[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8520-8521]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      ASIAN PACIFIC HERITAGE MONTH

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize May as Asian 
Pacific American Heritage Month and celebrate the many contributions of 
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, AAPI. The Asian American and 
Pacific Islander community is diverse and draws from a variety of 
distinct cultures, each of which has strengthened this country--
providing leaders, innovators, scientists, activists, artists, and 
citizens.
  As we take the time to recognize Asian Americans and Pacific 
Islanders and their heritage, it would be negligent to forget that this 
year marks 75 years since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed 
Executive Order 9066. He signed Executive Order 9066 in the aftermath 
of the attack on Pearl Harbor and authorized the Department of War--
today known as the Department of Defense--to establish ``military 
zones.'' The military had complete authority over these zones, 
including control over who entered and who was permitted to leave. The 
military zones became internment camps. In total, some 75,000 Americans 
of Japanese ancestry and 45,000 Japanese nationals were imprisoned in 
these camps across the country.
  At the time, many attempted to justify the internment camps by citing 
Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. They cited the need to protect our 
homeland from potential espionage. They cited the fact that Japan was 
our wartime enemy. They cited the likelihood that the next attack would 
come from someone ``looking like'' the enemy.
  What they failed to explain was why no internment camps were 
established for Americans of German ancestry--or Italian ancestry. 
Japan was not our only wartime enemy; yet Japanese Americans were the 
only ones thrust into imprisonment under the guise of ``national 
security.''
  It is not difficult to guess why. Japanese Americans were targeted 
because their heritage was thought to be easier to perceive. Of course, 
in many cases, the U.S. Department of War did not draw distinctions 
between Americans of Japanese ancestry and Americans of other Asian or 
Pacific Islander ancestry. If you were thought to look like the enemy, 
you were a target--full stop--and were at risk of being imprisoned 
illegally by the American Government.
  This is one of the darkest periods in our history. We must not forget 
it. We cannot forget the tens of thousands of innocent families who 
were stripped of their basic human and legal rights and property, 
racially profiled, and degraded. We cannot forget that ``national 
security'' was then--and is now--a poor justification for racial 
profiling and a transparent attempt to sanction and institutionalize 
racism.
  These are lessons the Asian American and Pacific Islander community 
has carried for generations, all while making our country stronger and 
more inclusive. The AAPI experiences--when we take the time to hear 
them--force us to engage in self-reflection, to be more aware of our 
own biases, and more cautious of our own impulses.
  As the former chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, I have worked hard 
to stay mindful of the needs and concerns of the AAPI community. I have 
learned that, while we have come a very long way over the past 75 
years, the AAPI community still battles nativism that portrays its 
members as something other than ``real'' Americans. They still bear the 
burden and pain of discrimination, and they still struggle to have 
their voice and their perspective heard during the great debates of our 
time.
  The changes Republicans are seeking on healthcare, for example, would 
have far-reaching consequences for the AAPI community. Asian Americans 
and Pacific Islanders have one of the highest incidences of Hepatitis 
A. In fact, in 2013, they had the highest Hepatitis A rates out of any 
ethnic group in the country. In 2015, tuberculosis was 30 times more 
common among Asian Americans than among any other group. Both Hepatitis 
A and tuberculosis would be considered preexisting conditions--
conditions that would have made many Asian American and Pacific 
Islanders uninsurable before President Obama signed the Affordable Care 
Act into law and conditions that would result in sky-high premiums 
under the misguided American Health Care Act.
  By comparison, the Affordable Care Act has reduced the uninsured rate 
for minority communities by at least 35 percent. It also expanded 
Medicaid, allowing over 250,000 more Maryland beneficiaries to access 
an array of mental health services like therapy, psychiatric 
rehabilitation, and many others. The Affordable Care Act's Medicaid 
expansion had similar positive impacts for mental health services 
across the country, which affects Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 
directly as they continue to work tirelessly to reduce suicide rates. 
For these reasons, when we think of healthcare, we must consider the 
human cost our policies inflict on every community--on every American.
  Likewise, immigration bans based on country of origin, race, or 
religion are awakening newfound fear that minority communities will be 
targeted once more, that racial profiling will rear its ugly head 
again, licensed and sanctioned by the Federal Government. The AAPI 
community's concern is warranted; people's fear is understandable. Each 
Member of Congress must realize that caring about the mistakes of our 
past means working with purpose and with conviction to prevent them 
from happening again in the present. We must use our votes where our 
values need defending and our voices where there is silence.
  As we move forward through Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and 
beyond, I implore every member of this Chamber to remember that the 
best way to honor that heritage is to respect the community bearing it. 
Hearing their experiences, carrying their lessons with us into the 
policy arena, and considering their needs and fears as our own, these 
are the substantive ways by which we can truly honor Asian American and 
Pacific Islander Heritage. I am committed to honoring it accordingly 
and join every American of Asian or Pacific Islander heritage in 
celebrating this month as their own.

[[Page 8521]]



                          ____________________