[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 121 (Thursday, September 16, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11062-S11063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONDEMNATION OF PREJUDICE AGAINST INDIVIDUALS OF ASIAN AND PACIFIC 
                            ISLAND ANCESTRY

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I am a cosponsor of S. Con. Res. 53, 
a sense of Congress resolution relating to the recent allegations of 
espionage and illegal campaign financing that have brought into 
question the loyalty of individuals of Asian Pacific ancestry.
  Mr. President, I am concerned about the negative impact that the 
recent investigation of Wen Ho Lee, a scientist at Los Alamos, New 
Mexico, is having on the Chinese American community. Certain recent 
media coverage of this investigation has chosen to portray Chinese and 
Chinese Americans with a broad brush, using loaded words that are 
offensive and implying that certain people should be treated with 
suspicion solely because of their ethnicity or national origin. 
Cartoons exaggerate and poke fun at physical appearances of individuals 
by depicting slanted eyes and buck teeth.
  In one particularly offensive example, a recent editorial in a Santa 
Fe, New Mexico, newspaper made fun of Asian accents, unnecessarily 
referred to the ``Fu Manchu'' character, and tried to link the 
allegations of stolen nuclear secrets and the bombing of the Chinese 
embassy in Belgrade.
  Mr. President, Asian Pacific Americans are an important part of our 
body politic. They have made significant contributions to politics, 
business, industry, science, sports, education, and the arts. Men and 
women like the late Senator Sparky Matsunaga, Olympic Champion Kristi 
Yamaguchi, Architect I.M. Pei, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ellison Onizuka, 
and many others have enhanced and invigorated the life of this nation.
  Asian Americans have played a fundamental part in making this country 
what it is today. Asian immigrants helped build the great 
transcontinental railroads of the 19th century. They labored on the 
sugar plantations of Hawaii, on the vegetable and fruit farms of 
California, and in the gold mines of the West. They were at the 
forefront of the agricultural labor movement, especially in the 
sugarcane and grape fields, and were instrumental in developing the 
fishing and salmon canning industries of the Pacific Northwest. They 
were importers, merchants, grocers, clerks, tailors, and gardeners. 
They manned the assembly lines during America's Industrial Revolution. 
They opened laundries, restaurants, and vegetable markets. They also 
served our nation in war: the famed all-Nisei 100th/442nd combat team 
of World War II remains the most decorated unit in U.S. military 
history.

[[Page S11063]]

  Despite their contributions, Asian immigrants and Asian Pacific 
Americans suffered social prejudice and economic, political, and 
institutional discrimination. They were excluded from churches, barber 
shops, and restaurants. They were forced to sit in the balconies of 
movie theaters and the back seats of buses. They attended segregated 
schools. They were even denied burial in white cemeteries; in one 
instance, a decorated Asian American soldier killed in action was 
refused burial in his hometown cemetery. Rather than receive equal 
treatment, Asians and Pacific Islanders were historically paid lower 
wages than their white counterparts, relegated to menial jobs, or 
forced to turn to businesses and industries in which competition with 
whites was minimized.
  For more than 160 years, Asians were also denied citizenship by a law 
that prevented them from naturalizing, a law that remained in effect 
until 1952. Without citizenship, Asians could not vote, and thus could 
not seek remedies through the Tammany Halls or other political 
organizations like other immigrant groups. The legacy of this injustice 
is seen today in the relative lack of political influence and 
representation of Asian Americans at every level and in every branch of 
government.
  Mr. President, as a member of the Energy Committee and governmental 
Affairs Committee, where I am Ranking Member on the International 
Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services Subcommittee, I have 
expressed my concern about the unfair and unwarranted negative impact 
this issue is having on the image of the Asian Pacific American 
community. We need to move quickly beyond the search for ethnic 
scapegoats. This is the lesson of the recent concern over national 
security leaks. We should not overreact.
  Mr. President, I applaud President Clinton's executive order of June 
7, 1999, to establish a commission to study and suggest ways to improve 
the quality of life for Asian Pacific Americans. President Clinton 
rightfully stated that many Asian Pacific Americans are underserved by 
federal programs. The order outlines steps to ensure that federal 
programs, especially those that gather data on health and social 
services, are responsible to Asian Pacific Americans needs. It's a step 
in the right direction and it may focus on some of the more compelling 
issues involving Asian Pacific Americans in terms of improving the 
quality of their lives.

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