[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 84 (Thursday, May 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1721-S1724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          AAPI Heritage Month

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of Asian 
American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
  Each May, we celebrate and remember the many contributions that Asian 
Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have made to our 
history and continue to make today.
  As a nation, we have made significant progress with respect to the 
inclusion and representation of the AAPI community across the many 
facets of our society, from actress Michelle Yeoh's barrier-breaking 
accomplishment this year as the first Asian-American winner of the 
Oscars' Best Actress award to Maryland's very own Lieutenant Governor 
Aruna Miller, who was sworn in just a few months ago as Maryland's 
first immigrant and first Asian American to be elected to statewide 
office.
  AAPI children are finally getting to grow up seeing faces that look 
like theirs in film, music, sports, politics, and every other arena of 
public life.
  This progress didn't just happen overnight; it is the fruit of labor 
of generations of AAPI activists and leaders, along with their allies. 
A labor that, in some cases, cost them their lives.
  I think of the Chinese laborers, for instance, who played a critical 
role in building America's first transcontinental railroad, yet they 
were met with discrimination and exclusion at every turn.
  They faced hardship, hard working conditions, and were paid only half 
as much as their White counterparts.
  In June of 1867, 3,000 Chinese railworkers began a highly organized 
strike, demanding equal wages and shorter hours. Though they were 
initially unsuccessful in their demands,

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the strike demonstrated that the Chinese workforce could not be taken 
for granted. Over the next few months, the rail company began raising 
railworker wages.
  This is just one example of a historic legacy of the AAPI activism 
against discrimination, whether perpetrated by the U.S. Government, as 
with the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, 
or by individuals like the racially motivated murder of Vincent Chin in 
1982, which ignited the modern Asian-American civil rights movement. 
But there is still much progress we need to make.
  Stereotypes like the ``model minority'' myth continue to perpetrate 
the idea that the AAPI community is a monolithic, hard-working, and 
successful racial bloc, which served as a model for how other minority 
groups should ``pull themselves up by their bootstraps--if they just 
try hard enough.'' Stereotypes erase the diversity within the group we 
refer to as the AAPI, which has the highest income inequality across 
ethnic groups of any race in America.
  Today, AAPI women are still earning, on average, 85 cents for every 
dollar earned by a White male. If you break that down into just Native 
Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, the number drops even further to just 
60 cents for every dollar.
  The ``model minority'' myth attempts to pit AAPI people against Black 
and Latino Americans by blaming these groups for their own struggles, 
rather than acknowledging the role of discrimination in America's 
socioeconomics and racial inequality.
  In spite of all of this, there is a great historical legacy, rarely 
taught in our classrooms, of Asian-Black and Asian-Latino solidarity. 
Frederick Douglass, renowned abolitionist, writer, and Marylander, gave 
a speech in 1867--the same year as the Chinese rail strike--opposing 
restrictions on Chinese immigration in a time when xenophobia and 
racism toward Chinese workers was rampant.
  He said--and, remember, this was in 1867:

       There is such a thing in the world as human rights. They 
     rest upon no conventional foundation, but are external, 
     universal, and indestructible. Among these is the right of 
     locomotion; the right of migration; the right which belongs 
     to no particular race, but belongs alike to all and to all 
     alike. It is the right you assert by staying here, and 
     your fathers asserted by coming here. It is this great 
     right that I assert for the Chinese and Japanese, and for 
     all other varieties of men equally with yourselves, now 
     and forever.
       I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of 
     humanity, and when there is a supposed conflict between human 
     and national rights, it is safe to go to the side of 
     humanity.

  Human rights has been a key focus of mine during my entire 
congressional career. Imagine, Frederick Douglass, over 150 years ago, 
proclaimed the very same rights that we are still fighting for today. 
He was truly a man ahead of his time.
  In the 1960s, 100 years after Douglass's speech, Filipino-American 
Larry Itliong led the Delano Grape Strike alongside Mexican-American 
labor icon Cesar Chavez. Their efforts led to raises, healthcare 
benefits, and pesticide protections for the striking grape workers, who 
were primarily of Filipino and Mexican descent. These examples show 
that there is power in solidarity towards a common goal.
  Even as we celebrate the historic accomplishments of these and many 
more members of the AAPI community, we must also maintain a sense of 
urgency about how we as members of Congress and as Americans are 
meeting the needs of this community today.
  Just a few months ago, many East and Southeast Asian communities who 
were celebrating the Lunar New Year with their families suddenly had to 
fear for their safety following the back-to-back mass shootings 
targeting Asian elders in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay.
  What should have been a time of celebration became a time of fear, 
anguish, and grief, instead. And these shootings were just the most 
recent in a string of violent crimes motivated by anti-Asian racism and 
xenophobia, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  In a study led in part by Janelle Wong, a University of Maryland 
professor of Asian-American studies, 16 percent of Asian-American 
adults and 14 percent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults 
reported experiencing a hate crime in 2021. These statistics are 
appalling and unacceptable.
  Over 500,000 Asian Americans and 11,000 Native Hawaiians and Pacific 
Islanders join me in calling Maryland their home. They are a vital part 
of our State's economy and our communities, and Maryland is better off 
because of them. I particularly want to highlight the AAPI community in 
Frederick County, MD. In the fiscal year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations 
bill, I was proud to work with my colleague, Senator Van Hollen, to 
secure a $375,000 earmark for the Asian American Center of Frederick. 
The AACF provides vital services to lower-income, minority, and 
immigrant groups in their community--services including health 
insurance enrollment, interpreter and translation services, English as 
a Second Language, citizenship classes, business development services, 
and so much more.
  Because of the funding, Senator Van Hollen and I were able to obtain, 
the center will be able to increase programming for language-
appropriate and culturally relevant early childhood education.
  This is crucial in a county like Frederick, where 13.5 percent of the 
residents speak a language other than English at home. Research shows 
that high-quality early childhood education increases the children's 
readiness for school and narrows the achievement gap by half. And I am 
inspired every day by the AAPI-run organizations like the AACF who are 
fighting for the futures of their children.
  There is still work to be done. I am committed to the ongoing 
movement for the AAPI equality and justice, in Congress and beyond. I 
hope the Senate will use this Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and 
Pacific Islander Heritage Month as an opportunity to recognize this 
community's many accomplishments and to continue to work hand in hand 
towards equality and justice for all Americans.


   American Wetlands Month, World Migratory Bird Day, and Endangered 
                              Species Day

  Mr. President, I rise to celebrate wetlands and the many species they 
sustain. This past Saturday, May 13, was World Migratory Bird Day. This 
year's theme is ``Water: Sustaining Bird Life.'' World Migratory Bird 
Day is officially celebrated on the second Saturday of May in Canada 
and the U.S. and the second Saturday of October in Mexico, Central and 
South America, and the Caribbean as part of a global campaign to raise 
awareness of migratory birds and the need to protect and conserve them.
  Migratory birds rely on water and its associated habitats--lakes, 
rivers, streams, ponds, swamps, marshes, and coastal wetlands--for 
breeding, resting, and refueling during migration; and for wintering. 
Yet increasing human demand for water, along with climate change, 
pollution, and other factors are threatening these precious aquatic 
ecosystems.
  Global headlines are sounding alarms: 35 percent of the world's 
wetlands, critical to migratory birds, have been lost in the last 50 
years. May is American Wetlands Month. Observing it helps draw 
attention to our wetlands. We cannot afford to lose them. Wetlands 
provide some of nature's most valuable ecosystem ``services.'' They 
serve as nurseries and habitat for wildlife, mitigate hurricane damage, 
and sequester carbon.
  Wetlands also remove excess nutrients, toxic substances, and sediment 
from the water that flows through them, helping to improve downstream 
water quality and the overall health of waters in our communities. They 
are so effective at improving water quality, scientists refer to them 
as the ``kidneys'' of a watershed. Wetlands can absorb excess rain or 
river water, so they protect against flooding. We haven't idly stood by 
as wetlands--and the services they provide--disappear. Instead we are 
investing in programs to protect and restore them. It is imperative 
that we strengthen the resilience of our natural infrastructure, 
particularly in my State of Maryland, which has over 3,000 miles of 
coastline. Last month, Vice President Harris announced that the 
Department of Commerce has recommended $15.2 million for projects 
across Maryland to make communities and the economy more resilient to 
climate change.

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  Across Maryland, four projects will create jobs and boost economic 
and environmental outcomes for coastal communities. The awards were 
made under the Biden administration's Climate-Ready Coasts initiative 
funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law--BIL--with additional 
funds leveraged from the Inflation Reduction Act, IRA. These projects 
are part of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's nearly $6 
billion total investment under BIL and IRA. These investments will have 
a ripple effect. The Middle Branch: Patapsco Delta Sustainable Fishery 
and Ecosystem Resilience Project--``MBRI''--in Baltimore City, for 
instance, will restore marsh habitat in an urban ecosystem. The MBRI is 
part of a larger project called ``Reimagine Middle Branch,'' which is a 
community-led initiative to reconnect South Baltimore residents to the 
nearby Middle Branch River.
  The NOAA investments will help, but wetland loss is challenges that 
requires an interagency response. I am proud to have reintroduced the 
Coastal Habitat Conservation Act with Senator Graham. Our bipartisan, 
bicameral legislation would authorize the U.S. Fish and Wildlife--FWS--
Coastal Program. The Coastal Program was first established in the 
Chesapeake Bay in 1985 to address wetlands degradation and the 
resulting impacts to fish and wildlife. Since its inception, the 
program has expanded to 2 dozen priority coastal areas in all coastal 
States.
  Today, the Coastal Program is a voluntary, partnership-based, habitat 
conservation program focused in 24 priority coastal areas along the 
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, and 
in the Caribbean, including the Chesapeake Bay.
  Within these areas, a national strategic plan guides FWS conservation 
efforts, integrating Service priorities with the shared goals of 
conservation partners and stakeholders. These goals often include 
preserving biodiversity and preventing species loss.
  On the third Friday in May--this Friday--we celebrate National 
Endangered Species Day, which highlights the importance of protecting 
species such as the threatened eastern black rail. This secretive marsh 
bird is the smallest of its kind in North America and is part of 
Maryland's unique identity that we risk losing to climate change. Over 
the past 10-20 years, 75 percent of the eastern black rail population 
has declined. Primary causes of declination include rising sea levels, 
tidal flooding, and habitat loss and destruction.
  This year is the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, ESA. 
We should be strengthening implementation of the law, including on 
critical habitat. For each threatened or endangered species, the 
Services may designate ``critical habitat.'' Scientists have identified 
these areas as crucial to the species' recovery and are the focus of 
conservation efforts. This concept is particularly important as species 
are forced to adapt.
  Even our marshes themselves are on the move. The Global Change 
Research Wetland located at the Smithsonian Environmental Research 
Center in Edgewater, MD, is dedicated to unraveling the complex 
ecological processes that confer stability on coastal marshes as they 
respond to global environmental change. This 2,650-acre brackish marsh, 
which contains 15 miles of protected shoreline along the Rhode and West 
Rivers--two embayments of Chesapeake Bay--is home to several long-term 
experiments designed to predict what the future holds for coastal 
wetland ecosystems as they cope with accelerated sea level rise.
  Trying to anticipate and prepare for a future shaped by climate 
change is the reason I recently opposed S.J. Res. 23, a Congressional 
Review Act--CRA--joint resolution disapproving the National Marine 
Fisheries Service--NMFS--rule relating to ``Regulations for Listing 
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants and Designating Critical 
Habitat.''
  On June 24, 2022, the NMFS and the FWS issued a joint final rule to 
rescind a Trump administration rule on designating critical habitat 
under the ESA. The Trump rule included a restrictive definition of 
``habitat'' that limited where the Services could designate critical 
habitat. Specifically, it barred designating critical habitat in areas 
that are not currently suitable habitat, even if those areas could 
become suitable in the future. Such a restriction would limit the 
Services' ability to designate critical habitat based on the best 
available science. For example, the Services would not be able to 
designate critical habitat in areas where species are expected to shift 
to as a result of natural disasters, in response to climate change, or 
after environmental restoration.
  I regret that the Senate passed S.J. Res. 23 by a vote of 51-49. I am 
relieved that President Biden intends to veto the resolution, and I am 
confident Democrats in the Senate will sustain the veto. I was 
particularly disappointed in this attack on the Services' mission, 
given the popularity and economic activity of wildlife refuges in my 
State and across the Nation.
  I am pleased the FWS proposes to create a new National Wildlife 
Refuge to conserve currently unprotected, high-priority fish and 
wildlife habitats across southern Maryland. In collaboration with 
landowners, outdoor enthusiasts, conservation partners, and local 
communities, the Service proposes to identify lands for protection as 
part of the National Wildlife Refuge System in southern Maryland. These 
lands would be incorporated into a new National Wildlife Refuge that 
encompasses portions of Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's, Prince George's, 
and Anne Arundel Counties.
  A wide-ranging, collaborative effort over the past 15 years 
demonstrated that currently unprotected habitats in these counties 
support significant populations of fish and wildlife appropriate for 
protection under the National Wildlife Refuge System, primarily 
threatened and endangered species like the black rail, waterfowl, and 
migratory birds of conservation concern. These species face habitat 
loss from land use changes, climate change, competition from invasive 
species, and other stressors. Collaborative land management is a 
primary reason why Maryland has an excellent track record of recovering 
species. We have demonstrated we can solve wildlife challenges on a 
bipartisan basis. Knocking out the critical habitat rule--and any 
future rule like--is not the answer.
  The Delmarva fox squirrel was federally listed as an endangered 
species in 1967, but thanks to conservation efforts, it was removed in 
December 2015. Loss of habitat is believed to be the major reason for 
the Delmarva fox squirrel's demise. By the early 1900s, it was 
extirpated from all States except Maryland. In 1967, its range was 
narrowed to only four Eastern Shore counties: Kent, Queen Anne's, 
Talbot, and Dorchester--less than 10 percent of its former reach.
  Efforts to restore the population began in 1945 when the Maryland 
Department of Natural Resources purchased LeCompte Wildlife Management 
Area in Dorchester County as a refuge for the Delmarva fox squirrel. 
Through an active reintroduction program in the 1970s through the early 
1990s, several additional populations of Delmarva fox squirrels were 
established in Caroline, Kent, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester 
Counties in Maryland and at a few locations in Delaware and Virginia. 
Natural expansion of the population has also occurred on the Delmarva 
peninsula. Today, the Delmarva fox squirrel exists in numerous small 
pockets of suitable habitat.
  Bald eagles have staged such a remarkable population rebound and 
recovered to the point that they no longer need protection under the 
ESA. The Chesapeake Bay region today is home to more than 3,000 mating 
pairs, which represents the largest concentration of eagles in the 
lower 48 States. They may actually be doing a little too well. 
According to Chesapeake Bay Magazine, they seem to be running out of 
room in the bay region. The typical number of chicks per nest has 
declined since 1999 from two to one, as the male eagles in a breeding 
pair are forced to stay home and protect their nest from ``floaters'' 
without a nest of their own; as a result, they bring less food back. 
Not to worry, however; scientists don't see a problem with fewer young 
eagles being produced in the bay's tidewater region, nor do they see a 
need for human intervention as the eagles reach equilibrium.
  The population is going to remain large because the bay can support 
it. The bay is one of the most productive aquatic ecosystems in the 
Nation, thanks in large part to its wetlands.

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That is something I take pride in and call on my Senate colleagues and 
all Americans to celebrate this month, American Wetlands Month.