Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the subject of my Special Order, recognizing Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Mr. Speaker, I rise…
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the subject of my Special Order, recognizing Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on the significance of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The push for designating an APA Heritage Month started 26 years ago by visionary APA community leaders and also was led from this House by retired Congressman Robert Horton of New York and the current Secretary of Transportation, Norman Y. Mineta.
This year's Heritage Month theme, a Salute to Liberty, is an especially timely theme as our Nation is faced with conflict and tension. We must remember that in the fight to protect our national security, we must also preserve our civil liberties and individual rights. During this month, it is also imperative that we utilize this opportunity to reflect upon and understand our past so we can successfully build for our future. This is a moment of teaching and learning. There have been many histories of Asian Pacific Americans in this country, Mr. Speaker, their origins, their barriers, the barriers that they have overcome in the pursuit to seek the American Dream in this country.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment and sort of share with the community the history of the bill that was passed in 1992, eventually, to recognize the month of May as an official
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
In 1977, Representative Frank Horton, a Representative from New York, and Norman Y. Mineta, from California, introduced the Asian Pacific Heritage Week, House Resolution 540, in the House of Representatives, which called upon the President to proclaim the first 10 days of May as Pacific Asian Heritage Week. The joint resolution did not contain an annual designation, so in 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the joint resolution put forward by both Representatives Horton and Mineta.
Then, in 1990, Asian American leaders around the country gathered at the White House to witness the signing of a proclamation by President George Bush declaring May to be Asian Pacific Heritage Month. So we went from a week to a month. In 1992, President Bush signed legislation into law designating May of each year as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Mr. Speaker, it is apropos since this is the month of May we do take some time to recognize those who were important in designating Asian Pacific Heritage Month.
First, why is it important? As a schoolteacher, if we do not teach our history and understand the members of our community's contributions to this country, our children, be they Asian Americans or not, will be less educated and less informed and less appreciative of not only their culture but the cultures of other people.
The growth of the Asian Pacific population from 1980 to 1990 doubled from 3.7 million to approximately 7.3 million. This increase is remarkable when compared to the total increase in the U.S. population of 9.8 percent during that same period.
Then the growth continued to rise another 43 percent from 1990 to 1999. Currently, APAs comprise 4.5 percent of the U.S. population; and by 2050 APAs are expected to comprise 9 percent of the U.S. population. However, in the State of California, the APA population already comprise 11 percent of the general population and grew 34 percent in the past decade, from 2.8 to 3.8 million. This growth, although largely attributed to immigration patterns, is also indicative of more defined data collection methods which has always been a problem in our communities. So the last census it was critical that the census taken was accurate and was as precise as possible.
Data is a cross-cutting issue. Lack of data impacts our understanding of the health problems in our communities, as well as the problems in access and quality. Adequate data collection continues to be a challenge for the APA community.
Although we are often mistaken to be a homogeneous group and sometimes considered perpetual foreigners, APAs in this country encompasses 49 ethnicities speaking over 100 languages and dialects. Aggregating such a large and diverse group makes it difficult to understand the unique problems faced by the individual ethnicities it encompasses.
So when we aggregate Asian Americans as a population, when we look at programs and policies in this country, it is critical that we disaggregate the information so that we are able to be more precise in our policies and programs that we want to target for our communities.
Let me just share a little bit of historical time line. Historically, in 1763 the very first settlement that we know of were some escaped prisoners aboard the Spanish galleons, and they were Filipinos jumping ship in New Orleans. They fled into the bayous of Louisiana, and they established a community called Saint Malo, the first APA settlement in the United States, fleeing the Spanish galleons and seeking freedom in this country.
In 1882, this country saw fit to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Exclusion Act ends most immigration from China until 1943 and denied citizenship to those already present, many of whom were drawn by the gold rush and the Central Pacific Railroad.
As a sideline, we have found out through our research that there have been many Chinese Americans who fought in the Civil War. Upon their petition to become citizens after serving in the military, they were denied citizenship because of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
In 1868, the Japanese settled in California, first in a community called Alameda in the San Francisco Bay area and secondly in El Dorado County near Sacramento. That colony was name Wahamatsu Colony.
An interesting story of the Wahamatsu Colony, the first colony in this country, was that they first came as refugees from Japan led by a gentleman who was a gunrunner in Japan, Mr. Schell. He had a choice of either facing death or being deported. So he left with his contingent of folks from Japan and established this colony. This colony did not last very long, but it is important to note that the last surviving members of the first colony in the State of California are not Japanese Americans but families of African Americans and Chinese.
So it shows that ethnic groups in this country, when they come to this country, they may be disallowed from intermarrying with the mainstream white groups of this country, but they found ways to raise families and find their way through this country until such time that laws were passed to allow people to earn their citizenship in this country.
In 1912 at the Stockholm Olympics, swimmer Duke Kahinomoku became the first APA to win a Gold Medal. He was later credited with introducing the sport, a sport that is endearing to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), the sport of surfing in the United States.
In 1913, the Alien Land Act was passed, and this was specifically in California. The Alien Land Act forced immigrants, primarily Japanese and other APAs, from owning or leasing land; and similar laws were passed in other States throughout the Nation. Subsequently it was rescinded later on in the 1950s.
In 1942, the Japanese American internment occurred. This was following the United States' declaration of war against Japan when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the forced relocation and detention of 120,000 Japanese Americans, as well as over 2,000 Japanese Latin Americans. And also in this country it is not well-known that over 7,000 Italian Americans were affected personally, their families, and over 30,000 German Americans were affected.
In 1943, the Japanese American battalion, the 442nd, which was comprised of some 12,000 Japanese Americans, many of them from internment camps, responded to the War Department's call for volunteers for an all-Japanese combat unit. It was not unusual at that time that we had segregated combat units. We had combat units of Indians; we had combat units of blacks and African Americans. At that time around 32,000 were inducted to form the 442 regimental combat team, and we had Members of this House who served in the Regimental Combat 442, the past Congressman Sparky Matsunaga and the current Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Inouye.
This combat team became legendary for its success, and it is probably the most decorated military men in the United States history. Their average Purple Heart that this combat unit had inflicted upon them, they had earned almost three Purple Hearts per person, meaning they had to be injured. Each member had to be injured at least three times, so close to 9,000 Purple Hearts were granted recognizing their injuries in the effort to fight the war in Europe.
In 1946, the first Chinese American, Wing F. Ong of Arizona, becomes the first APA to be elected to State office. Asian Americans, we are still looking at firsts. Some day we hope that we will go beyond the first and become a rule rather than an exception.
In 1956, after the first congressman, an Indian American businessman Dalip Singh Saund of Westmoreland, California, became the very first Asian Pacific American elected to Congress, he, however, wanted to become a citizen and could not become a citizen prior to 1952 because there was still a law on the books that disallowed Asian to become citizens. When that law was rescinded, he was able to participate in the halls of Congress.
In 1964, the first congresswoman, Patsy Takemoto Mink is the first woman of color and the first Asian Pacific congresswoman to represent Hawaii in the halls of Congress. We know
that we lost her just recently, and it was a terrible loss to not only Asian Americans but Americans throughout this country and to all those who believe that those who have never forgotten their roots and their past come to Congress making sure that the idea that equality and opportunities for all Americans, regardless of their background, must be met and must be respected.
In 1965, a labor activist named Philip Vera Cruz organizes a successful strike of fellow Filipino grape pickers in Coachella, California. This gentleman began the movement that leads to the formation of the United Farm Workers of America where eventually Cesar Chevaz became the head leader and recognized for his work and his philosophy of peace and nonviolent activism.
In 1968, there was an ethnic studies strike. Students of color from San Francisco State University and UC Berkley organize a Third World strike. Their efforts led to the creation of ethnic studies departments at both campuses and eventually across this country.
I have to say that because of the work of folks in ethnic studies, which was a movement that did not have much support among the scholastic circles until recently, that we found all this information that would lead to children, present and in the future, being able to understand that Asian Americans are not recent immigrants and Asian Americans have contributed to the development of this country.
Further, the most valuable player in 1969 was a Filipino American. He played for the Los Angeles Rams as a quarterback, and his name was Roman Gabriel. He was recognized as the league's Most Valuable Player.
The first governor in 1974 was a Japanese governor named George Ariyoshi; and he was elected governor of Hawaii, the first APA governor in the United States.
And in 1981, a Chinese American architecture student, Maya Lin, her design was chosen for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in a national competition. She becomes one of the most widely recognized architects in the United States, and her work can be seen here in Washington, D.C., at the Vietnam Memorial.
In 1982, a young man, Vincent Chin, who was celebrating the event of his marriage, was murdered. He was murdered in Detroit, Michigan. Two white auto workers mistook Chin for Japanese and blamed him for the auto industry's woes and the downturn in the economy. He was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. The courts were lenient on the killers, and none of them served a day in jail. This incident became a rallying point for the national APA community. His mom went across this country seeking justice and eventually had some justice through the civil rights law.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).
I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, if I may continue my sharing of information on the chronological order. After the American internment, in 1990 we had a gentleman by the name of Chang-Lin Tien who became the first APA to head a major university in the United States when he was appointed chancellor of the University of Berkeley. He distinguished himself not only because he led the campus as a chancellor but he also became known by the students on that campus, which is quite rare. He also allowed the students to feel that they were part of a community. He was a great proponent of affirmative action. He was a great proponent of making sure that he modeled what it is that he believed by his own personal life. He also was probably the most prodigious and prolific fund-raiser that university system has ever seen. He just passed away a year ago from brain cancer. We shall miss him dearly; but his work and his model, his expectation continues to live in that system and in the State of California.
In 1992, Mr. Speaker, the Los Angeles uprisings took place. The L.A. uprisings followed the verdict in the Rodney King trial. Property loss was valued at $1 billion with Korean American businesses bearing half the damage. Relations between Korean Americans and African Americans became a focal point of community activism. Today when visiting Los Angeles, one will find that the two communities are working hand in hand to make sure that they learn from each other and can grow with each other and that neither one is targeted in times of tension.
In 1996 there was a victory for Asian immigrant women workers. After a 3\1/2\ year national campaign, APA immigrant women and Asian immigrant women advocates reached a historic agreement with clothing manufacturer Jessica McClintock to protect garment laborers.
Mr. Speaker, in 1996 something happened in the State of Washington. Not only can Hawaii boast of an Asian American Governor but also the State of Washington elected its first Asian American Governor, Gary Locke from the State of Washington. He enjoys quite a bit of leadership. Today he is the chair of the Governors association. In 1996, AIDS research reached a point of distinction. A gentleman by the name of David Ho was named Time Magazine's Man of the Year for his work in AIDS research. He developed the protease inhibitor cocktail treatment which adds years to the lives of many AIDS patients. David Ho.
In 1997, there was a woman in space. She was an Asian Pacific American. Astronaut Kalpana Chawla became the first Indo-American and APA woman in space. She died in the breakup of the Columbia Space Shuttle returning to Earth this year, in February 2003.
The first APA man in the Cabinet was selected by President Bill Clinton when he appointed former Congressman Norman Mineta Secretary of Commerce. He is the first APA member of the Presidential Cabinet. Earlier in his career, Mineta was the first APA mayor of a major metropolitan city, San Jose. Then in the next administration under George Bush, George Bush saw fit to ask Norm Mineta to serve as Secretary of Transportation. We are enjoying his leadership currently as Secretary of Transportation.
In 2002, an APA woman legislator by the name of Wilma Chan of Alameda, California, is a State legislator but she rose to the Democratic majority leader of the California State Assembly. There are other firsts, Mr. Speaker. The first Hmong attorney. The Hmongs came from Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War. The Hmongs were scattered throughout this country but eventually assembled both in Fresno, California, and in Minnesota. Mee Moua was a young woman who was an attorney and became the first woman and first Hmong attorney and first member of the Hmong community to be elected to the Minnesota State Senate. Shortly after that, Cy Thao became the first Hmong assemblyman in the State of Minnesota. There is also in the State of Minnesota the first Indo-American, Satveer Chaudhary. He hails from Minnesota, also.
There was the first APA woman in the Cabinet. President George W. Bush appointed Elaine Chao to be Secretary of Labor. She is the very first APA woman to hold a Presidential Cabinet post.
Mr. Speaker, in this country there are many firsts. We have John Liu who is the very first Asian American to sit on the City of New York's city council representing the 20th district.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee). And I yield, Mr. Speaker, to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) for her words and her support not only here in the halls of Congress but also back home in Houston and Texas in general. Her work and the work of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) really just show that there is power in collaboration and being able to work together not only as individuals but as a coalition for the betterment of every American in this country.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to touch a little bit on the internment story of the Japanese Americans in this country. It is a story that needs to be told over and over again because it is not a Japanese American history lesson. It is not a Japanese American experience only. It is not a Japanese American lesson, but it is really rooted deeply in what I would consider an American lesson.
Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 61st anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942; and it is the 15th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 pursuant to which 120,000 Japanese Americans and legal resident aliens were incarcerated in internment camps during World War II. Many of these families lost their property and possessions during the several years they were jailed behind barbed wire.
On February 19, 1976, President Gerald Ford formally rescinded Executive Order 9066; and July 21, 1980, became the beginning of reconciling our past to the present. Congress adopted legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter on July 31, 1980, establishing the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate the claim that the incarceration of Japanese Americans and legal resident aliens during World War II was not justified by military necessity. The outcome of that commission, Mr. Speaker, the commission had held 20 days of hearings and listened to testimony of over 720 witnesses, and published its findings in a report entitled ``Personal Justice Denied.'' The principal finding in 1982 was that the promulgation of Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity and that the decision which followed from it, detention, ending detention and ending exclusion, were not driven by analysis of military conditions, but rather the causes that shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.
With a strong bipartisan vote, Congress passed H.R. 442, the Civil Liberties Act, which states in part: ``For these fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights of these individuals of Japanese ancestry, the Congress apologizes on behalf of the Nation.'' President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act into law on August 10, 1988, at which time he proclaimed: ``This is a great day for America.''
In 1998, as a member of the California State Assembly, I authored the State version of the Civil Liberties Act, understanding that the work was still not done once the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 had expired.
I mention these dates and this timing, Mr. Speaker, because today it is even more important, more important than ever, to speak up against unjust policies. It is also more important than ever to educate Americans of the Japanese American experience during World War II, as well as the experience of other groups like Japanese Latin Americans who were expatriated from their country at the request of our government; and then while they were on the ships on their way to the United States to be interned in Crystal City, Texas, they were stripped of all their papers and became people without a country. And certain German and Italian Americans in this country were also mistreated, many of whom were forced in the middle of the night to leave their homes and pledge allegiance to the Flag in the middle of the night in order to show that to their neighbors, who forced them out, to prove that they were loyal and patriotic Americans during that time.
It is also important to learn the important lessons from our own history in the resolution I introduced, H.R. 56, the Day of Remembrance resolution, which is still in the Committee on the Judiciary. Teaching the lessons of those dark days is more important today than it ever was. By remembering, Executive Order 9066 that was signed on February 19, 1942, does not become an anniversary just on February 19 but is an anniversary that must be remembered and lived and understood every day of the year, every year for the future of this country, because the lessons that were learned were lessons that were principally rooted in the Constitution of this country, the Constitution which was a contract between our government and the people who are here in this country, a contract that is signed on paper called the Declaration of Independence, a contract that is immutable and cannot be
changed and should not be changed, a contract that promises everyone who is in this country due process and the protection of their civil liberties. It is a contract that has been protected. It is a contract that has been fought for and a contract which members of this country who served in the military have shed their blood overseas for, who left their limbs in the islands of the Pacific and on the European continent.
These Americans must be remembered as part of the lessons that we learned from the Japanese American experience that the Constitution is a contract worth protecting and dying for. We must remember that this Constitution was written back in 1776, but yet it is an evolving, growing Constitution that over time has included not only white men with properties but those who used to be slaves; those immigrants whose laws were passed against them which eventually were rescinded became citizens of this country; those immigrants who came just recently after the Vietnam War, and even today people are still seeking to find refuge in this country even at times when we seem to appear to be inhospitable to the immigrants.
Mr. Speaker, the lessons learned during the internment when we thought that we were protecting Japanese Americans for their own safety was actually a myth because if it were true, then as my father used to tell me, he wondered why if we were here for our protection, why would the barbed wires be around us, the machines pointing in on us. And my father used to still tell me, though, that, as I grew up, to be 110 percent American; that we must also remember that the contributions that have been invested in this country of our parents and grandparents are well worth it, that we must also learn that even though this country is faced with challenges since 9-11 that in spite of the war on terrorism that we still have to remember the constitutional principles by which we live.
When 9-11 occurred, the ugly head of racial prejudice appeared again as it did in 1942. Hysteria started to take over some hearts in this country, and as a result people like Balbir Singh Sodhi, an immigrant and a Sikh American from Fremont, California, moved to Mesa, Arizona to start a business there and because he looked like the enemy to the perpetrator, he was murdered and shot there in his store. And then coincidentally another year later, his brother Sukhpal Singh Sodhi was a taxi driver in San Francisco who was shot and murdered in San Francisco merely because he appeared to be a Middle Easterner and those who murdered him thought that they were vindicated because they played upon and acted upon their prejudice and their hysteria and their hatred.
It did not become a wave of murders and hangings here in this country, for I believe that, because of the history that we have been able to share, that many of us checked our fears and checked our emotions and made sure that we did not respond or succumb to our base fears.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that Members of this Congress also participated in making sure that the people of our country remembered and learned from the history of the internment, that racial profiling is unacceptable, and although we are in the throes of fear and the issues of national security that we must exercise our common sense, our good sense, and exercise our understanding of the principles of the Constitution.
We know that after 9/11 and after certain acts were passed, such as the PATRIOT Act, that we must seek the critical balance between civil liberties and private liberties with national security; and the Constitution continues to be tested as we move along, looking towards a possible second PATRIOT Act.
Mr. Speaker, it is my prayer, my hope, that Members of this body remember that Asian Americans were pioneers establishing this country. The Asian Americans were laborers building this country. The Asian Americans are doctors, lawyers, teachers and politicians, providing for the health and welfare of this Nation; and we, like every other American, are red-blooded Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to close with a couple of comments that became a lesson for me personally as I have been here my third year and my experience and seeing the works of the halls of Congress here in Washington, D.C.
I believe that the very basic lesson I have learned is not only from the experience that my community has had in 1942, the kinds of lessons we learned since then and the kinds of teachings that we have learned, but I also started to understand that the last century was a century of wars, a century of conflict, a century of trauma, and that the promise that we have in this new century should be the century of reconciliation and peace.
Now that the Cold War is gone, we have a challenge of facing conflicts in other ways. A wise man once said to me that peace, Mike, is not an absence of conflict, but a way, a manner, in which you can deal with conflict.
So, in closing, the primary lesson I have learned these past few years, Mr. Speaker, is that our Constitution is never tested in times of tranquility, but our Constitution is sorely tested in times of trauma, terror and tragedy, and that the very fiber of the American character and this country should be embodied and should be learned from the very words and the principles and the rights embodied in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to utilize this time to share some of the information that we have had, share some of the information with the general public, and hopefully the records would reflect that Asian Americans in this country came with a dream, they worked hard and participated, they faced barriers and overcame them, and that can only happen over time in a country and a democracy like ours, where evolution and evolving sentiments and policies in this country only lead us forward, that we learn from our mistakes, and that only makes us stronger and better Americans and a greater America.