[Pages S2844-S2845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 214--RECOGNIZING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ASIAN AMERICAN, 
 NATIVE HAWAIIAN, AND PACIFIC ISLANDER 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

  Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Kim, Ms. Collins, Ms. 
Baldwin, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. 
Coons, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Fetterman, Mrs. Gillibrand, 
Ms. Hassan, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
Padilla, Mr. Reed, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Smith, Mr. 
Van Hollen, Mr. Warner, Mr. Warnock, Ms. Warren, and Mr. Wyden) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 214

       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, 
     composed of more than 70 distinct ethnicities and speaking 
     more than 100 language dialects;
       Whereas, according to the Bureau of the Census, the Asian 
     American population grew faster than any other racial or 
     ethnic group over the last decade, growing by nearly 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 more than 25,000,000 residents of the 
     United States who identify as Asian and approximately 
     1,800,000 residents of the United States who identify as 
     Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, making up more than 10 
     percent of the total population of the United States;
       Whereas the month of May was selected for Asian American, 
     Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 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

[[Page S2845]]

     proclamation calling on the people of the United States to 
     observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
     activities;
       Whereas 2025 marks several anniversaries, including--
       (1) the 40th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Discovery 
     Mission STS-51C, crewed by Ellison Shoji Onizuka, the first 
     Asian American in space;
       (2) the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and 
     the beginning of the Southeast Asian diaspora in communities 
     across the United States;
       (3) the 50th anniversary of the completion of the double-
     hulled voyaging canoe, Hokulea, marking the first traditional 
     Polynesian voyaging canoe built in Hawaii in more than 600 
     years;
       (4) the 60th anniversary of the enactment of the Act 
     entitled ``An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality 
     Act, and for other purposes'', approved October 3, 1965 (79 
     Stat. 911), landmark legislation that reversed restrictive 
     immigration policies against immigrants from Asia; and
       (5) the 115th anniversary of the establishment of Angel 
     Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay, California, 
     which served as a major port of entry for immigrants coming 
     to the United States from Asia and the Pacific;
       Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific 
     Islanders have made significant contributions to the United 
     States at all levels of the Federal Government and in the 
     Armed Forces, including--
       (1) Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American elected to 
     Congress;
       (2) Daniel K. Inouye, a Medal of Honor and Presidential 
     Medal of Freedom recipient who, as President pro tempore of 
     the Senate, was the then-highest-ranking Asian American 
     government official in the history of the United States;
       (3) Hiram L. Fong, the first Asian American Senator;
       (4) Patsy T. Mink, the first woman of color and Asian 
     American woman elected to Congress;
       (5) Herbert Y.C. Choy, the first Asian American to serve as 
     a Federal judge;
       (6) Daniel K. Akaka, the first Senator of Native Hawaiian 
     ancestry; and
       (7) Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian American member of a 
     Presidential cabinet;
       Whereas the 119th Congress includes 25 Members of Asian and 
     Pacific Islander descent;
       Whereas, in 2025, the Congressional Asian Pacific American 
     Caucus is composed of 82 Members, and other congressional 
     caucuses work on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 
     Islander issues also;
       Whereas, in 2025, 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, California, Connecticut, 
     Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, 
     Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
     Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New 
     Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, 
     Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, 
     Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and 
     Wyoming; and
       (2) the Territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the 
     Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
       Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific 
     Islanders represent more than 8 percent of Federal judges and 
     hundreds of thousands of Federal employees, including 
     hundreds of staffers of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 
     Islander descent who serve as staff in the Senate and the 
     House of Representatives;
       Whereas the incidence of hate crimes against Asian 
     Americans continues to be above levels observed before the 
     COVID-19 pandemic;
       Whereas discrimination against Asian Americans, especially 
     in moments of crisis, is not a new phenomenon, and violence 
     against Asian Americans has occurred throughout United States 
     history, including--
       (1) the enactment of the Act entitled ``An Act 
     supplementary to the Acts in relation to Immigration'', 
     approved March 3, 1875 (commonly referred to as the ``Page 
     Act of 1875'') (18 Stat. 477, chapter 141), which restricted 
     entry of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian women to the 
     United States and effectively prohibited the immigration of 
     Chinese women, preventing the formation of Chinese families 
     in the United States and limiting the number of native-born 
     Chinese citizens;
       (2) the enactment of the Act entitled ``An Act to execute 
     certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese'', approved 
     May 6, 1882 (commonly known as the ``Chinese Exclusion Act of 
     1882'') (22 Stat. 58, chapter 126), which was the first law 
     to explicitly exclude an entire ethnic group from immigrating 
     to the United States;
       (3) the issuance of Executive Order 9066 (7 Fed. Reg. 1407; 
     relating to authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe 
     military areas) on February 19, 1942, which authorized the 
     forced relocation and incarceration of approximately 125,000 
     individuals of Japanese ancestry during World War II, the 
     majority of whom were citizens of the United States;
       (4) on June 23, 1982, the murder of Vincent Chin;
       (5) on January 17, 1989, the Cleveland Elementary School 
     shooting in which 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, Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Americans 
     following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the 
     Pentagon on September 11, 2001;
       (7) on August 5, 2012, the mass shooting at a Sikh temple 
     in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which a white supremacist fatally 
     shot 6 people and wounded 4 others; and
       (8) on March 16, 2021, the murder of 8 people, including 6 
     Asian women, at 3 separate Asian-owned businesses in the 
     Atlanta, Georgia, region;
       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; 135 Stat. 265), 
     which was signed into law on May 20, 2021;
       Whereas, in celebration of the contributions of Asian 
     Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the 
     United States, Congress passed the Commission To Study the 
     Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific 
     American History and Culture Act (Public Law 117-140; 136 
     Stat. 1259) to establish a commission to study the creation 
     of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and 
     Culture, which was signed into law on June 13, 2022;
       Whereas, as part of the American Women Quarters Program, 
     the United States Mint has issued commemorative quarters 
     honoring the contributions of--
       (1) Chinese American film star Anna May Wong;
       (2) Native Hawaiian composer and cultural advocate Edith 
     Kanaka`ole;
       (3) Japanese American Congresswoman Patsy Mink; and
       (4) Korean American disability justice advocate Stacey Park 
     Milbern;
       Whereas, as part of the Native American $1 Coin Program, 
     the United States Mint has issued a commemorative $1 coin 
     honoring the contributions of Mary Kawena Pukui, a renowned 
     Native Hawaiian scholar, anthropologist, ethnographer, 
     author, composer, dancer, and educator whose work ensured the 
     preservation and perpetuation of the Native Hawaiian 
     language, history, and culture;
       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 Federal Government and 
     continue to advance in the political landscape of the United 
     States; and
       Whereas celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and 
     Pacific Islander 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
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the significance of Asian American, Native 
     Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 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 enhance the rich diversity of 
     and strengthen the United States.

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