[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6747-6748]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              MAY IS ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the month of May is Asian Pacific 
American Heritage Month. I am proud to say that we have many visitors--
in fact, hundreds of visitors--who are here at the Capitol, many 
celebrating this month with us. Among those who are visiting are some 
of my friends and some of my colleagues, and some persons who are from 
other places than my congressional district, but they are still friends 
of mine.
  Among them is Dawn Lin. She worked in our congressional office for 
sometime, and she is a visitor here today. She is the mother of the 
Confucius resolution that I brought before Congress and passed.
  Another is the father of the International District in Houston, 
Texas, Mr. Wei Le. He is a dear friend, and I am honored that he is 
here today.
  Another is Kenneth Li, known as the mayor of Chinatown in Houston, 
Texas, affectionately so.
  We also have Chris Kang, Casey Kang, Dionne Cuello, Vickie Silvano, 
Ray Huang, and Lily Lee, all friends and visiting today.
  I am honored today, Mr. Speaker, to say a few words about Asian 
Pacific American Heritage Month, because the truth is America the 
beautiful is a more beautiful America because of Asian Americans and 
Pacific Islanders.
  One such beautiful American was Wong Kim Ark. Wong Kim Ark was born 
in the United States, and in 1894, he decided that he would travel to 
China. Upon returning from China in 1895, he was denied entrance into 
the United States.
  Wong Kim Ark was denied entrance into the United States because of 
the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act was one that was passed to prevent 
Chinese Americans from having ingress and egress into this country if 
you were not a citizen, of course.
  The 14th Amendment to the Constitution became the subject of his 
reentry into the country because when they declared him ineligible to 
return to the country, it was because they were saying he was not a 
citizen, notwithstanding the fact that he was born in California. But 
if you read closely the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, you will 
find that it reads: ``All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof''--that is some key 
language, ``and subject to the jurisdiction thereof''--``are citizens 
of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.''
  There were some persons who thought that the term ``and subject to 
the jurisdiction thereof'' meant that since their parents were the 
subjects of the Emperor of China, he could not be a citizen of the 
United States of America. This case went all the way to the Supreme 
Court of the United States of America, and it was all because of the 
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
  The Supreme Court did the judicious thing. They ruled in his favor 
that he was a citizen of the United States of America. While that might 
seem such a small thing today, it is really a significant piece of 
world history in terms of how persons born in this country become 
citizens, because had they ruled

[[Page 6748]]

otherwise, there are a good many people who could be born in this 
country but not be citizens of the United States of America. He was the 
test case that went before the Supreme Court.

                              {time}  1100

  While many persons conclude that the 14th Amendment has its roots in 
those who were freed from slavery in the United States of America to 
accord them citizenship--and I concur with this, by the way--but I also 
would add this: while it was given birth to because of the freed 
slaves, it was given clarity because of Mr. Ark who was denied 
citizenship for a brief moment, but finally, the Supreme Court ruled 
that Wong Kim Ark was a citizen of the United States of America.
  As I close today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to simply say there are 
many contributions that Asian American and Pacific Islanders have made 
to this great Nation to make America a more beautiful America.
  I think we should not limit our thoughts to things such as dance, 
which is wonderful; the great food, which is great; to the beautiful 
clothing, which is a great thing as well. I think we have to go beyond 
these things and remember the transcontinental railroad that was 
constructed by the labor of tens of thousands of persons of Chinese 
ancestry.
  I think we have to go beyond this country if we are going to take a 
global look at the great history. I think, Mr. Speaker, that America 
the beautiful is a more beautiful America because they are here.

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