Urban Jobs Act of 2011

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 683. First, I want to thank Chairman Lamar Smith and Subcommittee Chair Trent Franks of the Judiciary Committee for all their work on this resolution. I appreciate it so much.

We have come together across party lines to show that no matter what side of the aisle we sit on, Congress can make amends for the past, no matter how long ago those violations occurred. It is because we have worked together in a bipartisan way that we will make history today. Today, for the first time in 130 years, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that expresses regret for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, one of the most discriminatory acts in American history.

Over a century ago, the Chinese came here in search of a better life. During the California Gold Rush, the Chinese came to the United States to make something of themselves. Their blood, sweat, and tears built the first transcontinental railroad, connecting the people of our Nation. They opened our mines, constructed the levees, and became the backbone of farm production. Their efforts helped build America.

But as the economy soured in the 1870s, the Chinese became scapegoats. They were called racial slurs, were spat upon in the streets, and even brutally murdered. The harsh conditions they faced were evident in the Halls of Congress.

By the time 1882 came around, Members of Congress were competing with each other to get the most discriminatory law passed and routinely made speeches on the House floor against the so-called ``Mongolian horde.'' Representative Albert Shelby Willis from Kentucky fought particularly hard for a Chinese Exclusion Act. In his floor speech, he said the Chinese were an invading race. He called them aliens with sordid and unrepublican habits. He declared that the Pacific States had been cursed with the evils of Chinese immigration and that they disturbed the peace and order of society.

The official House committee report accompanying the bill claimed that the Chinese ``retain their distinctive peculiarities and characteristics, refusing to assimilate themselves to our institutions and remaining a separate and distinct class, entrenched behind immovable prejudices; that their ignorance or disregard of sanitary laws, as evidenced in their habits of life, breeds disease, pestilence and death.''

So on April 17, 1882, under a simple suspension of the rules, the House

passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. It prevented them from becoming naturalized citizens. It prevented them from ever having the right to vote. It also prevented the Chinese--and the Chinese alone--from immigrating.

But this was only the beginning.

As the years passed, the House built upon this act, increasing the discriminatory restrictions on the Chinese. Two years later, the House made clear that any ethnically Chinese laborer, even if he were not from China but from somewhere like Hong Kong or the Philippines, was banned from U.S. shores.

Four years later, the House passed the Scott Act. This bill prohibited all Chinese laborers from reentering the United States, if they ever left, even if they were legal residents in the U.S. and even if they had the certificates of return that should have guaranteed their right of return. This prevented approximately 20,000 legal U.S. residents who had gone abroad, including 600 on ships who were literally en route back to the United States, from returning to their families or their homes. With little floor debate, the Scott Act passed the House unanimously.

In 1892, when the Chinese Exclusion Act was set to expire, the House extended it for another decade, but it increased restrictions further. It made the Chinese the only residents who could not receive bail after applying for a writ of habeas corpus, that being to protest an unjust imprisonment. It made them the only people in America who had to carry papers, or certificates of residence, with them at all times. If they couldn't produce the proper documents, authorities threw them into prison or out of the country regardless of whether they were U.S. citizens or not. Legally, the only means by which this could be stopped is if a white person testified on their behalf.

In 1898, the U.S. annexed Hawaii and the Philippines, making them U.S. Territories; and while other residents of the territories could come and go between their homes and the U.S., who did the House make sure to exclude? Only the Chinese.

Then, in 1904, the House made the Chinese Exclusion Act permanent. This act lasted for 60 long years. It was not until 1943 that this law was repealed, but it was only because of World War II, when the United States needed to maintain a critical military alliance with China. U.S. enemies were pointing to the Chinese Exclusion Act as proof that the U.S. was anti-Chinese, and the U.S. had to erase that perception. However, Congress made no formal acknowledgment that these laws were wrong. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first and only Federal law in our history that excluded a single group of people from immigration on no basis other than its race, and the effects of this act produced deep scars on the Chinese American community.

Families were split apart permanently without the ability to naturalize as citizens and to vote. The community was disenfranchised. Because immigration had been so severely restricted, few women could come, and the ratio of males to females was as high as 20 1. Many Chinese American males could not have families and were forced to die completely alone. If they did try to marry, they were forced to go abroad, and families were separated.

The family of Jean Quan, mayor of Oakland, had been here legally since 1880. Her father went abroad to marry a woman in China in 1920, but had to leave her behind along with her children. When the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed over 25 years later, his wife was finally able to come and have Jean in the United States, but the siblings did not know each other for decades.

The Chinese, like my grandfather, did not have the legal right to become naturalized citizens. He had been here legally since 1904, but unlike non-Chinese immigrants, he was forced to register and carry a certificate of residence at all times for almost 40 years or else be deported. He could only be saved if a white person vouched for him. These laws are why we ask for this expression of regret.

Last October, the U.S. Senate did its part to right history by passing its own resolution of regret for these hateful laws. It did so unanimously with bipartisan support. Today, the House should also issue its expression of regret. It is for my grandfather and for all Chinese Americans that we must pass this resolution, for those who were told for six decades by the U.S. Government that the land of the free wasn't open to them. We must finally and formally acknowledge these ugly laws that were incompatible with America's founding principles.

We must express the sincere regret that Chinese Americans deserve. By doing so, we will acknowledge that discrimination has no place in our society, and we will reaffirm our strong commitment to preserving the civil rights and constitutional protections for all people of every color, ever race, and from every background.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California, Representative Mike Honda.

I yield one more minute to the gentleman from California.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from American Samoa, Representative Eni Faleomavaega.

(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Today is historic. This is a very significant day in the Chinese American community. It is an expression that discrimination has no place in our society and that the promise of equality is available to all.

This is only the fourth such apology in the last 25 years. In 1988, President Reagan signed the bill apologizing for the Japanese American interment during World War II. In 1993, Congress apologized to Hawaiians for the U.S.-led overthrow of their monarchy. In 2008, the House issued an apology to African Americans on behalf of the people of the United States for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow.

This bill was a huge undertaking, requiring the efforts of Chinese Americans and their supporters all across the Nation. Without the dedication of countless community organizations and grassroots advocates across the country, none of this would have happened.

I thank them, and I thank all the Congress Members from both sides of the aisle, including the 50 cosponsors of the bill and especially Chairman Lamar Smith, for their support.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Lamar Smith, for his leadership and support of this legislation, as well as my good friend, Congressman Conyers, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee for his support. I especially want to express my appreciation and thanks to the chairwoman of our congressional Asian Pacific Caucus, Ms. Judy Chu, not only as the chief sponsor of this legislation but for her dynamic leadership in bringing this bill to the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 683, a resolution of regret for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first major law restricting immigration to the United States to enforce a 10-year moratorium on Chinese immigrant laborers and denying naturalization to those who were already in the United States. Enacted on the premise that Chinese labors ``endangered the good order of certain localities,'' the law was largely motivated by economic fears by our fellow Americans who felt that Chinese laborers were to blame for unemployment and the declining wages in the West.

Through the Geary Act of 1892, the Chinese Exclusion Act was extended for another 10 years before becoming permanent in 1902, and it was only repealed by the Magnuson Act of 1943, when China became an ally of the United States during World War II. Even then, the new law only allowed 105 Chinese immigrants per year, a much lower quota than immigrant quotas from other countries and regions of the world. Large-scale Chinese immigration was only finally allowed again with the Immigration Act of 1965, some 80 years after the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Like their counterparts from European countries, Chinese immigrants in the 19th century came to the United States in search of opportunities for a better life. Since the first wave of Chinese immigrants to the United States, the Chinese American community has contributed greatly to the development of our Nation, and it is a shame that these discriminatory practices and fear-based laws split up Chinese families and prevented them for decades from pursuing the American Dream. For example, Chinese laborers made up the majority of the Central Pacific railroad network workforce that connected the First Transcontinental Railroad through the Sierra Mountains into the Western States. Of course, that final spike was done in the State of Utah. The completion of the railroad--with the help of these Chinese laborers-- would later mobilize other industries and pave the way for a more connected and prosperous America.

But the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mr. Speaker--the first law restricting entry of an ethnic working group--stifled Chinese immigrants' ability to lend their skills to the betterment of our Nation and become a part of the American family.

Because this law was validated by leaders in our Nation, it gave credence to the underlying notion that certain groups did not deserve fair treatment in our Nation. The policy sent a clear message that Chinese immigrants were not qualified for the American Dream. Furthermore, it set a precedent for later policies against immigrant groups such as the National Origins Act of 1929, which barred Asian immigration, and our shameful policy of interning some 100,000 Americans born in the United States but who happened to be of Japanese ancestry.

This is one reason why I always admired our Nation, Mr. Speaker, and our form of democracy, and that is, it tries to correct its mistakes from the past. While our Nation has come a long way since this legislation was enacted 130 years ago, let us continually be reminded in our diverse country to uphold the founding principle of our Nation: that all men and women are to be treated equally and fairly under the law.

With that, I urge my colleagues to pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 683, ``Expressing the regret of the House of Representatives for the passages of laws that adversely affected the Chinese in the United States, including the Chinese Exclusion Act.'' This resolution acknowledges the historical injustices against Chinese Americans, as reflected by a series of laws; however, with a particular emphasis on the Chinese Exclusion Act that which was first passed on March 23, 1882.

One hundred thirty years after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act and other such measures unjustly targeting individuals in the U.S. with Chinese heritage, it is necessary for

Congress to take steps to right the wrongs that were placed on thousands of people by recognizing that discriminatory laws were passed that had a harmful effect on persons of Chinese decent here in the United States.

Just last year, I congratulated the Chinese American Citizens Alliance in Houston, Texas during their momentous 51st Biennial National Convention. This historical and highly respected organization was founded in response to the repressive 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and other Federal and State laws that aimed to restrict and ostracize. This celebration highlights the organization's 116 years as the oldest Asian American civil rights organization, consciously commemorating its courageous founders by continuing to pioneer a pragmatic future.

Securing equal economic and political support, cultivating minds through the exchange of knowledge, defending American citizenship, and observing the practice of the principles of brotherly love and mutual help, are a few of this organizations highly beneficial practices.

These goals are achieved by the organization's eighteen affiliated chapters being highly decorated with individuals of significant achievement; including leaders in the legal, medical, educational, scientific, arts and literature as well as corporate, business, and entrepreneurial endeavors. These endeavors are also supported by Members of Congress who recognize the important contributions of Chinese Americans. Legislation like the one before us today serve as reminders of how important it is not to remember our past so that we do not repeat it.

The United States has always been a place where people from diverse backgrounds arrive in hopes of attaining better opportunity, seeking refuge to escape prosecution and provide a more fruitful lifestyle for their families, likewise in the 19th and 20th century many Chinese came to the United States for similar reasons, unfortunately they were not treated favorably.

With the passage of legislation that limited Chinese immigration such as the renegotiation of the Burlingame Treaty and the Fifteen Passenger Bill which only permitted 15 Chinese passengers on any ship coming to the United States, the Chinese in this country were directly affected by unequal treatment.

On a personal level I can relate to the plight of many Chinese Americans as they fought to be accepted in the United States. I am well aware of the United State's history of discrimination and the harmful impact such discrimination has upon our society as a whole. It is my belief that no one should be forced to endure inequality on the basis of their race, class, gender or religious belief.

It is necessary that measures are constantly taken to ensure that our past failures are acknowledged and not repeated. H.R. 683 demonstrates the regret felt by the House of Representatives for the passages of laws that targeted people of Chinese origin solely based upon their ethnicity.

The passage of this bill will make clear that we do not support those actions today. It is essential that we continue to aim for cultural acceptance and embrace the differences that make up the diversity of this country that sets us apart from any other nation.

I, too, would like to add my thanks to the leadership, specifically to Chairman Lamar Smith.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 683, a resolution expressing the regret of the House of Representatives for the passage of laws that adversely affected the Chinese in the United States, including the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

A century and a half ago, the Chinese were used as cheap labor to do the most dangerous work--laying the tracks of our transcontinental railway and building the California delta levees. They strengthened our Nation's infrastructure only to be persecuted when their labor was seen as competition and when the dirtiest work was done.

In 1848, when gold fever spread across the Pacific Ocean, many thousands of young Chinese came in boats to Gold Mountain, to California.

In 1861 to 1865, there was waged a Civil War in this country. There were over 50 Chinese Americans who battled each other in this Civil War, a battle which went unnoticed.

In 1863, the construction of the transcontinental railway commenced. With the discovery of silver in Nevada in 1865, many of the white workers left the railroad to search for silver. To fill the labor shortage, Charles Crocker, one of the big four investors of the railroad and the man responsible for constructing the western portion of the railroad, began hiring Chinese immigrants. Crocker's famous justification was, They built the Great Wall of China, didn't they?

For the promise of $25 to $30 a month, the new workers endured long hours and harsh winters in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. While working in the Sierras, Chinese workers were hung in baskets, which were 2,000 feet above raging rivers, in order to blast into the impenetrable granite mountain, making way for laying the tracks. Once they bored holes and stuffed them with dynamite, they had to be pulled back up before the fuse exploded, endangering the lives of everyone on both ends of the rope; and sometimes these poor souls in the baskets were not drawn up safely because there was no faith in the timing of the fuse--hence the origin of the phrase: you ain't got a Chinaman's chance. By 1867, 90 percent of the workers were Chinese; and by 1869, over 11,000 workers were Chinese.

On the national historic site of the Golden Spike at Promontory, Utah, where on May 10, 1869, the final spike was driven, sits a plaque commemorating ``the attainment and achievement of the great political objective of binding together by iron bonds the extremities of the continental United States, a rail link from ocean to ocean.'' However, neither in Thomas Hill's famous painting nor in the historical photos of ``The Last Spike'' are the faces of the 11,000 Chinese workers visible.

One wonders, where were these 11,000 workers? Perhaps they were given the day off on that day.

Though absent in these visual, historical depictions, the Chinese left an undeniable and indelible mark on the history of California and in the larger story of binding this country from ocean to ocean. Upon the railroad completion, the Chinese settled in the California delta to help with the levee construction, thus advancing California's agricultural development.

The passage of anti-Chinese laws illustrates the xenophobic hysteria of this country's shameful chapter of exclusion. We cannot vilify entire groups of people--we learned that--because it is politically or economically expedient.

The great thing about humanity is that we have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased that this resolution is on the floor today. Acknowledging and addressing these injustices throughout our Nation's history not only strengthens civil rights and civil justice, but doing so brings us closer to a more educated Nation and a more perfect union.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 683) expressing the regret of the House of Representatives for the passage of laws that adversely affected the Chinese in the United States, including the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on House Resolution 683 currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu) for introducing H. Res. 683, expressing the regret of the House of Representatives for the passage of laws that adversely affected the Chinese in the United States, including the Chinese Exclusion Act.

I know, through conversations with several of my colleagues, including the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Berman, that this is an important resolution for them and their constituents.

The resolution concerns laws passed by the House of Representatives that restricted the civil rights of certain individuals in the United States based solely on the ethnicity of those individuals. Specifically, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Congress passed, and Presidents signed, laws that restricted the rights of people of Chinese ethnicity.

For instance, in March 1882, the House of Representatives passed the initial Chinese Exclusion Act that denied Chinese people the right to be naturalized as American citizens. And in April 1892, the House of Representatives passed the Geary Act, which reauthorized the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years and denied Chinese immigrants the right to be released on bail upon application for a writ of habeas corpus.

Laws that deny certain civil rights to individuals legally in the United States are inconsistent with the values on which this country was founded. I thank the gentlewoman from California for working with me to refine the text of this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have no other speakers on this side, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.