[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6992]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Judy Chu) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Mr. Speaker, the month of May is 
recognized as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, an important time 
to celebrate our Nation's rich cultural diversity as well as the many 
accomplishments and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific 
Islanders all across our country.
  Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are now the fastest growing 
racial group in the country, and today more immigrants come from Asia 
than from any other region in the world.
  As chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, or 
CAPAC, I have seen these growing numbers reflected here in Congress, 
where we now have 14 Asian American and Pacific Islander Members of 
Congress, which is a historic high.
  We have also seen these numbers reflected in the diversity of our 
Federal workforce as well as in the Federal judiciary, where we have 
more than tripled the number of Asian Pacific American judges who serve 
on the Federal bench.
  This includes the historic nomination of Sri Srinivasan to the U.S. 
District Court of Appeals, which is extremely notable because it is the 
court from which many U.S. Supreme Court Justices have risen, and we 
know that it is only a matter of time before we have our first Asian 
American Supreme Court Justice.
  In addition to working to diversify our Federal workforce, we in 
CAPAC have the privilege to advocate for the priorities and concerns of 
Asian Pacific Americans on a broad range of issues, from combating 
racial profiling, to keeping immigrant families together through 
comprehensive immigration reform, to ensuring that all Americans can 
access the ballot box and have a voice in our democracy.
  Today far too many in the Asian Pacific American community are being 
profiled because of the way they look or the religion they practice, 
and whether they are Chinese Americans who are being singled out for 
economic espionage or are Muslim or Sikh Americans who are wrongfully 
perceived as terrorists, we know that profiling creates a culture of 
suspicion that not only breeds mistrust, but that also endangers the 
lives and livelihoods of innocent Americans.
  Take the recent case of a Chinese American scientist who was wrongly 
targeted as a spy for China. One terrible morning, Professor Xiaoxing 
Xi woke up to see guns pointed at him and 12 FBI agents arresting him 
in front of his wife, two daughters, and the whole neighborhood. They 
dragged him off to jail, accused him of being a spy for China, and 
threatened him with 80 years in jail. It turned out that the FBI agents 
were wrong. So they dropped all charges, but not before ruining 
Professor Xi's life.
  We have also seen this happen in the case of Sherry Chen, a 
hydrologist at the National Weather Service of Ohio, who was arrested 
in front of her coworkers and was accused of being a spy for China, 
only to have her case dismissed.
  Asian American scientists and engineers, who have worked hard to get 
their advanced degrees and be successful in their careers, now live in 
fear that they, too, may be next.
  As CAPAC's chair, I have made it a priority to fight back against 
these injustices. We have met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch to 
demand answers to these cases. We have held press conferences, have 
written letters, and have questioned the FBI and the Department of 
Justice during congressional hearings. We know we must speak up.
  In fact, we need only to look at the horrors of what happened to 
innocent Japanese Americans who were imprisoned during World War II to 
know what can happen when we remain silent. That is why it is so 
important for diverse communities to have a voice in our democracy.
  Today the ability for us to make a difference is enormous, and we in 
CAPAC are working hard to ensure that Asian Americans and Pacific 
Islanders have access to the ballot box through our efforts to restore 
the Voting Rights Act.
  Nationally, Asian Pacific Americans have doubled our voter 
registration numbers over the last decade from 2 million to 4 million 
people, and, by 2040, we will have doubled even those numbers. We are 
the sleeping giant. In fact, Asian Pacific Americans have gone from 
being marginalized to being the margin of victory.
  As we celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month this May, let 
us remember not only the many contributions of the Asian American and 
Pacific Islander community, but also the challenges that we must 
continue to confront in order to ensure that all Americans, regardless 
of race, ethnicity, religion, or language ability, can achieve the 
American Dream.
  Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

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