117 HRES 1083 IH: Recognizing the significance of “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month” in May as an important time to celebrate the significant contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States.
U.S. House of Representatives
2022-05-03
text/xml
EN
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IV
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1083
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 3, 2022
Ms. Chu (for herself, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Sablan, Mr. Bera, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Takano, Ms. Speier, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Sánchez, Ms. Bourdeaux, Mr. Correa, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Meng, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Barragán, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Kahele, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Velázquez, Mr. Trone, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Case, Mrs. Napolitano, and Ms. Jayapal) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the significance of “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month” in May as an important time to celebrate the significant contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States.
Whereas the people of the United States join together each May to pay tribute to the contributions of generations of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders who have enriched the history of the United States;
Whereas the history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the United States is inextricably tied to the story of the United States;
Whereas the Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community is an inherently diverse population, comprised of over 45 distinct ethnicities and over 100 language dialects;
Whereas, according to the United States Census Bureau, the Asian-American population grew faster than any other racial or ethnic group over the last decade, surging 55.5 percent between 2010 and 2020, and during that same time period, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population grew by 30.8 percent;
Whereas there are approximately 24,000,000 residents of the United States who identify as Asian and approximately 1,600,000 residents of the United States who identify as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, making up over 7 percent of the total United States population;
Whereas the month of May was selected for “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month” because the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States on May 7, 1843, and the first transcontinental railroad was completed on May 10, 1869, with substantial contributions from Chinese immigrants;
Whereas section 102 of title 36, United States Code, officially designates May as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month” and requests the President to issue an annual proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities;
Whereas 2022 marks several important milestones for the Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community, including—
(1)
the 140th anniversary of the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred the entry of Chinese immigrants to the United States for more than half a century and spurred a series of anti-immigrant policies targeting immigration from the Asia-Pacific region;
(2)
the 40th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American man beaten to death in Michigan by two White men angered by layoffs in the auto industry;
(3)
the 30th anniversary of Public Law 102–450, which designated the month of May as “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month”; and
(4)
the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions program, which was authorized under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007;
Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have made significant contributions to the United States at all levels of the Federal Government and the United States Armed Forces, including—
(1)
Daniel K. Inouye, a Medal of Honor and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient who, as President pro tempore of the Senate, was the highest ranking Asian-American government official in the history of the United States;
(2)
Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian-American Congressman;
(3)
Patsy T. Mink, the first woman of color and Asian-American woman to be elected to Congress;
(4)
Hiram L. Fong, the first Asian-American Senator;
(5)
Daniel K. Akaka, the first Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry;
(6)
Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian-American member of a Presidential Cabinet;
(7)
Elaine L. Chao, the first Asian-American woman member of a Presidential Cabinet; and
(8)
Kamala Devi Harris, the first Asian-American Vice President of the United States;
Whereas the 117th Congress includes a record 21 Members of Asian or Pacific Islander descent;
Whereas, in 2022, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, a bicameral caucus of Members of Congress advocating on behalf of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, is composed of 76 members;
Whereas, in 2022, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders are serving in State and Territorial legislatures across the United States in record numbers, including in—
(1)
the States of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming; and
(2)
the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
Whereas, in 2022, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders honorably serve at all levels of the Federal judiciary;
Whereas, since March 2020, there has been a dramatic increase in reports of anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents related to the COVID–19 pandemic, and in that time period—
(1)
there has been a 339-percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2021, and a 124-percent increase in 2020;
(2)
there have been over 11,000 hate incidents that have been reported since the start of the pandemic, according to Stop AAPI Hate, and countless others that have not been reported;
(3)
in the Atlanta, Georgia, region on March 16, 2021, 8 people were murdered, including 6 Asian women, at 3 separate Asian-owned businesses; and
(4)
1 in 5 Asian Americans (21.2 percent) and Pacific Islanders (20.0 percent) reported experiencing a hate incident in 2021, according to Stop AAPI Hate;
Whereas discrimination targeting Asian Americans, especially in moments of crisis, is not a new phenomenon and has occurred throughout United States history, including—
(1)
the Page Act of 1875, which prohibited Chinese-American women from immigrating to the United States;
(2)
the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was the first law to explicitly name an entire ethnic group for exclusion from immigrating to the United States;
(3)
the signing of Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which authorized the relocation and incarceration of approximately 120,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry during World War II, the majority of whom were United States citizens;
(4)
the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 by two White autoworkers who mistakenly believed that Chin was Japanese and blamed him for the loss of their jobs due to the rise of the Japanese automotive industry;
(5)
the Cleveland Elementary School shooting on January 17, 1989, where a gunman used an AK–47 to kill 5 children, 4 of whom were of Southeast Asian descent;
(6)
the rise in discrimination and violence against Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian Americans following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; and
(7)
the mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on August 5, 2012, where a White supremacist fatally shot 6 people and wounded 4 others;
Whereas, in response to the uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes throughout the COVID–19 pandemic, Congress passed the COVID–19 Hate Crimes Act (Public Law 117–13), which was signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden on May 20, 2021;
Whereas there remains much to be done to ensure that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have access to resources and a voice in the government of the United States and continue to advance in the political landscape of the United States; and
Whereas celebrating “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month” provides the people of the United States with an opportunity to recognize the achievements, contributions, and history of, and to understand the challenges faced by, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives—
(1)
recognizes the significance of “Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month” as an important time to celebrate the significant contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States; and
(2)
recognizes that Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities strengthen and enhance the rich diversity of the United States.