[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6342-6343]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 8, 2015

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Asian 
Pacific American Heritage Month. Throughout the history of the United 
States, Asian American and Pacific Islanders have contributed to our 
greatest undertakings and our vibrant cultural diversity. They have 
become leaders in business, in the community, and in politics, 
overcoming adversity and prejudice in pursuit of the American Dream.
  Today, there are more than 20 million Asian Americans and Pacific 
Islanders and more than 1 million of them live in Texas. A majority of 
them are concentrated in the cities, particularly Houston. At 80,049, 
the Vietnamese American community in the City of Houston has the third 
largest in the country. Houston is also home to sizable populations of 
Chinese Americans, Indian Americans, and Filipino Americans These 
communities have transformed the city, bringing their cultures, 
religions, and businesses and creating a new home.
  The first recorded Asian Americans in Texas were 250 Chinese 
laborers, who came to Houston to work on the railroad in 1870. It was 
thankless, dangerous work, but they helped to build the backbone of our 
state's economy. Although many of them would leave soon after the work 
was done, several stayed behind in Houston, and in the early 1900s the 
first Chinese business districts were opened.
  The Asian American population in Houston remained quite low until the 
1970s, when a new wave of immigration brought tens of thousands of 
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the city. Many of these early 
immigrants were Vietnamese refugees fleeing the country with the aid of 
the Indochinese Assistance and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975. Others 
were Chinese, drawn by the growth of the Chinese Merchants' Association 
throughout the decade.
  Today, there are more than 100,000 Asian American and Pacific 
Islanders living in Houston. As of 2007, they operate 16,000 
businesses, and there are multiple temples dedicated to Buddhism, 
Hinduism, and Sikhism. The city offers official documents in 
Vietnamese, Chinese, and Urdu. Neighborhoods from Little Saigon to 
Chinatown to the Mahatma Gandhi District are vibrant community centers 
for Asian Americans and other residents alike.
  But for all their contributions to our state and our country, there 
are still unacceptable challenges facing Asian American Pacific 
Islander communities. There is an urgent need to fix our broken 
immigration system by passing legislation that will support families, 
strengthen small businesses, protect workers and grow our nation's 
economy. These communities have also had historically low enrollment in 
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which would 
otherwise help them to achieve stability and security.

[[Page 6343]]

  Mr. Speaker, as a representative for tens of thousands of Asian 
Americans and Pacific Islanders, I join with my colleagues in 
recognizing the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 
to not just our history, but our economy and our future. I call on all 
Americans to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage month by 
deepening their understanding about these contributions, and pledge to 
support and serve Asian American and Pacific Islander families.

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