Helping Communities Act of 2008

Mr. President, I rise today with the great pleasure of recognizing the month of May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and honoring the many contributions that Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent have made to our great Nation and to my home State of Nevada.

I am proud of the role this distinguished chamber played in the designation of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, albeit many years too late. On June 19, 1978, some 135 years after the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the United States, Representatives Frank Horton and Norman Mineta introduced a joint resolution ``authorizing and requesting the President to proclaim the 7-day period beginning on May 4, 1979, as 'Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week''--H.J. Res. 1007. Two months after being passed overwhelmingly by the House, the Senate unanimously approved the joint resolution and promptly sent it to President Jimmy Carter for his signature.

In addition to recognizing the onset of Japanese immigration to America, the month of May was selected because May 10, 1869, also known as Golden Spike Day, marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States, to whose construction Chinese pioneers contributed greatly. Hundreds of miles of this railroad passed through a newly admitted and mostly uninhabited western state that I have called home for my whole life. Without the tireless efforts and tremendous sacrifices of these Asian settlers, the state of Nevada would have remained largely disconnected from the rest of our country for an untold number of years.

Rising to support H.J. Res. 1007, Senator Spark Matsunaga, who served the State of Hawaii for over 13 honorable years before succumbing to cancer, remarked that ``most Americans are unaware of the history of Pacific and Asian Americans in the United States, and their contributions to our Nation's cultural heritage.'' He continued by saying that one of the two main purposes of the joint resolution was ``to imbue a renewed sense of pride among our citizens of Pacific and Asian ancestry.'' I am delighted that the many celebrations taking place around the country to commemorate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, particularly in my home State of Nevada, have showcased the enduring sense of pride that Senator Matsunaga spoke about nearly three decades ago.

Almost 14 years after President Carter signed H.J. Res. 1007 into law, Representative Frank Horton once again assumed the leadership role on this issue and introduced a bill to permanently designate May of each year as ``Asian Pacific American Heritage Month''--H.R. 5572. After this bill was passed by both Houses of Congress, President George H.W. Bush signed it into law on October 23, 1992.

Ever since, our country has taken the time at the end of each spring to celebrate the innumerable contributions that Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander ancestry have made and continue to make to the United States. To the roughly 15 million Asian and Pacific Islander Americans who currently live in our country, and most especially to the thousands of those who reside in Nevada, I wish you all the best during this joyous time of year. I urge my colleagues in this Chamber to do the same.