[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 15, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3720-S3721]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 693--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

  Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Collins, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. 
Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. Casey, Mr. Coons, 
Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Fetterman, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Kaine, Ms. 
Klobuchar, Mr. Markey, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Padilla, Ms. 
Rosen, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Warren, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Reed, Mr. Warnock, Ms. 
Butler, Ms. Stabenow, Ms. Hassan, Ms. Smith, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. 
Durbin, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 693

       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 70 distinct ethnicities and speaking 
     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, growing by 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 more than 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 and 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 2024 marks several anniversaries, including--
       (1) the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the 
     Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, a bicameral 
     caucus of Members of Congress advocating on behalf of Asian 
     Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders;
       (2) the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Asian 
     Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, which 
     was founded alongside the Congressional Asian Pacific 
     American Caucus by former Secretary of Commerce and Secretary 
     of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta and former Delegate to the 
     United States House of Representatives from Guam Robert 
     Underwood;
       (3) the 45th anniversary of the first Asian/Pacific 
     American Heritage Week, designated in 1979 by President Jimmy 
     Carter through Presidential Proclamation 4650 (93 Stat. 1504; 
     relating to Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week);
       (4) the 50th anniversary of Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 563 
     (1974), in which the Supreme Court of the United States 
     determined that inadequate supplemental language instruction 
     for students of Chinese ancestry with limited English 
     proficiency violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 
     2000a et seq.), expanding equal educational opportunities and 
     paving the way for bilingual programs and additional English 
     language instruction in public schools;
       (5) the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the 
     Immigration Act of 1924 (commonly

[[Page S3721]]

     known as the ``Johnson-Reed Act'') (43 Stat. 153, chapter 
     190), which imposed national origin quotas that limited the 
     number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States and 
     prohibited the entry of Asian immigrants; and
       (6) the 155th anniversary of the completion of the first 
     transcontinental railroad, which--
          (A) in 1869, connected the Central Pacific Railroad and 
     the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah; and
          (B) involved more than 12,000 Chinese laborers who faced 
     racial and wage discrimination despite being entrusted with 
     the most laborious tasks;
       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) Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American elected to 
     Congress;
       (2) 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;
       (3) Hiram L. Fong, the first Asian American Senator;
       (4) Patsy T. Mink, the first woman of color and Asian 
     American woman elected to Congress;
       (5) Herbert Y.C. Choy, the first Asian American to serve as 
     a Federal judge;
       (6) Daniel K. Akaka, the first Senator of Native Hawaiian 
     ancestry;
       (7) Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian American member of a 
     Presidential cabinet;
       (8) Elaine L. Chao, the first Asian American woman member 
     of a Presidential cabinet; and
       (9) 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 and 
     Pacific Islander descent;
       Whereas, in 2024, the Congressional Asian Pacific American 
     Caucus is composed of 76 Members, and other congressional 
     caucuses work on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 
     Islander issues also;
       Whereas, in 2024, 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 7 percent of Federal judges and 
     nearly 7 percent of Federal employees, including hundreds of 
     staffers of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and 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 11,500 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 (7 Fed. 
     Reg. 1407; relating to authorizing the Secretary of War to 
     prescribe military areas), 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) on June 23, 1982, 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;
       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 
     Americans, Native Hawaiians, 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;
       (3) Japanese American Congresswoman Patsy Mink; and
       (4) Korean American disability justice advocate Stacey Park 
     Milbern;
       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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