[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 84 (Thursday, May 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1727-S1729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ASIAN AMERICAN, NATIVE HAWAIIAN, AND
PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian,
and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
This month is an opportunity to celebrate the many contributions of
AANHPI communities and the critical role we have played throughout our
Nation's history.
From trailblazers like Patsy Mink and Anna May Wong to our own Vice
President Harris, members of our community have long been leaders in
government, science, business, the arts, and more. But while we
celebrate our community, this month is also a reminder of how much work
remains to advance equality and equity for our community.
The AANHPI community has long been the target of racism and
discrimination in this country. Among other challenges, our communities
are still combating anti-Asian violence, suffering from health
disparities, and experiencing sex trafficking and violence at alarming
rates.
The AANHPI community is the fastest growing demographic group in the
United States. In the past 20 years alone, the number of Asian
Americans in the United States has nearly doubled.
But we are not a monolith. AANHPI communities come from dozens of
countries and speak countless languages. The diversity makes our
community and our country stronger. That is why, in a moment, I will
seek unanimous consent to pass a resolution recognizing AANHPI Heritage
Month.
This resolution highlights many of the leaders of our community
throughout history and some of the triumphs and challenges we have
faced throughout the years. It affirms the important
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role our communities continue to play in the story of our Nation and
has bipartisan support.
As in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee
on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the
Senate now proceed to S. Res. 209.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 209) recognizing the significance of
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander
Heritage Month as an important time to celebrate the
significant contributions of Asian Americans, Native
Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United
States.
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the
Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Ms. HIRONO. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to;
that the Hirono amendment at the desk to the preamble be agreed to;
that the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 209) was agreed to.
The amendment (No. 90) to the preamble was agreed to as follows:
(Purpose: To amend the preamble)
In the eighth whereas clause, in the matter preceding
paragraph (1), strike ``important milestones for the Asian
American and Pacific Islander community'' and insert
``anniversaries''.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution with its preamble, as amended, reads as follows:
S. Res. 209
Whereas the people of the United States join together each
May to pay tribute to the contributions of generations of
Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders who
have enriched the history of the United States;
Whereas the history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians,
and Pacific Islanders in the United States is inextricably
tied to the story of the United States;
Whereas the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific
Islander community is an inherently diverse population,
composed of more than 45 distinct ethnicities and more than
100 language dialects;
Whereas, according to the Bureau of the Census, the Asian
American population grew faster than any other racial or
ethnic group over the last decade, surging nearly 55.5
percent between 2010 and 2020, and during that same time
period, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population
grew by 30.8 percent;
Whereas there are approximately 24,000,000 residents of the
United States who identify as Asian and approximately
1,600,000 residents of the United States who identify as
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, making up more than 7
percent of the total population of the United States;
Whereas the month of May was selected for Asian American,
Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month because
the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States on
May 7, 1843, and the first transcontinental railroad was
completed on May 10, 1869, with substantial contributions
from Chinese immigrants;
Whereas section 102 of title 36, United States Code,
officially designates May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage
Month and requests the President to issue an annual
proclamation calling on the people of the United States to
observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and
activities;
Whereas 2023 marks several anniversaries, including--
(1) the 125th anniversary of United States v. Wong Kim Ark,
169 U.S. 649 (1898), a decision of the Supreme Court of the
United States that determined that the 14th Amendment grants
birthright citizenship to all persons born in the United
States, regardless of the national origin of their parents;
(2) the 80th anniversary of the Act entitled ``An Act to
repeal the Chinese Exclusion Acts, to establish quotas, and
for other purposes'', approved December 17, 1943 (commonly
known as the ``Magnuson Act of 1943'') (57 Stat. 600, chapter
344), which formally repealed the Act entitled ``An Act to
execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese'',
approved May 6, 1882 (commonly known as the ``Chinese
Exclusion Act of 1882'') (22 Stat. 58, chapter 126);
(3) the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Civil
Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. 4211 et seq.), which granted
reparations to Japanese Americans incarcerated during World
War II; and
(4) the 30th anniversary of the enactment of Public Law
103-150 (107 Stat. 1510), which acknowledged the 100th
anniversary of the January 17, 1893, overthrow of the Kingdom
of Hawaii and offered an apology to Native Hawaiians on
behalf of the United States;
Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific
Islanders have made significant contributions to the United
States at all levels of the Federal Government and in the
Armed Forces, including--
(1) Daniel K. Inouye, a Medal of Honor and Presidential
Medal of Freedom recipient who, as President pro tempore of
the Senate, was the then-highest-ranking Asian American
government official in the history of the United States;
(2) Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American elected to
Congress;
(3) Patsy T. Mink, the first woman of color and Asian-
American woman elected to Congress;
(4) Hiram L. Fong, the first Asian-American Senator;
(5) Daniel K. Akaka, the first Senator of Native Hawaiian
ancestry;
(6) Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian-American member of a
Presidential cabinet;
(7) Elaine L. Chao, the first Asian-American woman member
of a Presidential cabinet; and
(8) Kamala D. Harris, the first woman and the first Asian
American to hold the Office of the Vice President;
Whereas the 118th Congress includes 21 Members of Asian or
Pacific Islander descent;
Whereas, in 2023, the Congressional Asian Pacific American
Caucus, a bicameral caucus of Members of Congress advocating
on behalf of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific
Islanders, is composed of 72 Members, and other congressional
caucuses work on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific
Islander issues also;
Whereas, in 2023, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and
Pacific Islanders are serving in State and Territorial
legislatures across the United States in record numbers,
including in--
(1) the States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut,
Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia,
Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming; and
(2) the Territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific
Islanders represent more than 6 percent of Federal judges and
7 percent of Federal employees, including hundreds of
staffers of Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander
descent who serve as staff in the Senate and the House of
Representatives;
Whereas, since March 2020, there has been a dramatic
increase in reports of anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents,
including those related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including--
(1) a 339-percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in
2021, and a 124-percent increase in 2020;
(2) according to Stop AAPI Hate, over 11,000 hate incidents
reported since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through
March 2022, and countless others that have not been reported;
(3) on March 16, 2021, the murder of 8 people, including 6
Asian women, at 3 separate Asian-owned businesses in the
Atlanta, Georgia, region; and
(4) on May 15, 2022, the shooting of 5 people in Laguna
Hills, California, in which the Taiwanese congregation at
Geneva Presbyterian Church was targeted;
Whereas the incidence of hate crimes against Asian
Americans continues to be above levels observed before the
COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas discrimination against Asian Americans, especially
in moments of crisis, is not a new phenomenon, and violence
against Asian Americans has occurred throughout United States
history, including--
(1) the enactment of the Act entitled ``An Act
supplementary to the Acts in relation to Immigration'',
approved March 3, 1875 (commonly referred to as the ``Page
Act of 1875'') (18 Stat. 477, chapter 141), which restricted
entry of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian women to the
United States and effectively prohibited the immigration of
Chinese women, preventing the formation of Chinese families
in the United States and limiting the number of native-born
Chinese citizens;
(2) the enactment of the Act entitled ``An Act to execute
certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese'', approved
May 6, 1882 (commonly known as the ``Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882'') (22 Stat. 58, chapter 126), which was the first law
to explicitly exclude an entire ethnic group from immigrating
to the United States;
(3) the issuance of Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which
authorized the forced relocation and incarceration of
approximately 120,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry during
World War II, the majority of whom were citizens of the
United States;
(4) the murder of Vincent Chin;
(5) on January 17, 1989, the Cleveland Elementary School
shooting in which a gunman used an AK-47 to kill 5 children,
4 of whom were of Southeast Asian descent;
(6) the rise in discrimination and violence against Muslim,
Sikh, Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Americans
following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon on September 11, 2001; and
(7) on August 5, 2012, the mass shooting at a Sikh temple
in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which a White supremacist fatally
shot 6 people and wounded 4 others;
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Whereas, in response to the uptick in anti-Asian hate
crimes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed the
COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (Public Law 117-13; 135 Stat. 265),
which was signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden on May
20, 2021;
Whereas, in celebration of the contributions of Asian
American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders in the
United States, Congress passed the Commission To Study the
Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific
American History and Culture Act (Public Law 117-140; 136
Stat. 1259) to establish a commission to study the creation
of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and
Culture, which was signed into law by President Biden on June
13, 2022;
Whereas, as part of the American Women Quarters Program,
the United States Mint has issued, or will issue,
commemorative quarters honoring the contributions of--
(1) Chinese American film star Anna May Wong;
(2) Native Hawaiian composer and cultural advocate Edith
Kanaka'ole; and
(3) Congresswoman Patsy Mink;
Whereas there remains much to be done to ensure that Asian
Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have
access to resources and a voice in the Federal Government and
continue to advance in the political landscape of the United
States; and
Whereas celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and
Pacific Islander Heritage Month provides the people of the
United States with an opportunity to recognize the
achievements, contributions, and history of, and to
understand the challenges faced by, Asian Americans, Native
Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the significance of Asian American, Native
Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as an important
time to celebrate the significant contributions of Asian
Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the
history of the United States; and
(2) recognizes that Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and
Pacific Islander communities enhance the rich diversity of
and strengthen the United States.
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