many
Asian-American cultural districts, a full month before
lockdowns began nationwide.
Our organization and others started talking about this
issue in late January when we saw that happening [audio
interference] districts during that time when we saw this
happening and to State that it was still safe to go there
before the lockdowns.
In New York, as demonstrated by a study by our community
partner, Asian American Federation, there has been record job
losses for the Asian-American community.
In New York, there was a 6,000 percent increase in
unemployment benefit applications from February through June of
2020, and Asian Americans suffered the largest increase in
unemployment, going from three percent in February of 2020 to
over 25 percent.
Now, Asian-American racism is rooted in two very dangerous
stereotypes, that of the perpetual foreigner and that of the
model minority.
The perpetual foreigner suggests that we can be here, and
we can be born here, and we can live here as long as we want,
but we are still seen as foreigners, we are still seen as the
other, not to be trusted and to be feared.
On the flip side of that stereotype is the so-called model
minority, to suggest that Asian Americans are held up as a good
people of color when it is convenient, to plant seeds of
division within our communities of color.
Here, I will call out people that try to use affirmative
action as a wedge to drive between Asian Americans and other
communities of color.
That model minority myth hides the complexities of our
community and the economic disparities that exist among Asian
Americans. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, we must
remember that anti-Asian racism is likely to continue.
We do have legitimate concerns and geopolitical differences
with the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party,
that that is likely to remain for the foreseeable future.
If we are not careful, those differences will have
consequences on our Asian-American community, and we can expect
a backlash against our community.
We have seen that happen with the Japanese-American
community and World War II. We have seen that happen with the
Arab Middle Eastern Muslim and South Asian-American community
after 9/11, and we saw that happen with the murder of Vincent
Chin in 1982.
We have to do better than that. We have to have the proper
nuance to call out xenophobia racism whenever it occurs against
our community, and we must call this out to stop the cycle of
violence.
It is only then that we will stop seeing Asian Americans as
this perpetual foreigner to be feared and come up to a better
place in addressing this racism.
Thank you very much. I look forward to your questions.
[The statement of Mr. Yang follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Yang.
Our next Witness is Manjusha Kulkarni. She's Executive
Director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, a
coalition of over 40 community-based organizations that serve
and represent the 1.5 million Asian American and Pacific
Islanders in Los Angeles County.
She's also a co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, an online self-
reporting and tracking tool launched on March 19, 2020, in
response to a sharp rise in anti-Asian xenophobia and bigotry
resulting from the references to the COVID-19 pandemic's
provenance.
She received her JD from Boston University School of Law
and her BA from Duke University.
Ms. Kulkarni, you are now recognized for five minutes.
[No response.]
Mr. Cohen. Ms. Kulkarni, could you hear me? You're
recognized for five minutes. You may need to unmute. Did we
lose sound again? Can anybody here me?
[No response.]
Mr. Cohen. Amy, this isn't my fault.
We will have a five-minute recess and we'll be back.
[Recess.]
Mr. Cohen. Testing. Testing.
Mr. Yang. This is John Yang. I can hear you.
Mr. Cohen. Great. We're back. We're back. Recess is over.
No more milk and cookies.
Ms. Kulkarni, you're recognized for five minutes. Unmute.
STATEMENT OF MANJUSHA KULKARNI
Ms. Kulkarni. Thank you, Chair, Ranking Member, and
distinguished Members of the Subcommittee for the opportunity
to testify before you today.
``Go back to Wuhan and take the virus with you. You are the
reason for the coronavirus.''
``Damn, another Asian riding with me.''
``Hope you don't have COVID.''
These are but a few examples of what Asian Americans have
experienced over the course of the last year alongside with
refusal of service, workplace discrimination, and sadly, now
homicide.
For that reason, on March 19, 2020, my organization, Asian
Pacific Policy and Planning Council, in conjunction with
Chinese for Affirmative Action in San Francisco State
University's Asian American Studies Department, launched Stop
AAPI Hate.
In the past 11 months, we have received almost 3,800 self-
reported incidents of bias and discrimination from all 50
States and the District of Columbia, making Stop AAPI Hate the
nation's leading aggregator of Asian American hate.
From our analysis, the following trends have emerged.
Sixty-eight percent of incidents involve verbal harassment, 20
percent involve avoidance or shunning, 11 percent physical
assaults, and nine percent civil rights violations including
refusal of service, vandalism, workplace discrimination, and
discrimination in housing.
The vast majority do not involve a hate crime. Businesses,
including grocery stores, pharmacies, and big box retail, are
the primary site of discrimination. This is followed by public
streets and public parks.
The fact that so many incidents take place at businesses is
especially concerning, given that retail venues sell goods
necessary for daily living, essential during a pandemic.
Given that 35 percent of incidents occur in public spaces
is also worrisome. These figures give credence to the anxiety
felt by AAPIs that purchasing food, refilling prescriptions, or
simply going on a walk might leave them vulnerable to being
attacked.
Our data indicates that especially vulnerable populations,
including women, youth, and seniors have reported experiencing
anti-Asian hate incidents at significant rates.
As has been noted, 68 percent of incident reports come from
women. This is, perhaps, to be expected, given the lessons
learned from the #MeToo movement and a survey of Stop Street
Harassment, which found that 81 percent of women experienced
street harassment in their daily lives.
While Chinese Americans have often been the explicit target
of perpetrators, they make up only 42 percent of individuals
who reported to our site. Fifteen percent identify as Korean
Americans, nine percent as Vietnamese, and eight percent as
Filipino American.
We have also received reports from South Asian Americans as
well as Pacific Islanders and others, evidencing the fact that
Asian Americans across ethnicities are experiencing hate and
racism today with our Pacific Islander sisters and brothers.
Sadly, the 3,800 reported to Stop AAPI Hate represent only
a fraction of what has happened in this country. The widespread
nature of anti-Asian hate is confirmed by a study by the Pew
Research Center released last July that found that three in 10
Asian Americans experienced racist jokes and slurs.
Similarly, a poll by the Center for Public Integrity found
that 60 percent of Asian Americans have witnessed someone
blaming our community for COVID-19.
Before I close, I want to acknowledge the tremendous
mobilization done by Asian-American groups in Georgia in
response to the violence there and read a portion of their
statement.
During this time of broader crisis and trauma in our Asian-
American communities, we must be guided by a compass of
community care that prioritizes assessing and addressing our
community's immediate needs, including in-language support for
mental health, legal employment, and immigration services. We
must stand firm in decrying misogyny, systemic violence, and
White supremacy.
In addition to sharing our data and the statement from
Georgia advocates, I want to share the fact that we have been
developing resources for community members who experience
incidents of hate in providing direct assistance through local
networks.
We are also closely working with local, State, and Federal
policymakers to address hate incidents that have occurred and
seek to prevent additional incidents from taking place in the
future.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I look
forward to taking any questions.
[The statement of Ms. Kulkarni follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you very much, and you were perfect on the
five minutes.
Our next Witness is Erika Lee. She is a Regents Professor
of History and Asian American Studies and the Director of the
Immigration History Research Center at University of Minnesota.
She's the author of four award-winning books, including
``America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United
States,'' which won the 2020 American Book Award and the 2020
Asian Pacific American award for literature.
Professor Lee received her MA and Ph.D. in history from the
University of California, Berkeley, and her BA from Tufts
University.
Professor Lee, you're now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF ERIKA LEE
Dr. Lee. Thank you so much, Chair Cohen and the Members of
the Committee. I'm so honored to join you. I also want to thank
all the congressional staffers who have helped to make this
hearing possible.
As we just heard from my fellow Witnesses, anti-Asian
racism and violence has risen alarmingly. As shocking as these
incidents are, it is so vital to understand that they are not
random acts perpetrated by deranged individuals.
They are an expression of our country's long history of
systemic racism targeting Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders. We have heard in the past 24 hours many describe
anti-Asian discrimination and racial violence as un-American.
Unfortunately, it is very American.
This history, this American history, is over 150 years old.
Let me share just a few examples.
In 1871, 17 Chinese were lynched by a mob of 500 in Los
Angeles. This was the largest mass lynching in U.S. history. In
1886, a mob of 1,500 forced out all Seattle's Chinese
residents.
In the early 20th century, South Asians were expelled from
cities and Filipino Americans and Japanese Americans were
attacked. Most recently, in 1982, Vincent Chin, a Chinese
American, was beaten to death in Detroit because his attackers
thought he was Japanese and blamed him for the economic decline
in the auto industry.
Throughout the 1980s, attacks on Korean shopkeepers and
Southeast Asian refugees were widespread. After 9/11, hate
crimes targeting Muslim, Middle Eastern, and South Asian
Americans increased by 1,600 percent.
As these incidents reveal, Asian Americans have been
terrorized. We have been treated as enemies. We have been
discriminated against. Today, we are still viewed as foreigners
rather than U.S. citizens.
The government of this country has not just ignored this
problem, it has been part of the problem. Throughout much of
our history, Congress and other elected officials have promoted
and legalized anti-Asian racism through its laws and its
actions.
In 1875, Congress passed the so-called Page Act, which
effectively barred the entry of Chinese women because lawmakers
believed that all Chinese women were prostitutes.
In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the
first Federal law singling out an entire group for immigration
exclusion based on race.
By the 1930s, all other Asian groups--Japanese, Korean,
South Asians, and Filipinos--were also barred from the U.S. and
prevented from becoming naturalized citizens. Asian immigration
did not fully open again until 1965.
In 1942, President Roosevelt signed an executive order that
allowed for the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans as
prisoners without trial, and I want to thank Representative
Matsui so much for sharing her own family's history so that we
never forget the real consequences of racism.
For many years after 9/11, not just right after the
terrorist attack but for many years after, South Asian
Americans faced systemic racism in the form of profiling by
government agencies.
During this past year, some of our highest elected
officials deliberately and consistently use racist language
tying COVID-19 to Asians. This included the phrases that we
have been talking about this morning--Chinese virus, Wuhan
virus, and also telling Americans to quote, ``Blame China for
the pandemic'' unquote.
These words matter, especially when they repeatedly came
from the White House during the previous Administration.
Researchers have found that the anti-Asian rhetoric promoted by
leaders directly correlated with the rise in racist incidents
against Asian Americans.
This history of racism is not taught in our schools.
Instead, many Americans believe the deceptive model minority
stereotype portraying Asian Americans only as success stories,
proving that AAPIs do, indeed, experience structural racism and
institutionalized discrimination remains a persistent
challenge.
The last time and seemingly the only other time in our
country's history that Congress has held hearings on anti-Asian
racism was 34 years ago before this Committee. Over 20 million
in number, Asian Americans are now the fastest growing racial
group in the United States.
We are your constituents. We are in crisis from the
multiple and disproportionate effects of the pandemic on our
diverse AAPI communities.
U.S. citizens are being told to go back to their own
countries. Nurses and doctors on the front lines are subjected
to racist tirades. As we have seen in Atlanta, Asian-owned
businesses and workers are being attacked, and all this
violence especially targets women.
Like all Americans, AAPIs are struggling with the public
health crisis and a shuttered economy. That we also have to
worry about being attacked or harassed in our own neighborhoods
makes our pandemic experience even more difficult.
Congress needs to Act definitively and immediately to
address the enduring problem of anti-Asian racism in the U.S.
The acts facing AAPIs today are a systemic national tragedy.
They will not simply go away after the pandemic.
We call upon our leaders to condemn racism in all its
forms, invest in the AAPI communities, and support individuals
who've experienced race-based violence. We cannot afford to
wait another 34 years for Congress to act.
Thank you very much.
[The statement of Dr. Lee follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Professor Lee.
Our next Witness is Charles Lehman. Mr. Lehman is a Fellow
with the Manhattan Institute working primarily on the Policing
and Public Safety Initiative.
He is also a contributing editor of City Journal. Mr.
Lehman received his BA from Yale University.
Mr. Lehman, you're recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF CHARLES LEHMAN
Mr. Lehman. Thank you to the Committee for the invitation
to speak today about the important issue of rising crime
against Asian Americans.
Many of our fellow citizens now fear for their safety in
their own neighborhoods. I am glad this matter has not escaped
Congress' attention, particularly in light of Tuesday's awful
shooting outside of Atlanta.
I am speaking today as a researcher focused on crime, and
it is in that capacity that I want to offer two points.
The first is that while some of these offenses were
doubtless motivated by bias, you should be cautious when
interpreting the broader trends solely as a spike in hate
crimes.
The second, relatedly is that these crimes should be
understood as part of a larger surge in violence. As you're
aware, crime is rising and several Asian-American communities,
particularly, in the greater Bay Area and New York City.
There have been reports of assaults, daylight robberies,
and general mayhem targeting Asian citizens, especially the
elderly. Many have identified these offenses as hate crimes,
linking them to bigoted sentiments inspired by the coronavirus
pandemic.
The FBI, which tracks such offenses, defines a hate crime
as one motivated by a defendant's, quote, ``bias against a
race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity,
gender, or gender identity.''
Last spring saw a spike in hate crimes against Asian
Americans as major cities experienced a 150 percent increase
over 2019. This was doubtless driven by rhetoric blaming Asians
for the coronavirus crisis.
In the latest wave, some offenses are plainly bias
motivated like the attack in Seattle, which assailant Samuel
Green told Kathryn Yeager, quote, ``Asians need to be put in
your place,'' as he shoved her to the ground.
Not all the recent cases are so clear cut. The reason for
Tuesday's horrific shootings in Atlanta remains unclear. The
police suspect it is not racially motivated. Law enforcement in
both New York and Northern California are reportedly not
investigating many of the high-profile offenses as hate crimes.
Other factors are likely at play. Consider Yahya Muslim,
arrested for shoving three Asian adults, including a 91-year-
old, in Oakland's Chinatown. Muslim, who is homeless, has a
history of mental illness which his defense counsel blames for
the attack.
Counsel for Antoine Watson, who allegedly shot and killed
84-year-old Vichar Ratanapakdee in San Francisco, has also
appealed to the teenager's mental health, rejecting charges of
bias.
Other cases start to look different given context. Filipino
New Yorker, Noel Quintana, was a victim of a subway knife
attack that some have called racially motivated. Several other
non-Asian victims have also recently been slashed on the MTA,
part of rising transit crime which swept up Quintana.
My purpose in making these points is not to deny the role
biases played in some offenses or to downplay the seriousness
of anti-Asian bigotry.
I want to condemn in no uncertain terms hate crimes of all
sorts. They are a particularly vicious species of offense,
motivated by special animus and deserving a special
denunciation. No American should have to face discrimination of
any kind.
Rather, I wish to emphasize to the Committee that if they
analyze these offenses solely as hate crimes, they will miss
critical context and, thereby, risk making under informed
decisions.
In particular, we cannot discuss these offenses without
highlighting the past year's violent crime wave. Criminologist
Jeff Asher has estimated that 2020 saw the largest one-year
spike in homicides on record as murder increased by more than
30 percent in nearly 40 major cities.
New data indicates the trend has persisted into early 2021.
That pattern appears in cities where Asian residents are being
attacked. In San Francisco, homicide is up 17 percent.
In New York, homicides rose 40 percent while shootings
nearly doubled. In Oakland, 2020 saw the highest homicide rate
in eight years and the city is on track for a worse 2021. With
157 dead, the Atlanta Journal Constitution called 2020 the
city's deadliest year in decades.
That violence is a product of free-roaming criminals. Carl
Chan, head of Oakland's Chinatown Chamber of Commerce,
describes how, quote, ``Businesses are so fearful they prefer
to close early. We also have many juveniles driving around
Chinatown and carrying guns, so they're also hurting people
before they're being robbed.''
This is description not of hate crimes but of out and out
lawlessness. This behavior seems, obviously, tied to recent
political hostility to the police. Many cities have yielded to
activists' demands that they slash police budgets and cut
public safety services.
Bigotry may have played a role in these offenses. Changing
the hearts and minds of bigots is far harder from a
policymaker's perspective than preventing bigotry-driven
crimes.
If anything is to blame for the terror now plaguing Asian
Americans, it's public officials' dereliction of their duty to
preserve public safety.
I urge the Members of the Committee to advocate a
restoration of public safety by pushing back on anti-police
rhetoric and by supporting more Federal funding for police.
This is the best way to ensure that Asian Americans and all
Americans can again walk the streets free from the fear of
violent crime.
Thank you, and I look forward to taking your questions.
[The statement of Mr. Lehman follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Lehman.
Our next Witness is with us here in person. That's a nice
exception. Nice for you to be here. Mr. Wencong Fa is an
attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation litigating cases
focused on free speech and equality before the law.
He received his JD from the University of Michigan--not in
the NCAA tournament, I think. Maybe they are. I don't know. A
Master's--they are in the tournament, aren't they? A Master's
degree of political philosophy from the London School of
Economics and a BA from the University of Texas Dallas.
Mr. Fa, you are recognized for five minutes, sir.
STATEMENT OF WENCONG FA
Mr. Fa. Chair, Ranking Member, thank you for inviting me to
testify today. Before I begin, I want to express my--I want to
say that I'm saddened by the violence committed in Georgia on
Tuesday. I express my heartfelt condolences to the families of
the victims.
I never could have imagined being here today when I boarded
a flight from Beijing to San Francisco 25 years ago. I knew two
words of English when I got to America: Banana, which I likely
learned on the plane, and goodbye, which my grandmother taught
me in Beijing as she dropped me off at the bus stop every
Sunday.
Since then, I became the first person in my family to
receive a law degree, and I won the first case I litigated
before the Supreme Court in June 2018.
A few hours after I got the decision in the Supreme Court
case, I went to take a citizenship test in front of an
immigration officer, and I laughed when he asked me how many
justices there were on the Supreme Court.
I have since become a proud citizen of the United States. I
am here today to say that racial discrimination is wrong. When
it comes to Asian Americans in education, far too many in our
government condone discrimination.
This is something I've experienced firsthand as an attorney
with the Pacific Legal Foundation, where my colleagues and I
represent Asian-American families who have felt the sting of
government-sanctioned discrimination.
These families seek to vindicate the principle of equality
before the law, which requires government to treat people as
individuals and forbids government from treating us differently
on the basis of government-sanctioned stereotypes.
Last week, Pacific Legal Foundation filed a case
challenging Fairfax County's discriminatory changes to its
admission policy for Thomas Jefferson High School, or TJ, as it
is more commonly known.
We represent a coalition of parents, including Dr. Chen, a
Chinese American and a Chinese immigrant who is now a chemistry
professor. His oldest daughter attends TJ but her younger
sister might not get that chance.
That's because the county replaced an objective test with a
so-called holistic process designed to racially balance the
student body at the expense of Asian-American students.
The changes at TJ were made against the backdrop of
unfounded racial stereotypes. One school board member referred
to the culture at TJ as toxic.
A Virginia State delegate accused Asian Americans of being
dishonest in getting their children admitted and made the
baseless claim that the parents had no intention of staying in
America.
We're pursuing a similar case in Montgomery County where
efforts to racially balance the magnet middle schools have
drastically reduced the number of Asian-American students. In
yet another case I represent Asian-American families in New
York.
My clients include Asian-American immigrants who want the
opportunity for their children to earn their way into public
schools like Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech.
Mayor de Blasio stated that the majority Asian compositions
of those schools was a, quote, ``monumental injustice,'' and
changed the admissions policy to make it harder for low-income
Asian-American students to get into those schools.
Pacific Legal Foundation has also filed a friend of the
court brief and students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the
case challenging Harvard's explicit use of race in a way that
decreases Asian American enrollment.
This, too, has led to pernicious stereotypes, including
college guidebooks telling Asian-American students to refrain
from saying that they aspire to pursue a career in medicine or
major in math or science. Apparently, those interests are too
Asian.
This is America. Government should not condone
discrimination and it must not actively engage in it. The
Subcommittee should continue to explore ways in which official
government policy has discriminated against Asian Americans and
continue to work with Pacific Legal Foundation and others to
end this racial discrimination.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Fa follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you for your testimony, thank you for
appearing in person, and thank you for keeping your mask up.
That is appreciated by all on this Committee.
Our next Witness is Mr. Daniel Dae Kim. Mr. Kim is an actor
and producer. He's best known for his role as Jin-Soo Know on
the TV series ``Lost'' in which he shared a 2006 Screen Actors
Guild Award for Best Ensemble. He also portrayed Chin Ho Kelly
on the series ``Hawaii Five-O'' for seven seasons.
Last month, together with actor Daniel Wu, he offered a
$25,000 reward for information regarding a January 31 assault
of a 91-year-old man in Oakland's Chinatown, following two
similar incidents targeting elderly Asian residents.
Mr. Kim received a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York
University and his undergraduate degree from Haverford College.
Mr. Kim, you're recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF DANIEL DAE KIM
Mr. Kim. Thank you, Chair Cohen, and Ranking Member Roy,
and the Members of the Judiciary Committee.
I am both honored and dismayed to be back in front of you
again. Some of you may remember that I was with you just this
past September discussing the importance of diversity in
American media.
You may recall that the reason I was moved to speak then
was because the House had just recently passed H.R. 908
condemning all forms of anti-hate Asian sentiment.
I was disheartened to find that for a bill that required no
money or resources, just a simple condemnation of acts of hate
against people of Asian descent, 164 Members of Congress, all
Republican, voted against it.
No, here I am again, because as every Witness in this
hearing has pointed out, the situation has gotten worse, much
worse. Vichar Ratanapakdee murdered. Pak Ho murdered. Noel
Quintana face slashed with a blade from ear to ear. An 89-year-
old woman set on fire. Tadataka Ono, a professional jazz
pianist, beaten so badly he can no longer play piano. Now,
seven Asian people shot dead in Georgia two days ago, six of
whom were women.
These are only a few of the 3,800 reported incidents since
last March. I was speaking to a pollster during the recent
elections, and I asked him why, when I see polling results
broken down by race, do I so rarely see Asian Americans as a
separate category.
He heard my question, he looked me dead in the eye, and he
said, ``Because Asian Americans are considered statistically
insignificant.'' Statistically insignificant.
Now, all of you listening to me here by virtue of your own
elections are more familiar with the intricacies of polling
than I am. So, undoubtedly, you already know what this means.
Statistically insignificant literally means we don't matter.
We, as Asian Americans, have come to this country because
we believe in the American dream. Many of us have succeeded and
some of us are even the front-line healthcare workers upon whom
we have all come to depend during this terrible pandemic.
Many of us are struggling, too. In fact, the wealth
disparity between the richest Asian Americans and the poorest
is the largest of any ethnic group in America. In New York,
Asian Americans have a higher poverty rate than any other
minority group where fully one in four are living below the
poverty line, and poverty rates among Asian-American seniors
are much higher than the national average. That's something to
consider as we watch the most vulnerable in our community get
taunted, pushed, slashed, and murdered.
Despite this wide disparity of experiences, we continue to
be tagged the model minority. We simply cannot continue to live
with the myth that the most successful of us represent the
totality of us.
So, we know the hurdles we face. The question for us here,
is what can we do about them? One of the places that starts is
with education.
Let's teach them everything that Professor Lee so
eloquently highlighted for us, including celebrating the fact
that the most decorated combat unit in U.S. military history
was the 42nd Combat Team, a unit in World War II made up
entirely of Asian Americans.
Now, these are not moments in Asian-American history. This
is American history. When we are erased from our history books,
we are made invisible and the result, to quote Congresswoman
Meng, is ``that we are perpetually made to feel like foreigners
in our own country.''
Include our stories because they matter. We must also
empower our local community organizers by directing funds to
areas that have been historically impoverished, not just for
the benefit of the AAPI community but for the for the benefit
of all communities living there, most of whom are nonWhite.
It's no wonder that there's historically been tension among
racial groups when the thing they have most in common is
poverty and lack of access to services.
There happen to be two pieces of legislation before this
Committee as we speak that deal with these specific issues. One
is the No Hate bill. It provides necessary grants of money to
community organizations, counseling for those convicted of hate
crimes, and improve data collection for hate crime reporting,
among other important services.
The Committee also has before it right now the COVID-19
Hate Crimes Act, introduced by Congresswoman Meng and Senator
Hirono. It's crucial that we have reliable reporting for these
hate crimes and an infrastructure that makes it easy for people
for whom English is not their primary language.
Chair Nadler, you have been an ally to the AAPI community
in the past. I respectfully urge you not to let these bills
languish in Committee but see them through so that they can be
passed by the Full House and then on to the Senate.
Now, I'm not naive enough to think that I'm going to
convince all of you to stand up for us. Trust me, I've seen
your voting records. I am speaking to those to whom humanity
still matters.
In closing, let me just say that there are several moments
in a country's history that chart its course indelibly for the
future. For Asian Americans, that moment is now.
What happens right now and over the course of the coming
months will send a message for generations to come as to
whether we matter, whether the country we call home chooses to
erase us or include us, dismiss us, or respect us, invisibleize
us, or see us.
Because you may consider us statistically insignificant
now, but one more fact that has no alternative is that we are
the fastest growing racial demographic in the country. We are
23 million strong. We are united and we are waking up.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Kim follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, sir.
Our next Witness is Shirin Sinnar. She is a professor of
law and Johnnie Wilson faculty scholar at Stanford Law School.
Her scholarship focuses on, among other things, the role of
institutions for protecting individual rights and democratic
values in the national security context.
Her recent work assesses the legal regime for domestic and
international terrorism under U.S. law. Professor Sinnar holds
a JD from Stanford, a Master of philosophy and international
relations from Cambridge University, and an MA and a BA as well
from Harvard.
She was a law clerk for the Honorable Warren G. Ferguson--
Warren J. Ferguson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit.
Professor Sinnar, you are now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF SHIRIN SINNAR
Ms. Sinnar. Thank you for convening this important hearing
and inviting me to participate.
I want to begin by acknowledging the horrific mass
shootings in Atlanta. Whatever the motive, those murders have
traumatized Asian-American communities already reeling from a
year of persistent hate violence.
I'd like to make two points today. First, while the causes
of hate crimes are complex, academic research shows that
hostile rhetoric from political leaders towards immigrants or
racial minorities can embolden people to commit violence
against them.
Research also shows that political events that change
perceptions of social norms, like acceptability of racist or
xenophobic views, have triggered hate violence.
Specifically with respect to former President Trump, prior
studies have shown that hate crimes spiked immediately after
his election and that his negative tweets towards Muslims
strongly correlated with anti-Muslim hate crimes.
That brings us to the past year when former President Trump
and other political leaders relentlessly characterized the
corona-virus in racist terms as recently as this week. Stop
AAPI Hate's research shows that Donald Trump's anti-Asian
tweets were shared on social media over a million times. A
substantial number of anti-Asian hate incidents used language
similar to Trump's.
Beyond rhetoric, the racial profiling of Chinese and
Chinese-American researchers, scientists, and students as
security risks exposes Asian-American communities to a higher
risk of societal discrimination and violence.
This is familiar from the experience of South Asian,
Muslim, Sikh, and Arab-American communities treated as suspects
over the nearly two-decade-long war on terror.
While hostile rhetoric or discriminatory policy is
certainly not the sole cause of recent anti-Asian violence, it
has made Asian Americans vulnerable both to racially motivated
and to opportunistic attacks.
The second point I'd like to make is that while the
response to hate crimes is often billed as a call for increased
sentences, many Asian-American community organizations are now
advocating a broader set of strategies to address hate crimes.
Horrific acts like the Atlanta shootings require a serious
law enforcement response. For several reasons, community groups
are also looking for solutions beyond criminal law, especially
with respect to the more common forms of hate crimes that
occur.
For one thing, many incidents of hate speech targeting
Asian Americans do not qualify as criminal, but they still
create significant harm.
In addition, many victims do not report incidents to police
because of mistrust of law enforcement, and concern around over
policing and mass incarceration has led many communities of
color to consider other avenues to help victims heal, hold
perpetrators accountable, and prevent violence.
Numerous Asian American organizations have emphasized the
importance of cross-racial solidarity in response to hate
crimes rather than pitting struggling communities against one
another. Many have advocated deep investments in communities to
strengthen support systems, both to prevent violence and to
support violence when hate crimes occur.
That support can take many forms, whether it is in funding
culturally competent mental healthcare services, reforming
victim compensation programs to better support hate crimes
victims, hosting conflict de-escalation training, or
establishing grant programs to protect institutions at high
risk of hate crimes.
There is also growing interest in exploring forms of
restorative justice to address hate crimes, especially with
respect to young offenders and relatively less serious
offenses.
Restorative justice refers to processes that bring together
people affected by an offense to address the harm and agree
upon mechanisms to repair it.
Some evidence suggests that restorative justice programs
reduce recidivism and alleviate the emotional harm of survivors
better than traditional criminal processes. They are not an
option in every case and much more research is necessary.
There is growing interest within communities in creative
alternatives to hold people accountable, help victims recover
their sense of safety, and prevent further violence.
Thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts.
[The statement of Ms. Sinnar follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you for sharing.
Our last Witness is Hiroshi Motomura. He is Susan
Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law Faculty co-
director, Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA. His
teachings and scholarship focus on immigration and citizenship.
His book ``Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of
Immigration and Citizenship in the United States'' won the
Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for the Association
of American Publishers as the year's best book in law and legal
studies.
Professor Motomura received his JD from Cal Berkeley and
his BA from Yale.
Professor, you're now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF HIROSHI MOTOMURA
Mr. Motomura. Mr. Chair and Ranking Member, thank you for
the opportunity to speak to you today.
My remarks take a step back from the specifics of the
incidents that other Witnesses addressed. There's a natural
tendency to explain away these crimes as the isolated acts of a
few individuals, and related is the natural tendency to avoid a
deep look at why these crimes were committed. Why more crimes
now, why against victims of Asian ancestry.
These crimes follow a long historical pattern, as you've
heard today. Well, I'd like to explain a key reason for this
history. Individuals commit crimes, but they do so in a society
that reflects the laws under which we live.
To see hate crimes as isolated is to close our eyes to the
role of law in shaping attitudes, especially about who is
worthy and who is not.
My focus is on the immigration laws of the United States
and especially how these laws have laid the foundation of hate
crimes against Asian Americans in the past, in the present, but
I hope not in the future.
I'll start by observing that throughout our nation's
history, immigration laws and statutes, regulations, and
Executive Branch orders have discriminated and excluded on the
basis of race, nationality, religion, and ethnicity.
There are many examples. Chinese exclusion, as you've
heard, dates back to the 1870s and 1880s, but it was the law of
the land until 1943. My own family was one of the very small
number of Japanese allowed to come from America before 1965,
when immigration from Asia was severely limited.
Similarly, the large undocumented population from Mexico
reflects an immigration system that historically has treated
Mexican immigrants as disposable labor and today offers too few
legal opportunities to work and live with family in this
country.
Most recently, many people have been barred from the United
States because they come from certain majority-Muslim or
African countries.
The immigration laws, at their simplest, separate ``them,''
in quotes, outside the border from ``us,'' also in quotes,
inside the border, and this may be why public figures have felt
free to disparage and insult people from certain other
countries, even when some of those same public figures might
never say the same thing about U.S. citizens who trace their
family roots to those very same places.
Immigration laws don't just affect people outside the
United States. Immigration laws can make it hard or even
impossible for some U.S. citizens, but not others, to live in
this country, in their United States, with their spouses and
children and other close relatives--in other words, to make a
family here, to make a life here in this United States as a
family.
In this way, immigration laws tell some U.S. citizens
they're still foreigners, that they cannot fully partake in
American life.
If they trace their family origin to disfavored parts of
the world, or if they follow a disfavored faith, the message is
that their citizenship isn't as worthy of respect as the
citizenship of other Americans.
Their citizenship is devalued, and in these ways,
immigration laws enable discrimination that's based on race,
often against U.S. citizens.
Chinese exclusion, for example, was rooted in the idea that
people of Chinese descent do not become equal citizens of this
country because they're not White.
When 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of whom were
U.S. citizens, were incarcerated in relocation camps during
World War II, this too was only possible because they were seen
as foreign because of their race.
So, especially when this permission to discriminate is
embraced, endorsed, or amplified by public figures, what
happens next should come as no surprise.
The message is that some U.S. citizens don't belong, that
they're really foreigners, and that their lives and property
aren't worth as much.
That message leads to hate crimes against people cast by
our American immigration laws as fundamentally less American.
No hate crime is an isolated act. We need to take national
responsibility for the role of law in what we're seeing today.
By discriminating in ways that suggest some U.S. citizens
don't belong here, our immigration laws have laid the
foundation for hate crimes, and as long as our laws continue to
lay this foundation our entire country will suffer because the
promise of a shared citizenship that can unite us all will
remain unfulfilled.
Thank you.
[The statement of Mr. Motomura follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, sir. We appreciate your attendance
and your participation in our hearing. We will now enter a
round of questioning and we will be under the five-minute rule
ourselves and I'll begin by recognizing myself for a question.
I'd like to ask Ms. Lee, is there empirical or historical
evidence supporting the claim that leaders promoting
stereotypes or using rhetoric aimed at a particular ethnic
racial group leads to increased levels of discrimination or
violence against that group? Are there historical examples of
this?
Dr. Lee. Thank you, Chair, for that wonderful question, and
the answer is, clearly, yes. There is, unfortunately, a huge
amount of historical evidence. The record is very clear. We
have got mayors of major cities, we have lawmakers in Congress
explaining Asian people in the crudest, most racist terms.
In 1876 in San Francisco, Mayor Bryant, a mayor of the time
of that city, gathered a mob of thousands of people in downtown
San Francisco and talked about the Chinese immigration question
as one that needed to be solved, or that if Chinese immigration
would continue it would lead to the downfall of American
civilization and of the White race.
In 1882, when Congress is introducing--lawmakers introduced
the Chinese Exclusion Act, some of the lawmakers, including
Senator Miller of California, described Chinese immigrants as a
degraded and inferior race and a threat to national security.
They stole jobs from White workers. They were also a danger to
the public good of the country.
Then during World War II, our military leaders were very
explicit in their descriptions of Japanese people, Japanese
Americans, as quote, ``an enemy race'' unquote.
One of the leaders of that was one of our military
officials, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, who was in charge
of making sure that Japanese Americans were forcibly removed
and relocated from the West Coast.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you very much.
Dr. Lee. We know that--thank you.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you. We have a miserable history in this
area. I appreciate your elucidating upon it.
I'd now like to yield the remainder of my time to the
Honorable Ted Lieu, Congressman from California.
Mr. Lieu. Thank you, Chair Cohen, for holding this
important hearing and for allowing me to participate.
Asian Americans have now experienced a surge in hate
crimes, hate incidents, and discrimination since the start of
the pandemic, and I want to explore some of the reasons for
that.
I was struck, Professor Motomura, when your testimony
stated that individuals commit crimes, but they do so in a
culture and a society that reflects many influences. Professor
Sinnar, in your testimony you talk about the rhetoric being
employed.
Can we discuss whether there's a link between the rhetoric
being employed and the increase in hate crimes against Asian
Americans?
Ms. Sinnar. When [audio interference] former President
Donald Trump uses racist dog whistles that are, clearly,
interpreted as an effort to blame one community or one
government and, by implication, the community of people who are
thought to be associated with it, that affects the entire
society, and Stop AAPI Hate's research shows as well that those
tweets from the former President were retweeted over a million
times.
So, once you have that norm setting at the top that
normalizes stigmatizing a particular community for hate, it
does lead to ripple effects across society at large.
Mr. Lieu. Thank you very much.
I'd like to now respond to the Ranking Republican Member
today at the hearing. I previously served on active duty in the
United States Air Force. I'm very aware of who the bad guys are
and who our foreign enemies are.
This hearing is about Americans of Asian descent who are
being targeted in the United States. It's not about policing
speech. I served on active duty so you can say whatever you
want under the First Amendment. You can say racist stupid stuff
if you want.
I'm asking you to please stop using racist terms like Kung
Flu or Wuhan virus other ethnic identifiers in describing this
virus.
I am not a virus, and when you say things like that it
hurts the Asian-American community. Whatever political points
you think you are scoring by using ethnic identifiers in
describing this virus, you are harming Americans who happen to
be of Asian descent. So, please stop doing that.
I yield back.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Representative Lieu, for your service
to our country and your service to our country today.
I now recognize Mr. Burgess Owens who is virtually with us.
So, Mr. Burgess Owens, the ball is in your court. Five minutes.
Mr. Owens. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. One
second. Hold tight.
Now, we have heard a lot today about the alarming rise in
violence against Asian Americans. My heart goes out to the
Asian-American community and all victims of crime. No one
should feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods.
I'm concerned that there's a culture of lawlessness that's
become pervasive and attacks every community, and we need to
follow the facts.
For example, in 2008 a survey by the San Francisco Police
Department studied 300 robberies. In 85 percent of the assault
crimes, the victims were Asian, the perpetrators were Black
Americans.
Between 1980 and 2008, the Department of Justice found that
84 percent of White victims were killed by White offenders and
93 percent of Black victims were killed by Black offenders.
What does this tell us about the possibility of a deeper,
more systemic issue like the deterioration of the family unit
and the negative impact it is having on all communities?
In addition to the violence, we're also seeing
institutional discrimination against Asian Americans in
universities. Although the Asian community has been very
successful academically, but it's also been discriminated
against because it's a culture committed to meritocracy.
As someone who's grown up in the 1980s, I understand
exactly what institutional racism looks like, and using
someone's race as a factor against admission to college is
totally un-American. Our colleges must end that now.
These issues are complicated, and I hope we can get to the
bottom of the rise of the lawlessness that no American should
experience--no American should experience, and the
institutional discrimination against Asian Americans through
our colleges and universities.
Our government cannot condone or take part in this type of
racism.
Mr. Lehman, I do have a question. As you state, citizens in
all communities, Asian Americans among them, have the right to
live free from [audio interference].
Mr. Cohen. Mr. Owens, you asked a question of someone, I
believe. Who did you direct your question to?
Mr. Owens. Mr. Lehman.
Mr. Cohen. Mr. Lehman?
[Technical issues.]
Mr. Cohen. Sounds like.
[Technical issues.]
Mr. Cohen. It seems we have a problem with our system.
Can anybody hear me out there?
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Mr. Cohen. Yeah, but nobody can hear it. So, can we stop
the time? Are we fixing it? Is he muted, maybe? I don't think--
Mr. Lieu, can you hear me?
[No response.]
Mr. Cohen. Mr. Lehman, can you hear me?
[No response.]
Mr. Cohen. Well, I guess now we know why they call it
WebEx.
Testing. Is there any--anybody hears?
[Pause.]
Mr. Lehman. --it should swiftly and certainly enforce law
in these communities.
Mr. Cohen. Mr. Lehman, I think we're back. Can you hear me?
Can people hear me?
Mr. Lehman, try to talk again.
Mr. Lehman. Yes, I can hear you. I'm sorry. I didn't
realize we had cut out.
Mr. Cohen. You're back on. You cut out at the 2:47 mark. If
you could rewind too there.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Lehman. Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I've been talking to
Representative Owens. I'm not sure--I guess it did not come
through.
Mr. Cohen. Nobody could hear you. Rewind to 2:40 and start
over again. That's something a Yale man should be able to do.
Mr. Lehman. Yes, sir.
I don't know what we were talking about--
Mr. Owens. Do we need to repeat--do I need to repeat the
question?
Mr. Cohen. Please repeat the question.
Mr. Owens. Okay. What do we need to do to end these attacks
that we're now seeing on the rise of it being perpetrated
against Asian Americans and, I will say, at other Americans
that are going through the same issues at this point?
Mr. Lehman. Yeah. I think that the most important and most
possibly effective policy response comes down to acting to
ensure safety in communities and the best tool that we have for
that public safety enforcement is the police on the streets.
I agree with my co-panelists that we want to combat bigotry
in the hearts and minds of some Americans, but that's not the
most swift or certain way to reduce violent crime in our
communities. Effective policing is.
Mr. Owens. Okay, thank you.
Mr. Fa, is there a way to achieve diversity at institutions
of higher learning without considering race within the
application or admissions process?
Mr. Fa. Yes, I think there are ways to achieve diversity
without using race on college campuses. I think when we talk
about diversity, it's a mistake just to think about it in terms
of racial diversity.
I think a lot of universities are not very diverse in terms
of different ideologies, different viewpoints, and I think we
should be doing more to ensure that students on college
campuses are hearing views from all sides.
In terms of racial diversity itself, I think there are
certain ways that were proffered by the Students For Fair
Admission in the Harvard case.
Harvard currently, as it stands, gives preferences to
athletes, to legacy admits, to big donors, and to children of
faculty, and I think reducing or eliminating those preferences
would lead to an increase in even racial diversity without
using racial preferences.
Mr. Owens. Very good. Thank you so much, and I'm going to
yield back my time. Thank you so much.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Representative Owens.
I now yield five minutes to the honorable, distinguished,
the renowned, and the respected gentleman from Maryland, Mr.
Raskin.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Anti-Asian American violence is skyrocketing. We have seen
a 150 percent surge in anti-Asian American hate crimes in major
cities including an 81-year-old woman being punched in the face
and lit on fire outside her own home, a 61-year-old man being
slashed in the face with a box cutter on the subway in New York
City, a woman being doused in the face with a burning toxic
chemical as she took out the trash at her home, and a 15-year-
old boy being hospitalized after being attacked at school by a
bully assailant who claimed he had COVID-19 because he was
Asian.
The governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, whose wife, Yumi, is
Korean American, told me in a phone conversation yesterday that
he and his wife and his daughter's closest friends have all
been affected by the new wave of hostility against the AAPI
community.
Governor Hogan told me that close family friends have been
assaulted in a convenience store, screamed at by racists
telling them to go back to China, and told that they did not
want to sit next to them on an airplane because they were Asian
and had COVID.
There's no free speech defense to commission of violent
assaults on Asian Americans or anybody else and the bizarre
invocation of free speech in this context is a dangerous and
irrelevant distraction from the violence engulfing AAPI
communities across the land.
We have got Korean-American, Japanese-American, and
Vietnamese-American constituents who've been attacked by racist
fanatics screaming about the Wuhan flu. So, just consider the
leaps of illogic and fallacy which lead to this kind of crime.
First, you've got to blame the COVID-19 virus on the
Chinese government or the Chicoms, as the Ranking Member
probably puts it, an authoritarian government which President
Trump lavishly praised 37 different times in the first three
months of COVID-19 for its excellent response.
Then you've got to blame the lethal recklessness of
President Trump, who said COVID-19 would magically disappear by
Easter and suggested injecting bleach as a miracle cure and
refused to develop any nationwide plan to crush the virus on
the Chinese government and on the Chinese people.
Then you've got to associate the alleged policy errors of
the Chinese government with the Chinese people. Then you must
associate the Chinese people with Chinese-American citizens of
the United States.
Then you must associate Chinese-American citizens with
Korean- and Vietnamese-Americans citizens, and so on. Then you
must assume that all your misguided and fallacious views
justify violent attacks on Asian-American strangers.
All these fallacies and lies are built on assumptions of
collective guilt, mass punishment, and vigilante justice that
are completely at odds with our constitutional values.
So, it's remarkable to me that when we try to put a stop to
this deranged violence, we have colleagues who think it's
relevant or productive to defend Donald Trump's totally
unmolested First amendment rights to blame his own failures on
the Chinese government, which he enthusiastically praised 37
different times.
So, Mr. Yang, is the invocation of free speech relevant or
constructive to the dialogue about anti-Asian American violence
and racism today?
Mr. Yang. Thank you for that question and thank you very
much for expressing the powerful words that you do.
Free speech is not a defense. We have no free speech right
to yell ``fire'' in a crowded theater, and what is happening
right now is the Asian Americans are in a crowded theater where
we are being endangered.
The other point is, regardless of free speech, all of us as
leaders have an obligation to model behavior that we want our
community to follow and model behavior that would lift our
entire country up, instead of trying to be divisive and make
individuals or communities targets of hate when it is
unnecessary.
The last thing that I would say is, as has been established
by previous speakers, everyone agrees there is no medical
benefit to using terms such as China virus and Wuhan flu, and
everyone agrees that there is some effect, and you could debate
how much, but there is an effect on the hate that theAsian-
American community has received.
So, the cost benefit analysis is clear. The cost to the
community, the Asian-American community, of calling the term
that it is great. The benefit not used--the benefit of using
these terms is nil. So, in that sense, it makes no sense.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you so much.
Professor Lee, would you agree that it is dangerous and
irrational to conflate the question of random vigilante attacks
in violence on American citizens with questions of foreign
policy and the behavior of foreign governments?
Dr. Lee. Yeah, thank you for that great question. It is
irrational, but it has been part of our historical record and
we have seen where that hate has led. There's been too many
times when Japanese Americans, for example, had been conflated
with the Japanese enemy.
This is one of the ways in which American racism works. We
think we should have learned this lesson by now in the 21st
century, that, as all the fellow Witnesses have reiterated a
point that really should not need to be made in the first
place.
We are Americans. We are Americans of Asian descent. We are
proud of that ancestry and heritage. Conflating us with a
foreign government has been an age-old way of denigrating us,
separating us, making us other. That has led to racism in the
past and it's leading to racism today.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chair, thank you for this great hearing and I yield
back to you.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Raskin.
This problem that we see with the Asian-American community
has been going on for years. The people who thrust this at us
have seen Jews as being double citizens and having double
citizenship--dual citizenship with Israel--which, of course, is
not true. That's been put out too, and this type of stuff has
gone on for years.
As Professor Wiesel said, people who hate, hate everyone.
I'd now like to yield to Ms. Fischbach.
Ms. Fischbach. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I just have a quick, I guess--maybe not quick--a question
for Mr. Fa, and I was just wondering, in your work fighting
discrimination in the education admissions process, do you find
this type of discrimination to be across all types of schools
like public, private, regional, religious, and nonreligious?
I guess I'm just wondering if there's a pattern or a
general trend that you observe in the schools, the types of
schools, that are having issue?
Mr. Fa. Well, certainly--thank you, Congresswoman, for that
question. Certainly, this type of discrimination happens at
different types of schools. The Harvard case, obviously,
considers a private school that is sub--that receives Federal
funding. So, that's a lawsuit based on title VI.
The work that we do at Pacific Legal Foundation really
focuses on the equal protection clause, and the defendants in
those cases are government entities and public schools.
We see that throughout the country. We have fought
discrimination in places like New York, places like Virginia,
places like Maryland, and we fought racial quotas representing
not just Asian-American families across the United States, but
also Black and Hispanic families who are being denied
educational opportunities on the basis of race.
So, this is a prevalent issue in America, sadly, today. We
look forward to enforcing our clients' rights under the equal
protection clause and their right to equality before the law.
Ms. Fischbach. Mr. Fa, maybe just a follow-up. There are
some schools that, certainly, do better at not discriminating,
and if you found that there are some characteristics about
those schools that they share that the others don't have? Have
you found anything about that?
Mr. Fa. Sure. So, many of those schools are--that we have
litigated are the admissions system, at least previously, have
been governed by an objective test that anybody can take that
is--and their chances of getting into those specialized schools
or magnet schools they're determined by their score on the
test. The highest scores on the test would get in no matter
what their race or ethnicity.
Unfortunately, local government in places like New York,
Montgomery County, Thomas, and Virginia have found the results
to be the schools have had too many Asians, in their opinion.
So, they changed the admissions policies in cases to
discriminate against Asian-American students, and in the case
of our New York clients, low-income Asian-American students,
only because there were too many--in their view, too many Asian
Americans at those schools.
Ms. Fischbach. Thank you, Mr. Fa, and thank you, Mr. Chair.
I yield back.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Ms. Fischbach. As terrible as that
all is, when my father went to medical school, many of those
medical schools did not accept Jews at all.
I now recognize Ms. Ross.
Ms. Ross. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and thank you for
holding this very important hearing during this very important
and sad week.
I want to thank everyone on the panel for being here. I
want to let you know that my district in North Carolina is home
to a large and vibrant Asian-American community.
These individuals, whether they were born here or came to
North Carolina as immigrants, are an essential part of the
Research Triangle's workforce and community. Wake County would
not be the hub of innovation and culture that it is without
their contributions.
I'd like to ask unanimous consent to enter an article from
our newspaper, the Raleigh News and Observer, on Asian hate
crimes that appeared today.
Mr. Cohen. Without objection it will be done.
[The information follows:]
MS. ROSS FOR THE RECORD
=======================================================================
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Ross. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, several of my
constituents of Asian descent have reported racist incidents.
One Chinese constituent was labeled a communist in a
disparaging newspaper article. A college student found her
Chinese New Year display in her dorm destroyed. Others have
been verbally harassed to the extent that they worry about
their safety in public.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time in our nation's
history. Asian Americans have found themselves subject
discrimination, as we have heard today.
This stems directly from xenophobic Federal policies.
Earlier we heard Representative Matsui testify about the impact
of living in an internment camp on her family.
I would like to address my first question to Professor
Motomura. I know that we have talked about anti-Asian laws and
how they've contributed to our society. Could you give us
examples of when anti-Asian laws have been repealed and how
public sentiment has come to allow for that repeal?
Mr. Motomura. Well, there are several examples, but one is
that, as I mentioned in testimony, the Chinese exclusion laws
were in place until the--from 1870s until 1943, and I think
that one of the influences that resulted in the repeal of
Chinese exclusion was the allyship between the United States
and China during World War II.
So, there are other events that came in. I'm not sure there
was a particular change of heart with regard to the Chinese-
American community.
Rhere was at that time, and Professor Lee might be able to
speak more to this, but there's much more of a change of
attitude trying to distinguish--there was efforts during a time
to distinguish Chinese on foreign policy and war-related
reasons from Japanese Americans.
So, in some sense, you can look at this as a change of art
with regard to Chinese Americans, but you could also look at it
as an attempt to demonize the Japanese Americans. This was in
1943. That would be one example.
Then also in 1965, of course, and this is a very long
history, and you probably don't want me to get into it on your
time, but in 1965, of course, you have the National Origins
Act, and that too is a racially restrictive scheme that was in
place from 1921 until 1965.
So, a lot of influences. That was really part of the civil
rights movement to end the senseless scheme that had restricted
migration from 1965. So, we have had these incidents. We have
had examples of this.
Ms. Ross. Thank you very much.
Then just to follow up, are there examples of current or
more recent immigration policies that have impacted Asian
Americans and their families, even if perhaps they were not the
targeted demographic?
We're taking up immigration bills this week and I think
that would be an important thing to know.
Mr. Motomura. Yeah. Well, I think that there are different
aspects of this. Some of this has to do with the inability of
the American immigration system to fully accommodate the needs
of the American economy with regard to workers.
So, you have bills in place right now that would
essentially grant legal immigration status to a number of
workers, many of whom are essential workers, many of whom are
from Asia. That would be one example of this.
I think that there are restrictions right now that limit
the ability of Asian immigrants to come to this country. I
think this is also a pattern that--and the patterns that I was
trying to describe earlier. They relate to all different sorts
of ethnic groups.
I think a much more concerning piece of this or an equally
concerning piece of this is, as I mentioned in testimony, the
treatment of Latino immigrants and the inability of Latino
immigrants to acquire lawful immigration status.
So, that would be another one that I think is actually
going to demographically have significance as well.
Ms. Ross. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair.
Next, I'll recognize Mr. Henry ``Hank'' Calvin Johnson.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. I thank the Chair for hosting this
very timely hearing and I would like to ask unanimous consent
to submit a 31-second video produced by the Asian Americans
Advancing Justice Atlanta organization regarding violence
against members of the AAPI community, along with a letter
asking for a community-based response to the violence in
Atlanta, which is dated March 18th, 2021, and is signed by
multiple Asian-American community groups in my district, for
the record.
Mr. Cohen. Unanimous consent is granted. Ms. Garcia, Ms.
Ross, it's unanimous.
[The information follows:]
MR. JOHNSON OF GEORGIA FOR THE RECORD
=======================================================================
A video produced by Asian Americans Advancing Justice--Atlanta,
submitted by the Honorable Hank Johnson, a Member of the Subcommittee
on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State
of Georgia for the record:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/phrlkuontbeid0r/Johnson%20Video.mp4?dl=0
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you.
Mr. Chair, my heart cries tears of sorrow and solidarity
with the families of those killed [audio interference] mass
murder [audio interference] left with fears of terror of what
might happen next to them, their families, and AAPI friends.
Whether the massacre in Atlanta was sex based or race
based, it was hate based and directed at Asian women. No
question about it. If genocide against Native Americans and
slavery are our nation's Original Sin, then harassment and
violence against Asian Americans is its progeny.
As Georgia State Senator Michelle Au presciently said on
Monday, this recent violence against Asian Americans is a new
chapter in a very old story. The correlation between the rise
of xenophobic and racist rhetoric by President Trump and his
Republican Party supporters and the dramatic and alarming rise
in violence against Asian Americans is not coincidental.
It is an unfortunate and calculated result, which is open
season on Asian Americans in this country, and when folks on
this Committee talk about Chicoms what they're doing is using
they're using an ethnic--they're using ethnic stereotypes
against any people, and I resent it.
As a Black man in America, I understand what it's like to
be targeted because of how you look. I understand how terrible
it is to be viewed by your fellow citizens as other in a Nation
that prides itself, supposedly, on being the melting pot of the
world.
America, it's time to admit that we have a problem. It's
time to take affirmative action to correct that problem. I look
forward to a time where we can banish hate and replace it with
love in this country.
With that, I'd like to ask you, Mr. Yang, about the fact
that healthcare workers have specifically suffered
disproportionately during the pandemic.
How have Asian-American healthcare workers been impacted by
discrimination and violence over the last year, particularly
those involved in the healthcare industry specifically?
Mr. Yang. Thank you very much for that question, and thank
you, first, for lifting the work that is being done in Atlanta
by our communities there, because that is vital. It is
important.
With respect to the healthcare workers in particular, those
are the essential frontline workers that we talk about, the
people that are putting their health at risk to serve our
entire country--not just Asian Americans, but to serve our
entire country--and both Ms. Kulkarni as well as myself, when
we look at the incidents that we have coming in, we can cite
just so many examples of healthcare workers getting shunned,
getting spit, getting coughed on or a statement saying that
``We don't want them to see us.''
So, it has had both a mental toll as well as, in some
cases, a physical toll.
If I might, I do want to go back to one other piece with
respect to the community-based response that we're talking
about, which is public safety is not the same thing as law
enforcement.
Yes, we absolutely need public safety. We can reimagine it
in a way that we're not so reliant on law enforcement when we
don't--oftentimes, our communities don't trust that vehicle.
Thank you.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you. This hearing is not
about defunding the police either, and how does violence and
discrimination affect the mental health of members of the AAPI
community, collectively?
Mr. Yang. If the question is directed to me, it's clear it
affects our entire community. If you ask any of your Asian-
American friends right now, they will say that this is on their
minds.
So, one thing I would urge people to do in this moment is
to reach out to your friends, reach out to your community, and
make sure that they feel seen, they feel heard, and they feel
protected.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you.
Mr. Kim, has the government provided enough support to
Asian-American healthcare workers and what role do you see
Congress playing in addressing these concerns and providing
more support to Asian-American healthcare and other front-line
workers?
Mr. Kim. Well, thank you for the question. I think, you
know, as it pertains to healthcare workers, the thing that I
find most anecdotally is that many of them are experiencing
bigotry and hate even as they're trying to help people fighting
this virus.
I think the ways that we can support them as, as friends
and members of our community, is some of the ways that we have.
We have seen people play music for them at 7:00 o'clock and
clap for them.
The ways that our government can help is really just to
support the community at large, and I think those front line
workers are also members of the AAPI community. They may be at
work helping people, but they go home and they still--they're
scared to go home the same way the rest of us are.
So, I encourage us all to think about the front line
workers as part of the larger community and these two bills
that are before the Committee right now will help all AAPIs.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you.
Professor Kulkarni, what is the correlation between the
rhetoric of the Trump Administration and the rise in violence
against AAPIs?
Ms. Kulkarni. Thank you, Congressman, for your question.
We know from a study that we did in the fall that actually
over 700 of the incidents reported to Stop AAPI Hate of the
2,500 we had received at that point actually correlated to
comments that were made about China as the China virus, the
Wuhan virus, and Kung Flu and similar comments that were made
about sending people back to their country.
So, we know that, in fact, comments like that have
absolutely resulted in hate incidents being perpetrated against
our community members and we know that because the data shows
it.
If I may add to that just in terms of some of the resources
that can be provided, I think local communities, as you have
pointed out, could very much benefit from added funding and an
infrastructure to provide support for our community members.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you. I want to make it clear
that it's not just White folks who are acting against AAPIs.
It's other communities, including Black people, and I want to
issue a challenge to all communities to be aware of the fact
that our brothers and sisters in the AAPI community are
particularly targeted right now and we need to embrace them
with love and not contribute to the hate that is enveloping
them.
With that, I yield back.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Johnson.
Now, I recognize the lady from Houston, Texas, Ms. Garcia.
Ms. Garcia. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and
thank you to all the Witnesses, especially my colleagues, for
sharing your very, very personal stories.
At a time when we should be working together, helping one
another as Americans to grapple with a COVID-19 pandemic, we
have all Witnessed the Asian-American community, like Latinos
and other communities, that are facing an alarming rise in
violence, hate, and discrimination.
It is inherently un-American for anyone to discriminate and
launch vicious hate crimes against an Asian American. Too
often, immigrants have been blamed and scapegoated or harassed,
telling them to go back to their country. I know I've been told
to go back to Mexico.
We can play a quick video clip, Mr. Chair?
Mr. Cohen. Yes, ma'am. Play the video.
[Video available at https://www.dropbox.com/s/cltlmwj496ol3im/
Garcia%20Video. mp4?dl=0]
Ms. Garcia. Go back to blank Asian country that you belong.
Many of us have heard that. This is just one example of the
various types of discrimination and harassment that Asian
Americans, Latinos, and others face too often in our country.
This does not represent who we are as a nation. As
President Biden has said, violence against Asian Americans is
un-American and it must stop.
Mr. Kim, I know that you also added that we need to look at
this as a humanity issue because humanity matters, and the last
time you were before this Committee you also told us that what
is in the media visually, in print, everywhere also matters.
I wanted to ask you specifically about the rhetoric coming
from politicians, as some of you have testified. I know we have
focused on the former president, but Senator Cornyn of Texas
said, ``China is to blame, because a culture where people eat
bats and snakes and dogs and things like that, China has been
the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the
swine flu, and now the coronavirus.''
Senator Cruz, also from Texas, said that Trump was not
worried because he wasn't served bat soup in Hunan Province, an
apparent nod to the now-debunked myth that the outbreak started
in Hunan.
How do these words and all the coverage that all this gets
in print, and sometimes in the news visually, how does that
impact hate crimes, hate incidents in this country?
[No response.]
Ms. Garcia. Are you unmuted sir? Mr. Kim--
Mr. Kim. Thank you for that question, Representative. Can
you hear me?
Ms. Garcia. Yes, I can.
Mr. Kim. First, I want to thank you for showing that clip
of the woman in Torrance, California. That happens to be the
neighborhood where my brother and his family live.
That woman is Latina, which highlights the point that you
were trying to make that this is not just an issue of White
people versus Asian people, or Black people versus Asian
people.
It is really a question about everybody verses acts of hate
and bigotry. That really needs to be highlighted because this
is not part just of the Asian-American history. It's part of
the history of America.
Now, to your question, I will say that, yes, it matters
that other representatives other than the President have been
using these terms of hate and connecting Americans to a virus
that they have no connection to whatsoever.
It is part of our leadership and I'm an idealist because I
still do believe in the words of my leaders. I want to believe
that they are setting the tone for the rest of the country, and
that when they use rhetoric like this it not only affects
adults, but it affects our children.
It's a shameful thing to have to say, ``Don't listen to
what your President is saying. Don't listen to what your
Senator is saying.'' If you cannot teach your children the same
things that you would ask of your leaders, then what example
are we setting.
The way it becomes insidious in our culture is that this
language permeates through the places like Jay Baker, the
spokesman for the sheriff's office in Cherokee County, who
actually tweeted out t-shirts making fun of coronavirus and
connecting it to China.
This is a person who has a direct connection to the shooter
of eight people. He is not impartial, and so it calls into
question the veracity of his position.
So, these are all ways in which it's connected and words
matter from our President, from our leaders, for anyone with a
platform, which is why I'm here today to ask those of you who
are leading us to speak out for us instead of encouraging hate.
Ms. Garcia. Thank you. Thank you for that answer, and I
think what our children and all Americans see in the news or
hear or read in the paper matters because words do matter, and
as you said, humanity matters.
So, thank you for the response.
Mr. Chair, I want to introduce the articles that I've
referenced together with other articles, which, unfortunately,
the rhetoric is building and the coverage is building. So, I'd
like to introduce these into the record and ask for unanimous
consent.
Mr. Cohen. So done, without objection.
[The information follows:]
MS. GARCIA FOR THE RECORD
=======================================================================
Materials submitted by the Honorable Sylvia R. Garcia, a
Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights,
and Civil Liberties from the State of Texas for the record:
A statement entitled, ``Our Response to the Murders of Asian American
Women in Atlanta,'' National Korean American Service & Education
Consortium, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD061.pdf
An article entitled, ``The long history of anti-Asian hate in America,
explained,'' Vox, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/
JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD062.pdf
An article entitled, ``Hate Crimes Targeting Asian Americans Spiked by
150% in Major US Cities,'' Voice of America, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD063.pdf
An article entitled, ``Attacks on Asian-Americans in New York Stoke
Fear, Anxiety and Anger,'' The New York Times, available at https:/
/docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD064.pdf
An article entitled, ``Anti-Asian violence must be charged as a hate
crime,'' CNN, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD065.pdf
An article entitled, ``House Dems renew call for hate crime law after
anti-Asian attacks,'' Roll Call, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD066.pdf
An article entitled, `` `We're being scapegoated': Asians and Asian
Americans speak out against spate of violence,'' ABC News,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD067.pdf
A document entitled, ``Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism,
Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders in the United States,'' The White House, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD068.pdf
An article entitled, ``FBI Report: Bias-Motivated Killings At Record
High Amid Nationwide Rise In Hate Crime,'' NPR, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD069.pdf
A document entitled, ``The Return of `Yellow Peril,' '' Stop AAPI Hate,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD070.pdf
A press release entitled, ``Rep Lieu Leads 150 Member Letter Urging DOJ
to Condemn Covid-Related Anti-Asian Discrimination,'' available at
https://docs.house
.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-
SD071.pdf
An article entitled, ``Donald Trump's `Chinese virus': the politics of
naming,'' The Conversation, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD072.pdf
An article entitled, ``Federal agencies are doing little about the rise
in anti-Asian hate,'' NBC News, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD073.pdf
An article entitled, ``The Slur I Never Expected to Hear in 2020,'' The
New York Times Magazine, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD074.pdf
An article entitled, ``Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans
Fear for Their Safety,'' The New York Times, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD075.pdf
An article entitled, ``As coronavirus spreads, some Asian Americans
worry their leaders' language stokes a stigma,'' The Texas Tribune,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD076.pdf
An article entitled, ``Sen. Cornyn: China to blame for coronavirus,
because `people eat bats,' '' NBC News, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD077.pdf
An article entitled, ``Key facts about Asian origin groups in the
U.S.,'' Pew Research Center, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD078.pdf
An article entitled, ``How Racism Created America's Chinatowns,'' The
Huffington Post, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/
JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD079.pdf
A document entitled, ``Hate Crime Statistics,'' FBI, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD080.pdf
Ms. Garcia. With that, Mr. Chair, I thank you and I yield
back.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Ms. Garcia. I believe we have Ms.
Bush, the honorable Congressperson from St. Louis, Missouri up
the river, is recognized. You must unmute though, Ms. Bush.
Unmute.
Ms. Bush. All right, I'm here. Thank you. St. Louis and I,
again, thank you, Chair, for convening this hearing.
I want to extend my deepest condolences to the AAPI
community, many of whom have lost loved ones, been victims of
White supremacist hate crimes, or in some way have been
victimized by the horrific incidents of this past year.
My heart is with you. There are more than, and it's been
said before over and over again, 3,000 hate crimes reported
over the last year as a result of anti-Asian American racism.
That 3,000 number, it's horrific and I don't want to just gloss
over it. It's 3,000 incidents.
The rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans is
inherently tied to anti-Asian American rhetoric, some of which
have come out of this very chamber, rhetoric, which we have
been told even on this hearing today that words don't matter,
that we shouldn't be worried about words.
Especially when people from a place of privilege speak
about that, what can directly lead to physical harm, you have
to own that. You have to own it causes harm.
It causes harm to people, especially people of color, and
so to call it out as if it does not matter, it does, because
we're talking about lives at stake. This is a refusal of
responsibility, and I'm going to call it out. This is not a
partisan thing.
Last week, we held a hearing about Member conduct and the
need to engage from a place of respect, how we conduct
ourselves as leaders, what we say and who we engage with.
That has a direct impact on what happens in our streets. It
is our words, and it's why our words and our actions as leaders
are so important. Leading from a place of hate only fuels
hateful and violent acts across our country.
Leading with love starts with what we say, the words we use
and the meaning behind them. Words can build up communities or
break them down. What we have Witnessed over the last four
years is hateful White supremacist rhetoric.
While I cannot speak on behalf of the AAPI community, I do
want to say that I stand in solidarity with you. So, organize,
galvanize, and get justice. Fight against White supremacy with
us.
Two nights ago, for the six Asian women who tragically lost
their lives as a result of racist sentiments, racist rhetoric,
and racist policies, it's not lost on me that we lost women,
working women.
In fact, a majority of anti-Asian hate crimes are committed
against Asian women, and you all have said that over and over
again today. As a Black woman, I want to speak that point.
So, Professor Lee, are there reports or experiences that
have particularly impacted you on an emotional level? Have you
had increased fear for your own safety? I want to bring the
humanity into this a little bit more.
Dr. Lee. Thank you so much for asking. Thank you for those
powerful words--powerful words of solidarity, and I think all
our communities really appreciate it.
I am an educator. I'm also a researcher and writer. My real
day job is to get in the classroom or, in this case during the
pandemic, just here through Zoom, and my students are
traumatized. Our communities are traumatized.
What this brings up is lifetimes, histories, family
histories of trauma, trauma that perhaps some of our families
thought was over and done with because, as Mr. Yang pointed
out, the popular media image is that Asian Americans have made
it, and everything is okay.
What the pandemic has revealed is the stark truth that
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders remain victims of the
similar types of White supremacy that has infected our country
for so long.
So, we have people who are afraid to go about their
neighborhoods to do their daily businesses. We also have an
outpouring of new resilience, I believe. A wake-up call, as
Daniel Dae Kim mentioned.
A reminder that we have been here before, that we have
acted out. We have organized. We have sought justice in
solidarity with others, and that we will continue to do so.
Ms. Bush. Thank you.
Mr. Yang, in addition to potential legislation, are there
community actions being successfully taken to combat this anti-
Asian American violence and harassment and how best can the
government support these efforts, the Federal government?
Mr. Yang. Thank you very much for that question. Thank you
for the solidarity.
Absolutely, the Federal government can do more in terms of
appropriations to make sure that these community organizations
have the resources that they need, whether it is through
grants, through the Office of Justice Programs at DOJ, ensuring
that there's language access, ensuring that there's
multilingual capacities, there's budget items for that.
Those are some of the small pieces that the Federal
government can do. Certainly, the COVID-19 hate crimes bill
from Representative Meng and Senator Hirono is another piece to
that along with the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act.
I apologize, but I do need to go to one prior statement
that Representative Garcia made about statements by Senators.
One report that we received on our website tracking hate, this
person reported,
My dad and I were stopped at a red light when my dad noticed
the man on the sidewalk. That man came up to me, called me a
B--a female, so I'm not going to use the word--a few times, and
then threatened to kick our teeth in. He did this while calling
us disgusting mother F-ers and telling us we need to stop
eating bats and bringing disease over here.
So yes, words matter. Words of our leaders matter.
Thank you.
Ms. Bush. Yes, thank you.
Mr. Chair, I ask consent to enter into the record a
document from the Asian American Table that details the kinds
of programming that are crucial in this moment.
Mr. Cohen. Without objection, shall be done.
[The information follows:]
MS. BUSH FOR THE RECORD
=======================================================================
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Bush. Thank you, and I yield back.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Ms. Bush.
Now, I recognize the--I shouldn't say the other lady. The
first lady from Houston, Texas, home of Archie Bell and the
Drells, where they not only saying but they dance, Ms. Sheila
Jackson Lee.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Chair, thank you so very much.
Let me, very quickly, say that all of us went into an
extensive moment of mourning for the loss of those women and
men and others in the killings in Atlanta.
We cannot ignore, we cannot be unsisterly and unbrotherly
like to not notice the fact that they were innocent and six
were Asian women. Asian Americans, our sisters, we will not
ignore.
I would like to have a video shown right now.
[Video available at https://www.dropbox.com/s/hiqyf9zrq4pcwbv/
Jackson%20Lee %20Video.mp4?dl=0]
Ms. Jackson Lee. A three-year-old baby cut, a father cut.
The assailant did this heinous act.
Are we live?
The assailant did this heinous Act because he thought the
family was Chinese and infecting people with the coronavirus.
He thought the family was Chinese and they were infecting
people with the coronavirus.
Take your heads out of the sand. Where is the dignity?
Where is the power of the respect for all people and the love
of Americans?
So, as we look at the outrage, let me put into the record
the 45th President always referring to coronavirus as the China
virus or Kung Flu. Let me call his name, President Trump.
[The information follows:]
MS. JACKSON LEE FOR THE RECORD
=======================================================================
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Jackson Lee. Let me also say in 1942, and I'm glad
Congresswoman Matsui mentioned it, President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066, which ordered the
forced internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World
War II. Innocent patriotic Americans.
In 1982, amid a downturn in the U.S. motor vehicle
industry, the competition was blamed on Japanese companies. A
Chinese American, Vincent Chin, was beaten to death. Not one of
his perpetrators experienced time in jail.
So, to you, Mr. Kim, on the evening of the discovery of who
did this heinous crime of killing eight people, six of them
Asian, when a law enforcement officer decided to say the words,
``This individual had a bad day and this is what happened.''
I have a question as well for Ms. Kulkarni. Would you, Mr.
Kim, just from your gut, just from your spirit, when you hear
on national television after the murder of six Asian women that
he had a bad day, what are your thoughts?
Mr. Kim. Thank you for your question, Representative.
Well, I will tell you to start that when I have a bad day,
I think about going home, having a beer, and watching a movie
with my family. I don't think about going out and murdering
eight people.
It says a lot about this person that when he says that he's
trying to eliminate temptation from life, instead of seeking
help for himself, his way of eliminating temptation is to kill
people, take a gun and shoot people.
When he talks about sexual temptation, what does it mean
when he sees the manifestation of sexual temptation as an Asian
female?
These are three places all that had an association with
Asian people. If this were a synagogue or a Black church and
someone shot up those places, would we really be asking whether
this is a hate crime or not and would we really have the burden
of proof?
It's really important that you highlight Vincent Chin
because the judge in the case of Vincent Chin said that his
White murderers, ``These are not the kind of men you put in
jail.''
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Mr. Kim.
Mr. Kim. It echoes directly with what Jay Baker when he
tried to downplay the crime by saying he was having a bad day.
Thank you.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you so very much.
Ms. Kulkarni, if I could get this--a question to you. What
does the data show about the impact of anti-Asian rhetoric and
violence that has on the mental health of members of the
community?
Then just quickly, Ms. Lee, if you would just quickly on
the historical record which we have seen in other populations
like African Americans who were enslaved, that 1882 law, how
does it continue to negatively impact, Ms. Kulkarni, on the
data, very quickly?
I thank the Chair for his indulgence. I'll be finished
after these questions. I thank him very kindly.
Ms. Kulkarni?
Ms. Kulkarni. Thank you so much for your question. We know
that over 700 incidents result--included use of rhetoric
against our community members and that included virulent
animosity, scapegoating, as well as an anti-immigrant sentiment
and racist characterization, and it is led to a 155 percent
increase in depression and anxiety in our community members.
Ms. Jackson Lee. I thank you.
Professor Lee? Let me indicate, Ms. Kulkarni--let me
correct the record. Thank you so very much. I had stepped out
when you were doing your testimony.
Professor Lee, how has that historical moment--
Dr. Lee. Yes, thank you. Absolutely interconnected. When we
are passing these first Federal laws to single out an immigrant
group for exclusion based on race, we are also instituting Jim
Crow segregation.
We are also continuing our wars and genocide of indigenous
Americans. White supremacy impacts all of us. It may impact us
differently, but it impacts us all the same.
Thank you.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is an excellent
hearing. I thank you. I will commit to all the Witnesses my
commitment to anti-hate legislation specifically dealing with
Asian Americans and, really, all of us, your dad and others,
stand together in fighting against inequality in America. We
will not have it. We will not stand for it. We stand with you.
With that, I yield back, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Ms. Lee. I would ask unanimous
consent to submit 60 letters and documents from civil rights
groups and NGOs that were submitted today.
Without objection, they're entered into the record.
[The information follows:]
MR. COHEN FOR THE RECORD
=======================================================================
Materials submitted by the Honorable Steve Cohen, Chair of
the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil
Liberties from the State of Tennessee for the record:
A statement from the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD001.pdf
A statement from Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD002.pdf
A statement from South Asian Americans Leading Together, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-2021
0318-SD003.pdf
A letter from Grace Huang, Director of Policy, Asian Pacific Institute
on Gender-Based Violence, March 17, 2021, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD004.pdf
A statement from APIA Scholars, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD005.pdf
A statement from the Asian American Psychological Association,
available at http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD006.pdf
A letter from the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, March
17, 2021, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD007.pdf
A statement from Abraham Kim, Ph.D., Executive Director, Council of
Korean Americans, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/
JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD008.pdf
A statement from the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, available
at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-
117-JU10-2021
0318-SD009.pdf
A statement from the National Korean American Service & Education
Consortium Network, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/
JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD010.pdf
A statement from Asian American Leaders Table on COVID-19 Racism,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD011.pdf
A document entitled, ``Georgia's Asian American Leaders Call for
Community-Centered Response After Six Asian Women Are Murdered,''
Asian Americans Advancing Justice--Atlanta, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD012.pdf
A document entitled, ``Standing Against Anti-Asian Hate,'' Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD013.pdf
A document entitled, ``AAPI Progressive Action and AAPI Victory Fund
Call for Allyship and Healing After Atlanta Killings,'' AAPI
Victory Alliance, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/
JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD014.pdf
A document entitled, ``APIAHF Condemns Anti-Asian Hate and Calls For
Racial Healing,'' Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD015.pdf
A document entitled, ``Statement: Atlanta Shootings,'' Congressional
Asian Pacific American Staff Association, Congressional Korean
American Staff Association, and Congressional South Asian American
Staff Association, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/
JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD016.pdf
A document entitled, ``Truman Statement on Atlanta-Area Shootings and
Our Support for AAPI Communities,'' The Truman National Security
Project, available at https://docs.house .gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD017.pdf
A document entitled, ``Stand Against Hate,'' National Asian Pacific
American Bar Association, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD018.pdf
A document entitled, ``Organizations Representing Asian American
Communities Across the Nation and Allies Release Statement
Rejecting Criminalization and Retribution, and Call for Responses
Addressing the Root Causes of Racial Violence,'' Asian Americans
Advancing Justice--Asian Law Caucus, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD019.pdf
A document entitled, ``Our Shared Statement Against Anti-Asian
Violence,'' Asian Americans Advancing Justice--LA, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD020.pdf
A document entitled, ``Civil Rights and Racial Justice Organizations
Denounce Discrimination Against Asian Americans and Urge Unity in
Responding to Coronavirus Pandemic,'' NAACP, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD021.pdf
A document entitled, ``ACLU Calls on Elected Officials to Denounce Rise
of Racist Attacks on Asian Americans Amid COVID-19,'' American
Civil Liberties Union, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD022.pdf
A letter from Molly Collins, Advocacy Director, ACLU of Wisconsin,
April 24, 2020, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/
JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD023.pdf
A document entitled, ``ACLU of Florida Calls on Elected Officials to
Release Demographic Data on COVID-19 Testing,'' ACLU of Florida,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-2021
0318-SD024.pdf
A letter from Dave Noble, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties
Union of Michigan, and Kimberly S. Buddin, Policy Counsel, American
Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, April 27, 2020, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD025.pdf
A document entitled, ``Ohio Leaders: Denounce Discrimination Against
Asian Communities,'' ACLU of Ohio, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD026.pdf
A letter from Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, Executive Director, ACLU of
Virginia, and Sookyung Oh, D.C. Area Director, NAKASEC, April 28,
2020, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD027.pdf
A document entitled, ``Asian Minnesotan Organizations Urge Communities
and Leaders to Be Proactive About COVID-19 Related Racism and
Violence Against Asian American and Pacific Islanders,'' available
at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-
117-JU10-20210318-SD028.pdf
A document entitled, ``Asian Organizations Across the Bay Area Join
Forces to Demand Action Against Violence,'' Chinese for Affirmative
Action, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD029.pdf
A document entitled, ``Joint Statement of Asian American and Pacific
Islander Leaders and Over 260 Civil Rights Organizations Call on
Congress to Denounce Anti-Asian Racism around COVID-19,''
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/2021
0318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD030.pdf
A document entitled, ``APANO condemns pandemic-linked anti-Asian hate
and bias incidents,'' Asian Pacific American Network Oregon,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-2021
0318-SD031.pdf
A document entitled, ``TAPABA and APA Bar Associations Support
Congressional Resolutions on Anti-Asian Hate,'' Tennessee Asian
Pacific American Bar Association, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD032.pdf
A document entitled, ``Standing in Solidarity With the Asian and Asian
American Community,'' Asia Society, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD033.pdf
A document entitled, ``Joint Statement Rejecting Criminalization and
Retribution,'' Coalition of Asian American Leaders, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD034.pdf
A document entitled, ``Labor Movement Fighting Anti-Asian Racism in All
Forms,'' Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD035.pdf
A document entitled, ``AAJA Condemns Anti-Asian Racism and Challenges
Newsrooms to Prioritize Coverage of Anti-Asian Violence,'' Asian
American Journalists Association, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD036.pdf
A document entitled, ``Solidarity Statement--Supporting Communities
Targeted for Hate,'' The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human
Rights, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD037.pdf
A document entitled, ``APALA Statement Against Anti-Asian Violence,''
Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, available at https:/
/docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD038.pdf
A document entitled, ``AAFE's Statement on Anti-Asian Racism and Hate
Crimes,'' Asian Americans for Equality, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD039.pdf
A document entitled, ``Civil Rights and Racial Justice Organizations
Denounce Abhorrent Rise in Anti-Asian Hate Crimes,'' Racial Equity
Anchor Collaborative, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/
JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD040.pdf
A document entitled, ``Statement Re: Noodle Tree Restaurant Vandalism
Incident,'' Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce, available at
https://docs.house .gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD041.pdf
A joint statement denouncing the hate crime committed at the Noodle
Tree Restaurant from SanAntonio--Chinese American Citizens Alliance
and the Asian American Alliance of San Antonio, March 14, 2021,
available at https://docs .house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD042.pdf
A document entitled, ``Statement from Asian Americans in Action: We Are
Outraged by the Atlanta Area Massacre,'' Asian Americans in Action,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-2021
0318-SD043.pdf
A letter to the White House on rising hate crimes against the Asian
American community from Rebecca S. Pringle, President, National
Education Association, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD044.pdf
A document entitled, ``Practice Solidarity to Stop Hate Crimes Against
Asian Americans,'' San Francisco Foundation, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD045.pdf
A document entitled, ``A Call For Unity: Ending Violence In Asian
American Communities,'' East Bay Community Foundation, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD046.pdf
A document entitled, ``Statement on anti-Asian, anti-Muslim violence,''
Ecotrust, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD047.pdf
A document entitled, ``The Health Trust Joins Allies in Joint Statement
on Anti-Asian Violence,'' The Health Trust, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD048.pdf
A document entitled, ``NIRH President Releases Statement Condemning
Anti-Asian Violence; Calls for Support and Action,'' National
Institute for Reproductive Health, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD049.pdf
A document entitled, ``Disability Rights California Statement in
Response to Recent Surge in Hate Crimes that Target Innocent Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders,'' Disability Rights California,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD050.pdf
A document entitled, ``Solidarity for Asian American and Pacific
Islander Communities,'' Northern California Grantmakers, available
at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-
117-JU10-20210318-SD051.pdf
A document entitled, ``Statement on anti-Asian American Racism,''
California Museum, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/
JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD052.pdf
A document entitled, ``Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism,
Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders in the United States,'' The White House, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD053.pdf
A letter to President Donald J. Trump from United States Senators,
April 21, 2020, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/
JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD054.pdf
A document entitled, ``Inslee statement on rising cases of anti-Asian
hate crimes,'' Governor Jay Inslee, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD055.pdf
A document entitled, ``Statement by the Pennsylvania Governor's
Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs Condemning
Racial Violence Against Asian Pacific Americans,'' available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD056.pdf
A document entitled, ``COVID-19 Call to Action,'' Oregon Attorney
General Ellen Rosenblum's Steering Committee Against Hate Crimes,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD057.pdf.
A document entitled, ``Governor Northam Statement on Rise in Violence
Against Asian Americans,'' Virginia Governor Ralph Northam,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-2021
0318-SD058.pdf
A document entitled, ``Statement: Mayor Garcetti and Councilmember
Ridley-Thomas On Rise in Anti-AAPI Hate Crime,'' Office of Los
Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD059.pdf
A document from Sherriff Scott Parks, Marathon County, Wisconsin, March
25, 2020, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD060.pdf
Mr. Cohen. Mr. McClintock, I see you're with us, and would
you desire any time? You're certainly afforded it.
Mr. McClintock. Yes, I would. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Cohen. You're welcome. You're recognized for five
minutes.
Mr. McClintock. It seems to me--thank you. We seem to be
confusing opposition to the Chinese government, including its
actions during the coronavirus pandemic, with hostility toward
eight Americans of Asian descent, and I find that very
confusing since many Asian Americans fled abusive governments,
including and especially the Chinese Communist regime.
Hostility to that government is not hostility towards
victims. Quite the contrary. That seems to be the connection
that many people are making today.
There are despicable racists of every color in every
society. It is the baser side of human nature. No Nation has
struggled harder to transcend that nature and isolate and
ostracize its racists than have Americans.
The America Founders placed principles in the Declaration
of Independence that they believed would someday produce a
Nation of free men and women of all races and all religions,
together enjoying the blessings of liberty and equal protection
of our laws.
Lincoln denounced any other claim as ``having an evil
tendency if not an evil design.'' The violent attacks that have
been cited today against Asian Americans are heinous. They're
despicable. They're inexcusable. There are two statistics that
should add some perspective to this issue.
According to the FBI's Hate Crimes Statistics report, of
all 4,930 victims of reported hate crimes motivated by race or
ethnicity, 48.5 percent were due to anti-Black bias, 15.7
percent were due to anti-White bias, 14.1 percent were due to
anti-Hispanic or Latino bias, and 4.4 percent were due to anti-
Asian violence.
What should make us all proud as Americans is the fact that
Asian Americans have the highest median income of any ethnic
group in America, including White Americans. Median income for
Asian Americans is 38 percent higher than the national median.
If America were such a hate-filled discriminatory racist
society, filled with animus against Asian Americans, how do you
explain the remarkable success of Asian Americans in our
country? Their success should bring us all together as
Americans to celebrate the opportunities that our country
offers to all who seek the blessings of liberty.
It deeply saddens me that instead of uniting as Americans,
this hearing seeks to divide us as Americans. Any racist
sentiments, speech, or Act needs to be vigorously condemned.
To attack our society as systemically racist, the society
that has produced the freest, most prosperous, and most
harmonious multiracial society in human history, well, that's
an insult and it's flat out wrong.
Shakespeare reminded us that we have no such mirrors as
we'll turn our hidden worthiness into our eye, that we might
see our shadow.
The protesters fighting for their freedom in Hong Kong,
resisting their takeover by the communist government of China,
waved American flags as a symbol of their aspirations.
Perhaps we should look to them as a mirror to appreciate
our own society's hidden worthiness, and I'd ask Dr. Fa if he's
still in the Committee room for any thoughts he might have on
the subject.
Mr. Cohen. Do you yield back the rest of your time, sir?
Mr. McClintock. I'd like to yield it to Dr. Fa if he's
still there.
Mr. Cohen. Okay. Sure.
Dr. Fa, he yielded to you.
Mr. Fa. Oh, thank you. It's Mr. Fa. I don't have my
doctorate degree.
Thank you. I think the Congressman's words were very
powerful. I do agree that we're all Americans. We're all
entitled--We all have our individual rights, individual
liberty. No one has more or less liberty than someone else
because of race.
So, I think what comes out of this hearing should be that
we're all entitled to equality before the law, to be treated as
individuals, to be treated based on our own individual
aspirations, individual achievements, and individual
accomplishments, and not to be discriminated against because we
happen to be in a racial group that someone else might not
like.
Thank you.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Would the congressman yield?
Mr. McClintock. My sentiments exactly. Thank you.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Would the Congressman yield?
Mr. McClintock. Yes.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Would you yield for a moment, Mr.
McClintock?
Mr. McClintock. Of course.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Let me express my appreciation for your
interpretation. I think one of the things I would ask the
gentleman to consider, 4 percent, but we don't want one life to
be taken in the name of hatred and race discrimination or
ethnicity discrimination. In the Chin case, Mr. McClintock,
where an individual was beaten to death because they thought he
was Chinese when the car industry went down, and his
perpetrators were not even one day in jail because--
Mr. McClintock. Reclaiming my time. I agree with the
gentlelady completely.
What I think we need to be careful about is tainting our
entire society with the actions, the hideous actions, of the
few, whatever their race and whatever is the race of their
victim.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. McClintock. Appreciate--
Mr. McClintock. I yield back.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, sir. I appreciate your comments.
You're right, we're still trying to form a more perfect union.
We're now in the situation of having a second round, and
the first person in the second round is me and I'm going to
yield my time to Ms. Jayapal. She'll have five minutes. You're
recognized.
Ms. Jayapal. Mr. Chair, thank you so much for including me
in this hearing and for yielding your time.
I want to start by saying some names, some names that we
all should be saying every minute of every day, and there are
just a few: Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie
Tan, Daoyou Feng, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, Julie Park, and Hyun
Jung Park. These were people who were murdered in Georgia just
a couple of days ago.
Mr. Chair, I would just say as an Indian immigrant woman,
the first South Asian American elected to the House of
Representatives, the violence and discrimination targeting the
Asian-American community hits very close to home, and it's been
a difficult hearing. An important hearing, but a very difficult
hearing for many of us.
Shortly after 9/11, I founded One America, Washington
State's largest immigrant rights group, initially to fight back
against backlash targeting Muslim Sikh and South Asian
communities.
Back then, it was Balbir Singh Sodhi, who was murdered on
September 15th, 2001, in Mesa, Arizona. He was shot five times
by a man who just, quote, ``wanted to kill a Muslim,'' a man
who said as he was arrested, ``I stand for America all the
way.''
Mr. Chair, there is no question that our words matter, our
framing matters, and particularly as Members of Congress, when
we use our platforms to continue slurs that are seen in a way
that encourages racist hate crimes, it is a big problem.
Just recently in a Committee's hearing, some of my
colleagues across the aisle continue to call it the China
virus. I spoke up. I said that was not correct language, number
one, and number two, it incited this kind of hate. Yet, my
colleagues continued to use that language.
Now, here we are, continuing to see a huge surge in hate
crimes and violence targeting, in particular, most recently,
Asian women.
I want to start with you, Professor Motomura. How does the
history of racist laws that promoted distrust towards Asian
Americans influence the hate we are seeing today?
Mr. Motomura. Well, those influences are very profound. We
started with the Chinese exclusion era, its exclusion, as we
have heard today, exclusion of Asian immigrants, and most Asian
immigrants--I'm sorry, Chinese immigrants that started in 1882.
It prevails for 60 years. It starts to grow through the
Chinese-American community.
We have severe restrictions on Asian immigration, formal
restrictions until 1965, and I feel, as I mentioned in my
testimony, just very strongly because my--our family was one of
the few families that managed to get to the United States
during that period.
So, we joined the community that really didn't exist at
that time of my parents' contemporaries. So, these are things
that you carry with you for your whole life.
I remember a lot of the sorts of incidents that we're
talking about today, having close calls and those sorts of
things.
This is a long time ago, but things that we see from those
laws I think we have seen this with regard to the ban that was
imposed on Muslim-majority countries that prevailed over the
last couple of years, and I think that that's not exactly
entirely what we're talking about today, but I think it's
closely related.
So, I think that a lot of this is something that prevails
over time. I mean, this is not something that is related to a
five- or ten-year period. I think we're still seeing effects,
as we see them today, of anti-Asian laws which took effect in
1875 and 1882.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Professor.
Professor Sinnar, you have written about 9/11 and the
discriminatory laws and policies against Asian-American, Arab,
Muslim, and Sikh communities that came after.
Do you believe that there's a strategy behind demonizing
these groups in times of crisis and fear?
Ms. Sinnar. So, thank you for your comments and your
question to me, Representative Jayapal.
What happened after 9/11 is that the government undertook a
number of dragnet immigration programs that treated entire
communities as threats. So, hundreds of immigrants were
detained on the basis of their race and ethnicity without an
individual basis for suspicion.
Twenty-five Muslim countries and their citizens were
subject to special registration, fingerprinting, and
interrogation, and all this sent the message that Muslim, Arab,
and South Asian communities were disloyal and threatening.
The lesson here is that in times of geopolitical tension
and security fears, it's especially important for the
government to avoid stigmatizing entire communities, because it
does lead to greater violence and discrimination, both in the
public sphere as well as within policy directly.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. I just want to say I hope that my
colleagues understand their words matter and we need everyone's
help in fighting back against these heinous racist attacks.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back.
Mr. Cohen. I yield back. Thank you.
That concludes today's hearing, and I want to thank all our
witnesses. It was a spectacular panel--a lot of knowledge, a
lot of information that was important to be dispensed, and I
think we did a lot of good today. I hope so.
It brought ``Hawaii Five-O's'' theme song back to my mind,
which has been playing over and over and over and over again.
Without objection, all Members will have five legislative
days to submit additional written questions for the Witnesses
or additional materials for the record.
With that, the hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:17 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
APPENDIX
=======================================================================
Materials submitted by the Honorable Steve Cohen, Chair of
the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil
Liberties from the State of Tennessee for the record:
A statement from the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD101.pdf
A statement from the National Federation of Filipino American
Associations, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/
20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD102.pdf
A statement from Elisa Rhodes, Interim CEO, YWCA USA, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD103.pdf
A statement from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD104.pdf
A letter from the Laotian American National Alliance, March 19, 2021,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD105.pdf
A statement from the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental
Health Association, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/
JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD106.pdf
A statement from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD107.pdf
A statement from OCA--Asian Pacific American Advocates, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD108.pdf
A letter from Erin Hustings, Director of Government Relations, Civil
Rights, Anti-Defamation League, March 25, 2021, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD109.pdf
A statement from the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund,
available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/
111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD110.pdf
A statement from Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD111.pdf
A statement from the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, available
at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-
117-JU10-20210318-SD112.pdf
A letter regarding violence and discrimination against Asian Americans
from 247 organizations, March 25, 2021, available at https://
docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-
20210318-SD113.pdf
A statement from Joe Lowndes, Professor of Political Science,
University of Oregon, available at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/
JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD114.pdf
A statement from A Better Balance, available at https://docs.house.gov/
meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-JU10-20210318-SD115.pdf
A statement from the Japanese American Citizens League, available at
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20210318/111343/HHRG-117-
JU10-20210318-SD116.pdf
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