[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 83 (Friday, May 15, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H3542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH

  (Mr. JACKSON of Illinois asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Asian 
American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, in the spirit of 
Frederick Douglass, whose vision of freedom was never narrow and never 
timid.
  It was in 1869, as anti-Chinese hatred was rising in America, 
Frederick Douglass delivered his great speech, ``Our Composite 
National.'' He stood against the spirit that would produce the Chinese 
Exclusion Act and declared: ``A liberal and brotherly welcome to all 
who are likely to come to the United States is the only wise policy 
which this Nation can adopt.''
  Douglass knew that America's strength was in inclusion, not 
exclusion. He said: ``I want a home here not only for the Negro, the 
mulatto, and the Latin races, but I want the Asiatic to find a home 
here in the United States.''
  That was moral courage. That was historical clarity. And that is the 
truth we must carry today.
  Asian Americans have helped build this country, defended this 
country, and have enriched this great country. Yet, they have faced 
exclusion, violence, suspicion, and injustice.
  This month, we do more than celebrate. We remember. We recommit. We 
reject anti-Asian hate and xenophobia.
  As Douglass said: ``A smile or a tear has no nationality.''
  Let us build this composite nation he envisioned: just, inclusive, 
and free.

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