[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9621]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



ETHNICITY, WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY IN THIS COUNTRY BUT WE STILL HAVE A 
                               WAY TO GO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu) is recognized for 
60 minutes.
  Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, an odd thing happened to me 2 days ago on my way 
down to the Department of Energy. I was going down to give a talk to 
employees there, and I was stopped by the guards when I was trying to 
enter the building and I was asked repeatedly, my staffer and I were 
asked repeatedly, whether we are American citizens. This occurred both 
before and after I presented my congressional identification card.
  Now I have walked around the White House, the Supreme Court, this 
United States Capitol, and I know that there is sensitive information 
at the White House, at the Supreme Court and sometimes here, but maybe, 
maybe the Department of Energy is a special case, perhaps.
  What they said was that they asked everyone, everyone, whether they 
are a U.S. citizen or not, but that proved not to be true. My friend 
and colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano), went 
yesterday and he was not asked the way that I was at all.
  The ultimate irony is that I went to the Department of Energy 2 days 
ago to give a talk, at their request, about the progress of Asian 
Americans in America as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 
celebration activities by the employees there.
  There has been progress over the last 200, 215 years for Asian 
Americans in America but apparently we have a little ways to go yet.
  Now I am reluctant to make much of this incident and I was just going 
to let it go, but upon reflection, Mr. Speaker, I cannot just let this 
go because it would be wrong and it would break a promise that I have 
made to students in Oregon and that I have made to students across this 
country.
  When I visit with students at home and in other places around the 
country, sometimes they ask, are you treated fairly? Is there any 
difference because of ethnicity in the U.S. Congress? And I always 
answer, no, I am treated very well and very fairly and there is no 
question about ethnicity in the House, and that is absolutely true.
  Then sometimes there is a follow-up question, have there ever been 
incidents in your life that caused you to reflect upon or make you 
think that you are discriminated against?
  At that point, I generally try to refocus the direction of the 
discussion. I say, look, look, you are here in school to study, to work 
hard. You need to focus on those things that you can change, that you 
can effect, and if you focus on those things then this country will 
give you a chance to succeed and, please, please do not obsess about 
things that you cannot change because some of the attitudes you cannot 
change right away. If you obsess about those things, they will take 
away from your efforts at focusing on your goals and your future 
success, because this country will give you that chance.
  I say to them, leave those other things, leave those things that 
cannot be changed in the short-term, leave those things to adults like 
me. Leave those things to people who are in a position to work on them, 
like me.
  If I had just let this incident go, this incident of 2 days ago at 
DOE, I would have broken my promise to those students at home and 
across this country, because I believe that it is our obligation, 
despite whatever our reluctance might be, despite whatever our 
discomfort might be, to point out those things which are not right or 
to investigate them, to see if they need to be improved. I am going to 
encourage the Department of Energy to redouble its efforts, engage in a 
true process of soul searching. Do you really ask everyone their 
citizenship at the door? And if so, is that an effective way of 
enhancing national security?
  I do not know how many spies you have caught with that question, but 
you have at least one Congressman. And I suspect that ultimately there 
is a connection to national security but in a way that you might not 
expect, and that is there is a tremendous number of Asian American 
scientists and engineers working at the Department of Energy and they 
have made valuable contributions to our national security by doing good 
research.
  If the Department creates a work environment that is hostile or 
perceived to be, we have already begun to lose some of those 
scientists, and my understanding is that some of the brightest graduate 
students in the country, who happen to be Asian American, are now 
refusing to go work for the Department of Energy. That is as damaging 
to our national interest, our national security, as anything that I can 
think of.
  I want to underscore once again that this is not about the specific 
incidents of 2 days ago and this is not about me, but it is about a 
pledge to students to work on issues that they are not in a position to 
work on themselves, and it is about doing this job, my job, in the best 
manner that I know how.
  Being a Member of Congress is the greatest honor that I can imagine. 
We have no mission other than to get up each and every day and to try 
to make the world a little bit better, or to ameliorate some of the 
problems that people face. Today I want to give that effort to make the 
world a little bit better just one small further nudge.

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