[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 74 (Thursday, May 26, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3451-S3453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 201--EXPRESSING THE REGRET OF THE SENATE FOR THE 
    PASSAGE OF DISCRIMINATORY LAWS AGAINST THE CHINESE IN AMERICA, 
                  INCLUDING THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT

  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Hatch, 
Mrs. Murray, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Akaka) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 201

       Whereas many Chinese came to the United States in the 19th 
     and 20th centuries, as did people from other countries, in 
     search of the opportunity to create a better life for 
     themselves and their families;
       Whereas the contributions of persons of Chinese descent in 
     the agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, 
     fishing, and canning industries were critical to establishing 
     the foundations for economic growth in the Nation, 
     particularly in the western United States;
       Whereas United States industrialists recruited thousands of 
     Chinese workers to assist in the construction of the Nation's 
     first major national transportation infrastructure, the 
     Transcontinental Railroad;
       Whereas Chinese laborers, who made up the majority of the 
     western portion of the railroad workforce, faced grueling 
     hours and extremely harsh conditions in order to lay hundreds 
     of miles of track and were paid substandard wages;
       Whereas without the tremendous efforts and technical 
     contributions of these Chinese immigrants, the completion of 
     this vital national infrastructure would have been seriously 
     impeded;
       Whereas from the middle of the 19th century through the 
     early 20th century, Chinese immigrants faced racial ostracism 
     and violent assaults, including--
       (1) the 1887 Snake River Massacre in Oregon, at which 31 
     Chinese miners were killed; and
       (2) numerous other incidents, including attacks on Chinese 
     immigrants in Rock Springs, San Francisco, Tacoma, and Los 
     Angeles;
       Whereas the United States instigated the negotiation of the 
     Burlingame Treaty, ratified by the Senate on October 19, 
     1868, which permitted the free movement of the Chinese people 
     to, from, and within the United States and accorded to China 
     the status of ``most favored nation'';
       Whereas before consenting to the ratification of the 
     Burlingame Treaty, the Senate required that the Treaty would 
     not permit Chinese immigrants in the United States to be 
     naturalized United States citizens;
       Whereas on July 14, 1870, Congress approved An Act to Amend 
     the Naturalization Laws and to Punish Crimes against the 
     Same, and for other Purposes, and during consideration of 
     such Act, the Senate expressly rejected an amendment to allow 
     Chinese immigrants to naturalize;
       Whereas Chinese immigrants were subject to the overzealous 
     implementation of the Page Act of 1875 (18 Stat. 477), 
     which--

[[Page S3452]]

       (1) ostensibly barred the importation of women from 
     ``China, Japan, or any Oriental country'' for purposes of 
     prostitution;
       (2) was disproportionately enforced against Chinese women, 
     effectively preventing the formation of Chinese families in 
     the United States and limiting the number of native-born 
     Chinese citizens;
       Whereas, on February 15, 1879, the Senate passed ``the 
     Fifteen Passenger Bill,'' which would have limited the number 
     of Chinese passengers permitted on any ship coming to the 
     United States to 15, with proponents of the bill expressing 
     that the Chinese were ``an indigestible element in our midst 
     . . . without any adaptability to become citizens'';
       Whereas, on March 1, 1879, President Hayes vetoed the 
     Fifteen Passenger Bill as being incompatible with the 
     Burlingame Treaty, which declared that ``Chinese subjects 
     visiting or residing in the United States, shall enjoy the 
     same privileges . . . in respect to travel or residence, as 
     may there be enjoyed by the citizens and subjects of the most 
     favored nation'';
       Whereas in the aftermath of the veto of the Fifteen 
     Passenger Bill, President Hayes initiated the renegotiation 
     of the Burlingame Treaty, requesting that the Chinese 
     government consent to restrictions on the immigration of 
     Chinese persons to the United States;
       Whereas these negotiations culminated in the Angell Treaty, 
     ratified by the Senate on May 9, 1881, which--
       (1) allowed the United States to suspend, but not to 
     prohibit, the immigration of Chinese laborers;
       (2) declared that ``Chinese laborers who are now in the 
     United States shall be allowed to go and come of their own 
     free will''; and
       (3) reaffirmed that Chinese persons possessed ``all the 
     rights, privileges, immunities, and exemptions which are 
     accorded to the citizens and subjects of the most favored 
     nation'';
       Whereas, on March 9, 1882, the Senate passed the first 
     Chinese Exclusion Act, which purported to implement the 
     Angell Treaty but instead excluded for 20 years both skilled 
     and unskilled Chinese laborers, rejected an amendment that 
     would have permitted the naturalization of Chinese persons, 
     and instead expressly denied Chinese persons the right to be 
     naturalized as American citizens;
       Whereas, on April 4, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur 
     vetoed the first Chinese Exclusion Act as being incompatible 
     with the terms and spirit of the Angell Treaty;
       Whereas, on May 6, 1882, Congress passed the second Chinese 
     Exclusion Act, which--
       (1) prohibited skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers from 
     entering the United States for 10 years;
       (2) was the first Federal law that excluded a single group 
     of people on the basis of race; and
       (3) required certain Chinese laborers already legally 
     present in the United States who later wished to reenter to 
     obtain ``certificates of return'', an unprecedented 
     requirement that applied only to Chinese residents;
       Whereas, in response to reports that courts were bestowing 
     United States citizenship on persons of Chinese descent, the 
     Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 explicitly prohibited all State 
     and Federal courts from naturalizing Chinese persons;
       Whereas the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 underscored the 
     belief of some Senators at that time that--
       (1) the Chinese people were unfit to be naturalized;
       (2) the social characteristics of the Chinese were 
     ``revolting'';
       (3) Chinese immigrants were ``like parasites''; and
       (4) the United States ``is under God a country of 
     Caucasians, a country of white men, a country to be governed 
     by white men'';
       Whereas, on July 3, 1884, notwithstanding United States 
     treaty obligations with China and other nations, Congress 
     broadened the scope of the Chinese Exclusion Act--
       (1) to apply to all persons of Chinese descent, ``whether 
     subjects of China or any other foreign power''; and
       (2) to provide more stringent requirements restricting 
     Chinese immigration;
       Whereas, on October 1, 1888, the Scott Act was enacted into 
     law, which--
       (1) prohibited all Chinese laborers who would choose or had 
     chosen to leave the United States from reentering;
       (2) cancelled all previously-issued ``certificates of 
     return,'' which prevented approximately 20,000 Chinese 
     laborers abroad, including 600 individuals who were en route 
     to the United States, from returning to their families or 
     their homes; and
       (3) was later determined by the Supreme Court to have 
     abrogated the Angell Treaty;
       Whereas, on May 5, 1892, the Geary Act was enacted into 
     law, which--
       (1) extended the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years;
       (2) required all Chinese persons in the United States, but 
     no other race of people, to register with the Federal 
     Government in order to obtain ``certificates of residence''; 
     and
       (3) denied Chinese immigrants the right to be released on 
     bail upon application for a writ of habeas corpus;
       Whereas, on an explicitly racial basis, the Geary Act 
     deemed the testimony of Chinese persons, including American 
     citizens of Chinese descent, per se insufficient to establish 
     the residency of a Chinese person subject to deportation, 
     mandating that such residence be established through the 
     testimony of ``at least one credible white witness'';
       Whereas, in the 1894 Gresham-Yang Treaty, the Chinese 
     government consented to a prohibition of Chinese immigration 
     and the enforcement of the Geary Act in exchange for the 
     readmission of previous Chinese residents;
       Whereas in 1898, the United States--
       (1) annexed Hawaii;
       (2) took control of the Philippines; and
       (3) excluded thousands of racially Chinese residents of 
     Hawaii and of the Philippines from entering the United States 
     mainland;
       Whereas on April 29, 1902, Congress--
       (1) indefinitely extended all laws regulating and 
     restricting Chinese immigration and residence; and
       (2) expressly applied such laws to United States insular 
     territories, including the Philippines;
       Whereas in 1904, after the Chinese government exercised its 
     unilateral right to withdraw from the Gresham-Yang Treaty, 
     Congress permanently extended, ``without modification, 
     limitation, or condition'', all restrictions on Chinese 
     immigration and naturalization, making the Chinese the only 
     racial group explicitly singled out for immigration exclusion 
     and permanently ineligible for American citizenship;
       Whereas between 1910 and 1940, the Angel Island Immigration 
     Station implemented the Chinese exclusion laws by--
       (1) confining Chinese persons for up to nearly 2 years;
       (2) interrogating Chinese persons; and
       (3) providing a model for similar immigration stations at 
     other locations on the Pacific coast and in Hawaii;
       Whereas each of the congressional debates concerning issues 
     of Chinese civil rights, naturalization, and immigration 
     involved intensely racial rhetoric, with many Members of 
     Congress claiming that all persons of Chinese descent were--
       (1) unworthy of American citizenship;
       (2) incapable of assimilation into American society; and
       (3) dangerous to the political and social integrity of the 
     United States;
       Whereas the express discrimination in these Federal 
     statutes politically and racially stigmatized Chinese 
     immigration into the United States, enshrining in law the 
     exclusion of the Chinese from the political process and the 
     promise of American freedom;
       Whereas wartime enemy forces used the anti-Chinese 
     legislation passed in Congress as evidence of American racism 
     against the Chinese, attempting to undermine the Chinese-
     American alliance and allied military efforts;
       Whereas, in 1943, at the urging of President Franklin D. 
     Roosevelt, and over 60 years after the enactment of the first 
     discriminatory laws against Chinese immigrants, Congress--
       (1) repealed previously-enacted anti-Chinese legislation; 
     and
       (2) permitted Chinese immigrants to become naturalized 
     United States citizens;
       Whereas, despite facing decades of systematic, pervasive, 
     and sustained discrimination, Chinese immigrants and Chinese-
     Americans persevered and have continued to play a significant 
     role in the growth and success of the United States;
       Whereas 6 decades of Federal legislation deliberately 
     targeting Chinese by race--
       (1) restricted the capacity of generations of individuals 
     and families to openly pursue the American dream without 
     fear; and
       (2) fostered an atmosphere of racial discrimination that 
     deeply prejudiced the civil rights of Chinese immigrants;
       Whereas diversity is one of our Nation's greatest 
     strengths, and, while this Nation was founded on the 
     principle that all persons are created equal, the laws 
     enacted by Congress in the late 19th and early 20th centuries 
     that restricted the political and civil rights of persons of 
     Chinese descent violated that principle;
       Whereas although an acknowledgment of the Senate's actions 
     that contributed to discrimination against persons of Chinese 
     descent will not erase the past, such an expression will 
     acknowledge and illuminate the injustices in our national 
     experience and help to build a better and stronger Nation;
       Whereas the Senate recognizes the importance of addressing 
     this unique framework of discriminatory laws in order to 
     educate the public and future generations regarding the 
     impact of these laws on Chinese and other Asian persons and 
     their implications to all Americans; and
       Whereas the Senate deeply regrets the enactment of the 
     Chinese Exclusion Act and related discriminatory laws that--
       (1) resulted in the persecution and political alienation of 
     persons of Chinese descent;
       (2) unfairly limited their civil rights;
       (3) legitimized racial discrimination; and
       (4) induced trauma that persists within the Chinese 
     community: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) acknowledges that this framework of anti-Chinese 
     legislation, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, is 
     incompatible with the basic founding principles recognized in 
     the Declaration of Independence that all persons are created 
     equal;
       (2) acknowledges that this pattern of anti-Chinese 
     legislation, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, is 
     incompatible with the spirit of the United States 
     Constitution;
       (3) deeply regrets passing 6 decades of legislation 
     directly targeting the Chinese people for physical and 
     political exclusion and the wrongs committed against Chinese 
     and American citizens of Chinese descent who

[[Page S3453]]

     suffered under these discriminatory laws; and
       (4) reaffirms its commitment to preserving the same civil 
     rights and constitutional protections for people of Chinese 
     or other Asian descent in the United States accorded to all 
     others, regardless of their race or ethnicity.

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleague, 
Senator Scott Brown, in submitting a resolution that expresses the 
regret of the U.S. Senate for the passage of discriminatory laws 
against Chinese immigrants. These laws are no longer in effect today. 
However, I believe it is important for Congress to express regret for 
the many injustices that were experienced by Chinese immigrants as a 
result of these policies, and for all of us as Americans to learn from 
this difficult chapter in our Nation's past.
  Let me begin by offering a brief history of the Chinese Exclusion 
Act. In the 1870s, an economic downturn created political pressure to 
slow the growing population of Chinese immigrants who were coming to 
the United States to pursue a better way of life. In California, State 
laws and local ordinances were enacted that denied the Chinese basic 
rights and privileges such as the right to own land and the ability to 
access public schools.
  At the urging of some California lawmakers, the U.S. Congress 
subsequently passed laws that further denied the rights of Chinese 
immigrants. The harshest of those measures was the Chinese Exclusion 
Act of 1882 that explicitly prohibited all State and Federal courts 
from naturalizing Chinese persons. This legislation was the first 
federal law ever enacted to exclude a group of immigrants solely on the 
basis of race or nationality.
  The Chinese Exclusion Act was followed by the passage of the Geary 
Act in 1892, which extended the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years and 
required all Chinese persons in the United States to register with the 
Federal Government to obtain certificates of residence to prove their 
right to be in the U.S.
  In order to fully understand this Nation's deep-rooted hostility 
toward the Chinese during this time period, it is important to contrast 
the U.S. Government's vastly different treatment of European immigrants 
who entered the United States through Ellis Island. European immigrants 
were not subjected to the same burdensome and humiliating screening 
requirements as the Chinese.
  Most are familiar with the stories of those coming to Ellis Island 
and seeing the Statute of Liberty in New York Harbor. However, often 
forgotten are the experiences of Chinese immigrants who made it to 
America by way of Angel Island in California.
  In 1910, the U.S. Government opened the Angel Island Immigration 
Station as a way to isolate Chinese immigrants from the city of San 
Francisco and the remainder of the bay area in northern California. 
These immigrants were brought to Angel Island Station where they were 
separated from family members, subjected to embarrassing medical 
examinations and grueling interrogations, and detained for months or 
sometimes years.
  Despite these hardships, Chinese immigrants persevered, and they 
continue to make invaluable contributions to the development and 
success of our Nation. The enactment of Chinese exclusionary laws is a 
shameful part of our history that must not be forgotten. It is my hope 
that this resolution will serve to enlighten those who may not be aware 
of this regrettable chapter in our Nation's history. In addition, I 
hope the resolution will help heal and bring some closure for those who 
lived through this difficult time and are still with us today.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan resolution.

                          ____________________