[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H11316-H11318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO ALLEGATIONS OF ESPIONAGE AND 
ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN FINANCING THAT HAVE BROUGHT INTO QUESTION LOYALTY AND 
                 PROBITY OF AMERICANS OF ASIAN ANCESTRY

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on 
the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 124) expressing the sense of the 
Congress relating to recent allegations of espionage and illegal 
campaign financing that have brought into question the loyalty and 
probity of Americans of Asian ancestry, and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, and I shall not 
object, I take this time for the purpose of asking the gentleman to 
explain the purpose of his request.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. WU. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Today, the House considers H. Con. Res. 124, which recognizes the 
contributions of Asian Americans to American culture and society, and 
condemns all forms of discrimination and bias against Asian Americans. 
This resolution has the bipartisan support of 75 cosponsors and was 
introduced by the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu) and the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Campbell) on May 27, 1999.
  It expresses the sense of Congress that recent allegations of 
espionage and illegal campaign financing against certain Asian 
Americans have brought into question the loyalty and probity of all 
Americans of Asian ancestry. In an effort to counter this stereotypical 
view as one of ignorance based on generalizations about people of 
different ethnic backgrounds, it is the sense of Congress that no 
American should generalize or stereotype the action of an individual to 
be representative of an entire group.
  The resolution calls upon the Attorney General, the Secretary of 
Energy, and the Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission to vigorously investigate and enforce all allegations of 
discrimination in public and private workplaces.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on the subject matter of the concurrent resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oregon?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I would 
just like to say that I was not born in America. At the age of 6\1/2\ 
years, I came to America with my family because my parents wanted to 
start a new life and my father wanted to pursue a graduate education in 
engineering. I was lucky. My parents pushed me hard to work in school, 
and I did. I got a good education, considered becoming a physician or a 
scientist, but went on to law school and began my own law practice in 
Portland, Oregon.
  At our law firm, Cohen & Wu, and we always like to say ``Only in 
America, Cohen & Wu,'' we focus primarily on high technology and 
international trade. I traveled overseas frequently for business, and I 
also spent 6 years negotiating a sister city relationship between my 
hometown of Portland, Oregon, and my ancestral home of Suzhou, China. 
Closer to home, I practiced intellectual property law. I worked closely 
with startup technology firms and worked hands-on with some of the most 
cutting-edge technologies in the world.
  Mr. Speaker, America's greatest strength is that it is an open 
society, where each citizen has the freedom to pursue his or her dream. 
Every citizen, every American. Some become doctors or businessmen, 
others become teachers or scientists, some may also become Members of 
Congress. I am here in this chamber today because those who came before 
us fought hard for that freedom and for our open society, and I want to 
do everything in my power to preserve that freedom and open society for 
those who come after us.
  The events surrounding the Los Alamos controversy and the campaign 
finance scandals have cast two dark shadows. One is a shadow on our 
national security; the other is a shadow on the American dream, on our 
open society of equal opportunity. Had the current political climate 
existed when I was traveling internationally, when I was quoting high-
tech startups in Oregon, I would not have had my successes in the 
private sector, nor would I be in Congress today.
  The danger we face today is twofold: first, of course, is national 
security, and we must work hard to ensure that security. Second is the 
real or imagined limits we place on the minds and the hopes of our own 
people. In preserving our national security, we must be careful that we 
do not act like the very regimes we fear will obtain our technologies.
  Asian Americans have made profound contributions to American life. 
From the arts to education, from railroad building to serving in the 
armed forces, Asian Americans have played an integral role in building 
our great Nation and in preserving its security through diligent hard 
work. Recent allegations of espionage and illegal fund-raising, 
however, have caused some Americans to call into doubt the loyalty and 
probity of Asian Americans. Our Nation was founded upon self-evident 
ideals, such as due process, the right to life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. We cannot afford to sacrifice these American 
values.
  This resolution highlights the strength and diversity of America and 
underscores the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans of 
the United States. Mr. Speaker, as the very embodiment of America's 
free and open society, this Congress must take a leading role in 
creating room for diversity and prevent future discriminatory acts from 
taking place. I strongly urge my colleagues to help preserve America's 
open society and support this piece of legislation.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Campbell) for joining me in introducing H. Con. Res. 
124, and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the chairman of the 
committee, as well as the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the 
ranking member of the committee, for all of their help in the Committee 
on the Judiciary.
  Mr. Speaker, under my reservation of objection, I yield to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas).
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, when this issue first was presented to the Committee on 
the Judiciary, I could not help but think of my boyhood days when a 
close friend, who is still a close friend, Jimmy Wong, and I followed 
parallel lives; he

[[Page H11317]]

in a Chinese-American environment rich with the heritage of his 
forefathers, and mine in the Greek tradition. Both of us had families 
who operated restaurants. One can imagine the bill of fare in the 
restaurant of Jimmy Wong's parents and that in my parents' restaurant.
  Their son, Jimmy Wong and myself, became school mates. We sold 
newspapers together in downtown Harrisburg, store to store and platform 
to platform, and grew together in becoming aficionados of the then 
current movies and the movie stars and all the current events that were 
occurring. World War II was running rampant at that time. We shared 
stories, anecdotes, after-school hours, all of the richness of growing 
up together in a diverse America.
  Therefore, I always grew up with the notion that Chinese-Americans, 
the thousands upon thousands in our country, have always contributed to 
the culture and to the traditions and to the wealth of American 
traditions in their own right as we were developing as a Nation. So it 
came as a shock to me that we even need this resolution, 
notwithstanding some of the rigors of investigations and other kinds of 
alleged wrongdoing. That did not visit upon the Chinese-Americans or 
Asian-Americans as a whole. It only talked to individuals who may have 
transgressed or alleged to have transgressed, not the body of Chinese-
Americans who have been our neighbors, our friends, our boyhood chums.
  I spoke recently with Jimmy Wong, who is a retired attorney in our 
area. We took an hour on the telephone simply laughing about old times; 
and I told him, because then I did not know how rapidly this resolution 
would come to the floor, that I would invite him to the chamber to be 
here when this resolution was to be debated. Time was not accorded me. 
I hope he is watching this on C-SPAN. But the point is, for the 
thousands and thousands of Jimmy Wongs across the Nation, our country 
loves them, our country knows that they love our country, and I support 
the resolution.
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I yield 
to the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell), my cosponsor of this 
resolution, and I also wish to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Gekas) for his remarks.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from 
Oregon for yielding to me. I am privileged to stand on the floor with 
him. I am privileged to stand for the principle we share, that 
Americans should be judged on their own merits.
  The gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu) and I worked together on this, Mr. 
Speaker, in order to make sure that in response to recent allegations 
of espionage, that we refrain from the easy temptation to make a 
generalization based upon race.
  This was particularly important because I had observed among many 
friends of mine in California a decision on their part to withdraw from 
the political process, to withdraw from what might attract attention, 
simply because they were, in this case, Chinese-American, and thought 
that perhaps it would be wiser to keep a lower profile. What a 
horrible, sad thing. They would be censoring themselves, Americans 
censoring themselves because of their concern about a profile at a time 
of controversy.
  What this resolution does, in which I am so proud to join with my 
colleague from Oregon, is to say, no, that is simply the wrong message 
to be taken. Every American of Asian ancestry, every American of 
Chinese ancestry in particular, ought rather to renew his or her 
involvement in our political affairs to demonstrate that there will be 
no success for those who would intimidate; and that it is a disservice 
to our country in a fundamental way to discriminate, as it is a 
disservice to our country to be engaged in any transfer of nationally 
secure information.
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, it has also come to my attention from colleagues 
at Stanford University, a university affection for which the author of 
this resolution and I have in common, that a number of Americans of 
Asian ancestry are resisting invitations to go overseas, or might be 
hesitant to do so, lest they be cast under a cloud of suspicion.

                              {time}  1545

  This was, once again, a form of self-censorship, though in this case 
not of a political nature but, rather, of a scientific nature. The 
importance of scientific exchanges for the fruitful development of 
science indicates this reaction is a regrettable sad one and one that 
we wish to deter.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand with my good friend and 
colleague, the courageous gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu) in offering 
this resolution. I thank the honorable gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hyde), the chairman of our committee, but for whom we would not be on 
the floor here today, and I note his steadfast opposition to all forms 
of discrimination, which is manifest in his support of this resolution 
as well.
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Campbell) both for his remarks today and his hard work on this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, continuing my reservation of objection, I yield to the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House 
Committee on the Judiciary, I would like to applaud both the gentleman 
from Oregon (Mr. Wu) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell) 
for their leadership on H. Con. Res. 124 and to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Hyde) and to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers).
  I was compelled to lend my voice to this for the consternation that I 
have personally experienced by some of the intimidating tactics that 
may have resulted from investigations that were occurring in the United 
States Congress, because this Nation is a blessed nation because of the 
richness of diversity, but particularly because of the enormous 
mosaicness of the Asian community from the far reaches of California 
and Oregon to the far reaches of New York, but particularly in my great 
State of Texas.
  We are enriched by the participation of so many Asians who have 
contributed to this Nation both in terms of their bravery and serving 
in our various wars, the Korean War, World War II, as well as the 
various other altercations that we have had on behalf of freedom, and 
most recently the Vietnam War and, of course, our conflicts in Bosnia 
and the Kosovo conflict.
  I want to thank the gentlemen for this resolution, for I would want 
no one to feel that they are any less an American. Anytime Americans 
are stereotyped, it is the lowest rung of our ladder. But anytime we 
work together as one human race, we are climbing to the highest rung of 
the ladder.
  I salute the many Asians that I have had the great pleasure of 
working with in the City of Houston, in the State of Texas; and I would 
offer to say to them that they stand equal under the sun to all of us 
and we are better off because of what they have given to this Nation.
  This resolution is an appropriate one because it makes a statement 
that there will be no intimidation, no stereotyping, and no rejection 
of any group of people.
  I applaud my colleagues and I congratulate them and this resolution 
should be passed and joined by our colleagues so that all of us can 
stand as equal citizens welcoming our participation in the political 
process for a great democracy.
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-
Lee) for her comments.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support the 
adoption of H. Con. Res. 124 expressing the sense of the Congress 
relating to recent allegations of espionage and illegal campaign 
financing that have brought into question the loyalty and probity of 
Americans of Asian ancestry.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to pay tribute to our distinguished colleague 
from Oregon (Mr. Wu), who is the author of this resolution. This 
resolution is an important reminder to all Americans that we must never 
impute the actions of an individual to an entire group of people, and a 
reminder to all of us that America is a land of immigrants and that all 
Americans--regardless of their ethnic background--are entitled to the 
privileges and rights that are afforded by our Constitution.
  I also want to recognize the principal Republican cosponsor of this 
legislation, our distinguished colleague from California (Mr. 
Campbell). I have known Congressman Campbell since he was first elected 
to the House of Representatives, and I have the highest regard for his 
integrity and his commitment to the civil rights of all Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, the greatness of our nation rests in its diversity. The 
different cultures and

[[Page H11318]]

varied experiences that groups of various ethnic origin bring to our 
nation are major factor in the vigor and strength of our nation. We owe 
a great deal to the Americans of Asian ancestry for the values and 
vitality that they bring to our nation.
  It is unfortunate, Mr. Speaker, that in the excitement and hysteria 
surrounding the issue of espionage by agents of the People's Republic 
of China the loyalty and patriotism of an entire class of American 
citizens--Americans of Asian ancestry--were brought into question. In 
the past our nation has condemned such scapegoating of an entire group 
of people, but now the China espionage hysteria has led to a similar 
problem with Asian-Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, some 120,000 Asian/Pacific Americans serve in positions 
in the United States government and military--these are loyal, 
dedicated Americans who make important contributions to our nation and 
our national security. The resolution we are considering today 
reaffirms the importance of judging every man and woman by his or her 
own actions and recognizes the danger of racial or ethnic stereotyping.
  Bigotry and racism have no place in the United States, Mr. Speaker, 
and I urge my colleagues to reaffirm that essential principle by 
supporting H. Con. Res. 124.
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the concurrent resolution, as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 124

       Whereas the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
     happiness are truths we hold as self-evident;
       Whereas all Americans are entitled to the equal protection 
     of law;
       Whereas Americans of Asian ancestry have made profound 
     contributions to American life, including the arts, our 
     economy, education, the sciences, technology, politics, and 
     sports, among others;
       Whereas Americans of Asian ancestry have demonstrated their 
     patriotism by honorably serving to defend the United States 
     in times of armed conflict, from the Civil War to the 
     present; and
       Whereas due to recent allegations of espionage and illegal 
     campaign financing, the loyalty and probity of Americans of 
     Asian ancestry has been questioned: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) no Member of Congress or any other American should 
     generalize or stereotype the actions of an individual to an 
     entire group of people;
       (2) Americans of Asian ancestry are entitled to all rights 
     and privileges afforded to all Americans; and
       (3) the Attorney General, the Secretary of Energy, and the 
     Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 
     should, within their respective jurisdictions, vigorously 
     enforce the security of America's national laboratories and 
     investigate all allegations of discrimination in public or 
     private workplaces.

  The concurrent resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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