September 17, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 161 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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CONDEMNING ALL FORMS OF ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT AS RELATED TO COVID-19; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 161
(House of Representatives - September 17, 2020)
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[Pages H4495-H4508] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CONDEMNING ALL FORMS OF ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT AS RELATED TO COVID-19 Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1107, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 908) condemning all forms of anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19, and ask for its immediate consideration. The Clerk read the title of the resolution. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Tlaib). Pursuant to House Resolution 1107, the resolution is considered read. The text of the resolution is as follows: H. Res. 908 Whereas 23,000,000 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders account for 7 percent of the Nation's population in the United States; Whereas over 2,000,000 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are working on the frontlines of this COVID-19 pandemic in health care, law enforcement, first responders, transportation, supermarkets, and other service industries; Whereas the use of anti-Asian terminology and rhetoric related to COVID-19, such as the ``Chinese Virus'', ``Wuhan Virus'', and ``Kung-flu'' have perpetuated anti-Asian stigma; Whereas since January 2020, there has been a dramatic increase in reports of hate crimes and incidents against those of Asian descent; Whereas according to a recent study, there were over 400 cases related to COVID-19 anti-Asian discrimination between February 9, 2020, and March 7, 2020; Whereas the increased use of anti-Asian rhetoric has resulted in Asian Americans being harassed, assaulted, and scapegoated for the COVID-19 pandemic; Whereas in March 2020, anti-Asian violence includes: a woman wearing a mask was kicked and punched at a New York City subway station; two children and two adults were stabbed at a wholesale grocery in Midland, Texas; a couple was assaulted and robbed by a group of attackers in Philadelphia; and a 16-year-old boy was sent to the hospital after being attacked by bullies in Los Angeles, California; Whereas the increased use of anti-Asian rhetoric has also resulted in Asian-American businesses being targeted for vandalism; Whereas there are approximately 2 million Asian American- owned businesses that generate over $700 billion in annual revenue and employ nearly 4.5 million workers; Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognize that naming COVID-19 by its geographic location or linking it to a specific ethnicity perpetuates stigma; Whereas in 2015, the WHO issued guidance calling on media outlets, scientists, and national authorities to avoid naming infectious diseases for locations to avoid stigmatizing groups of people; Whereas, on February 27, 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services stated ``ethnicity is not what causes the novel coronavirus'' and that it is inappropriate and inaccurate to call COVID-19 the ``Chinese virus''; Whereas, on February 28, 2020, Dr. Mitch Wolfe, the Chief Medical Officer of the CDC said, ``Stigma is the enemy of public health''; Whereas, on March 10, 2020, Dr. Robert Redfield, the Director of the CDC, testified that use of the term ``Chinese coronavirus'' is wrong and inappropriate; and Whereas the Secretary General of the United Nations called for international solidarity and an end to any ill-founded discrimination of the outbreak's victims: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) calls on all public officials to condemn and denounce any and all anti-Asian sentiment in any form; (2) recognizes that the health and safety of all Americans, no matter their background, must be of utmost priority; (3) condemns all manifestations of expressions of racism, xenophobia, discrimination, anti-Asian sentiment, scapegoating, and ethnic or religious intolerance; (4) calls on Federal law enforcement officials, working with State and local officials-- (A) to expeditiously investigate and document all credible reports of hate crimes and incidents and threats against the Asian-American community in the United States; (B) to collect data to document the rise of incidences of hate crimes due to COVID-19; and (C) to hold the perpetrators of those crimes, incidents, or threats accountable and bring such perpetrators to justice; and (5) recommits United States leadership in building more inclusive, diverse, and tolerant societies-- (A) to prioritize language access and inclusivity in communication practices; and (B) to combat misinformation and discrimination that put Asian Americans at risk. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution shall be debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the [[Page H4496]] chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York. General Leave Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 908. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New York? There was no objection. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 908, a resolution condemning all forms of anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19. Among other things, the resolution, introduced by my colleague from New York, Representative Grace Meng, calls upon all public officials to condemn and denounce anti-Asian sentiment, and it calls on Federal law enforcement officials to investigate and document all credible reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans, to collect data on the rise of hate crimes incidents due to COVID-19, and to hold perpetrators accountable. The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing crisis for our country. Over 6.6 million Americans have been infected, and almost 200,000 have died from COVID-19. It has upended the lives of almost every American in some way, and it will continue to do so for some time as we brace for a potential second wave of infections. On top of bearing the burdens that the pandemic has imposed on all Americans, Asian Americans have been forced to carry the added anxiety of confronting racial prejudice, including racially motivated harassment and violence stemming from the stigma that has unfairly associated them with COVID-19 because of the virus' origin in China, a stigma that has been reinforced by rhetoric suggesting such a link. According to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, since March 19, there have been almost 2,600 cases of anti-Asian discrimination related to COVID-19. According to the resolution, at the pandemic's earliest stage in this country, between February 9 and March 7, there were over 400 such incidents. These include the stabbings of an Asian-American father and two young children, ages 2 and 6, in Texas. Public health entities, including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have recognized that labeling a virus by geographic or ethnic terms unfairly stigmatizes certain communities and ultimately harms public health. For this reason, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar rightly condemned the use of the phrase ``Chinese virus'' in testimony before the Ways and Means Committee, stating that: ``Ethnicity it is not what causes the novel coronavirus.'' It is incumbent on all public figures, including elected officials like us, to publicly condemn bigotry and the stigmatization of racial or ethnic groups unfairly targeted for blame. We must speak out clearly against such attitudes and acts of hate whenever they occur, but particularly in the face of public panic or fear during a national emergency, when society can be especially vulnerable to racist appeals and prejudices. While many public figures have admirably sought to end COVID-19- related animosity, some, unfortunately, appear not to share the same sense of moral duty. Rather than using their bully pulpits to confront prejudice and racial hatred, they have instead chosen repeatedly to use derogatory and prejudicial phrases and remarks, reinforcing the exclusion and stigmatization of Asian Americans in the face of a national crisis, a tactic that sadly has a long and ugly history in our country. Left unchecked, this type of rhetoric has, in the past, led to grave injustices like the Chinese Exclusion Act and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. In the year 2020, condemning bigotry and racial scapegoating should not be hard for any Member of this House to do. It is long past time to leave the days of yellow peril hysteria and unjustified blame of the other behind. The House can take an important step in that direction by passing H. Res. 908 unanimously. I urge strong support for this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, we oppose this legislation. Everyone knows racism is wrong, but that is not what this legislation is about. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins). Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, let's be clear. There is no denying where the virus originated. It was China. There is no denying the Chinese Communist Party has done everything in its power to cover up their role in the ongoing pandemic, intentionally misleading the global community and forcing their friends in the World Health Organization to do their bidding. That being said, how is that Democrats are still refusing to acknowledge China's role in the coronavirus pandemic? Just recently, a Chinese virologist acknowledged that the coronavirus was released from a Chinese lab in Wuhan. Are we just to pretend that didn't exist or is not even a possibility? It seems like the route the Democrats would like us to take is to pretend that the Communists in China absolutely played no role in the global pandemic and blame it all on the President. To be clear, Madam Speaker, all forms of racism and discrimination are abhorrent, including anti-Asian sentiment. If that is what we were talking about today, that would be even better. But this is not what we are talking about today. The underlying tone, even from the chairman, is discussing how we deal with this in words. I have stood on this floor several times over the past year-and-a-half in denouncing all forms of hatred on both sides. But let's be honest. That is not what this bill is really about. This bill is exactly what this entire Congress has been about the entire time: Democrats ignoring the real issues plaguing Americans, just for the opportunity to criticize President Trump. Despite their overwhelming failure to undermine the Trump administration through the Russian collusion hoax and the sham impeachment, the Democratic playbook has not changed at all. Now, a little over 6 weeks from the election, Democrats are leaning on the global crisis to continue their admonitions, all at the expense of American families and businesses desperate for relief. Democrats have taken no issue in ignoring the coronavirus' effects on the ground in favor of criticizing the President, and no criticism is more dynamic than their collective offense at President Trump calling the virus the ``China virus'' or the ``Wuhan virus.'' Democrats would love for the American people to forget the work that the administration has done to tackle the virus, including shutting down travel for China in the early days of the virus. Instead of applauding the move, Democrats and Joe Biden accused the Trump administration and President Trump of fanning the flames of hate, fear, and xenophobia, when his actual actions kept others from getting it and kept it from spreading because it was coming from China. For the last 3 years, Democrats have repeatedly claimed that Russia must have something on Donald Trump. The real question is, frankly, during a presidential election, what does the Chinese Communist Party have on Joe Biden? Democrats would also love for the American people to forget that many viruses are named for where they originated. Take the Spanish flu, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Ebola, and German measles. Because the Democrats seem to be so bankrupt on this floor of bringing bills and real solutions forward, maybe the next 2 weeks we are up here, we are going to have one on the German measles and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. That is all we are doing, wasting the people's time with this right here. If you want to work on politics, go outside the Capitol, not here on the floor of this House. [[Page H4497]] President Trump and Republicans have made it clear where the blame of this virus begins. It begins and ends with the Chinese Communist Party and their refusal to acknowledge the problem they had and let it go into all the world. Refusing to acknowledge that fact is wrong, and failing to address it in the House, in favor of political messaging bills like this, is nothing more than political attempts to take down this President. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline). Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, last March, as the COVID-19 pandemic first began to affect our day-to-day lives, the FBI warned that we could soon see a rise in hate crimes committed against Asian Americans. In this moment, President Trump could have tried to bring Americans together. That is not the path he chose. Instead, the President has poured gasoline on the fire, using terms like ``kung flu'' and ``China virus.'' The White House has stoked racial tensions and fed into our country's worst xenophobic impulses. From March until June of this year, our country saw more than 2,100 reported hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. More than 3 in 10 Asian Americans now say that they have been the subject of slurs or racist jokes since the start of this pandemic. These slurs and jokes aren't just words. They are actions designed to make Asian Americans feel less than equal, and they have no place in this country. But that is the reality of life in Donald Trump's America. This administration has tried to turn back the clock on racial equality. This administration has demeaned, belittled, and ostracized nearly every minority community. Today, the House is saying no more. We will not stand by as this administration attacks innocent men, women, and children of Asian descent. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this excellent resolution. {time} 0930 Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Posey). Mr. POSEY. Madam Speaker, I was hopeful that this resolution would lead us to common ground. None of us here believes in discriminating against our fellow Asian-American neighbors. On March 23, President Trump said the Asian-American community ought to be ``totally protected'' in light of the xenophobic attacks during the coronavirus pandemic. ``It is very important that we totally protect our Asian-American community in the United States and all around the world,'' President Trump tweeted. ``They're amazing people, and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form,'' he said. ``They're working closely with us to get rid of it,'' the President added. ``We will prevail together.'' I have restauranteurs in my district who suffered from bullies because of their heritage, so I asked my staff to prepare a resolution to echo the President's sentiments. My staff reported to me that such a resolution already existed, H. Res. 908, ostensibly to protect Asian Americans. On April 7, I signed onto what I considered to be a good faith effort to protect Asian Americans. I am more than saddened to see that this resolution and today's debate is being used for nothing more than to malign and vilify the President of the United States, just as the President and congressional Republicans have been called domestic enemies in the last couple of days. I would hope for more, but, sadly, this body has chosen to take the low road. This debate has devolved into finger-pointing, name-calling, and scoring political points. Rather than reaching a high watermark for bringing us all together, it has further ripped apart the fabric of America. I am deeply disappointed and will not be a party to today's partisan exercise that is more about scoring political points than rebuilding America. We should be working together to help all Americans recover, to investigate COVID-19, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world, trillions lost and trillions more spent responding to COVID. Lives and dreams have been shattered. We have a duty to all Americans to find a cure, to get to the bottom of just how this pandemic started, and to do what we can to prevent it from happening ever again in the future. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Krishnamoorthi). Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI. Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H. Res. 908, condemning all forms of anti-Asian sentiment related to COVID-19. Since this pandemic began, there have been thousands and thousands of reports of discrimination and xenophobic attacks against Asian Americans in the United States, including in my district, which has one of the highest concentrations of Asian Americans in the country. As an Asian American myself, this is deeply personal and offensive to me. When people, including those in the White House, refer to COVID-19 as the Chinese virus or the kung-flu, they encourage bigotry or discrimination against Asian Americans. To put it simply, promoting anti-Asian-American sentiment or anti- Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19 is un-American, which is why I am proud to cosponsor this resolution and encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes.'' Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, again, we all know racism is wrong, but that is not what this is about. This is just another effort of the Democrats to attack the President. The third whereas in the resolution, the gentlemen just spoke about this. The third whereas in the resolution says you perpetuate anti- Asian bias if you use the terms ``Chinese virus'' or ``Wuhan virus.'' Well, someone should have told the media this. CNN called it the Wuhan virus. MSNBC called it the Chinese coronavirus. ABC and CBS called it China's coronavirus. CNBC called it the China coronavirus. So someone should have told the media that you couldn't use these terms. Frankly, someone should have told the Democrats a few months ago that a few months later the mob, the cancel culture, would say this is a term you can't use, because the Democrats used it on their committee notice. In the January 29, 2020, committee notice, House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation, Congressman Barrett, the chairman, says in the subject line of the hearing for the following week: ``Subject: The Wuhan coronavirus.'' Someone should have told the Democrats you can't use that term, but in the new woke world you can't state the truth. And as Mr. Collins pointed out: Did the virus start in China? Yes. Did the virus start in Wuhan, China? Yes. Did China lie to the United States about the severity and the origins of this virus? Yes. Did China lie to the world about the virus? Yes, they did. Did the World Health Organization lie to the United States? Yes, they did. Did the World Health Organization lie to the rest of the world? The answer to every single one of those questions is yes. But you can't say that, not in this world, not in the politically correct cancel culture. You can't state the truth. You can't state that the Chinese Government launched a disinformation campaign to cover up its role in exacerbating the spread of COVID-19. You can't say the coverup included punishing doctors, limiting the access of journalists, censoring the internet, spreading disinformation, and withholding information from the entire international community. You can't say that. You can't say a Chinese Government official publicly and falsely claimed that the United States Army brought it to Wuhan, the Chinese Government failed to institute a full-scale public response, and underreporting of COVID-19 cases and deaths propelled the virus on the course that it has been on. You can't say all that. You could a few months ago. You could have a few months ago, but you can't today. That is the cancel culture world. That is how the mob operates today. You used to be able to say, as Mr. Collins pointed out, the West Nile virus, the Zika virus, German measles, Spanish flu. Not today. Not today. They will attack you if you don't say it [[Page H4498]] the way they want you to say it, and this is dangerous. You can't say China virus today, and tomorrow who knows what it will be. But, like I said, a few months ago, even the Democrat committee chairman used the very term that is in their resolution they are saying you can't use today because somehow it is anti-Asian bias. I think it has more to do with the fact that we are 7 weeks before an election, and this is one more way to go after the President. But we should all remember, this is dangerous when you start saying certain things can't be said. If you don't say it the way we, the politically correct, the cancel culture mob wants you to say it, you have to be quiet. Silence is the biggest threat to the First Amendment, and that is what we are seeing. And they want to just say--this is broader, this is bigger. I would say look at the sports world. Look at the sports world. Drew Brees says you should stand for the national anthem; he gets attacked. Mike Gundy, football coach at Oklahoma State, goes fishing with his kids and wears what the mob says is the wrong T-shirt; he almost loses his job. He wore a T-shirt that had a conservative news outlet on the T-shirt. Oh, my goodness. You can't coach football if you wear the wrong T-shirt with your kids, according to the mob. You can't say a term today that just a few months ago they used on their committee notice. You can't say it today because that is what the mob says. James Harden says ``Back the Blue'' on a mask. He has to answer for that. Last week, two high school football players--on 9/11--ran on the field with a Back the Blue flag and a flag supporting our firefighters, and they get suspended because today the mob says that is not okay. We need to understand the cancel culture restricting, limiting, telling you what you can and can't say is so darn dangerous, and it will never stop, because the mob never--it never quits. You don't believe me? Two weeks ago--2 weeks ago--the mayor of this city, our Nation's Capital, has a proposal to remove and relocate the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. This is how ridiculous--this is how ridiculous it gets. And maybe I will just finish with this. Maybe the most ridiculous thing is the last clause, the last page of their resolution. The last page says: ``recommits United States leadership in building more inclusive, diverse, and tolerant societies . . . to combat misinformation. . . .'' Now, think about this for a second. If you state the truth, the virus started in China, you are a bad guy. You are not allowed to state the truth. This resolution says that is misinformation. The very misinformation that happened was China misinforming the world, lying to the world. You are not allowed to talk about that. You have to do what--this resolution says you have to do it the politically correct, the woke way, the cancel culture way, and that is why this is so darn wrong, so darn wrong. I hope we don't continue to travel down this road. This is scary where the left wants to take the country, so dangerous for the First Amendment and free speech rights. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Kim). Mr. KIM. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this resolution and in strong opposition to the rise of hate crimes and acts of racism toward Americans of Asian descent. We all know that these are divisive times. They are tough times. Hateful language, petty name-calling, and acts of violence are not the way for us to get through these tough times. This resolution allows Congress to come together to speak with one voice, that hate targeted at the Asian-American community has no place in this country and must be condemned. I am especially proud to speak here today with so many of my AAPI colleagues. Many of us have been the victims of these hateful and harmful actions. We have seen firsthand the vitriol of racism. We have felt the sting of the distrustful look or a harsh word. I hope you will join me today in acknowledging the impact of racism and forcefully renouncing it. I hope you will join me here today in calling on unity and calling out division. And I hope you will join me here today in passing a resolution that can remind us that even in the darkest times we are strongest when we reject hate and embrace America's diversity. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs), the chairman of the Freedom Caucus. Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I join in condemning racial discrimination of all kinds. It should never be tolerated. I wish we had the perfect society and everybody recognized everybody in a colorblind way, but what this bill does today is it doesn't address that. When I heard the chairman of the Judiciary Committee just refer to calling the virus that originated in China the Wuhan prefecture, when I heard him say that this is somehow equivalent to the Chinese Immigration Exclusion Act or somehow equivalent to the Japanese internment camp experience that we had where over 100,000 Japanese were removed from their homes and taken to camps, I said: This really is the woke culture on steroids. This has gone beyond. If this would have been a condemnation of anti-Asian discrimination, I probably would have been right there signing this. I lived in northeast Asia for 2 years. I speak Japanese. I have traveled extensively in Asia. This doesn't address that. What it does is says: You know what, we want to do something when we are about 6 weeks out from an election. That is what this resolution is about. You can't tell the truth here. Let's just recite some of the things we know: The West Nile virus, that is because that virus emerged from the West Nile district of Uganda, 1930. The Saint Louis encephalitis virus broke out around St. Louis in 1933. The Japanese encephalitis virus broke out in Japan in 1870. {time} 0945 Coxsackie, New York State; Marburg, Germany; Hendra, Australia, all have viruses named after them. You will always have the ignorant who act out on racial animus. We condemn that. But let's tell the truth. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus in 2012. We call that ``MERS.'' This week we learned from Chinese virologist Dr. Li-Meng Yan that not only did this virus originate in China, but it may have been manufactured and released intentionally by the Chinese Communist Party. So when the media refers to this as the ``Wuhan virus'' or the ``China virus,'' and other officials, including folks from this party over here, it is not because they have an existing racist sentiment, but it is rather to describe its origination as has been done historically. This resolution today is even more than a measure to appease the woke and tolerant and politically correct leftists. It is an attack on President Trump and all who support President Trump. It is a crying shame that you can't take the actual issue that you want to address and address it. You have to expand it that way for political purposes. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee). Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and also for his tremendous leadership. And also, I acknowledge Representative Meng for spearheading this important resolution. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 908 to condemn all forms of anti-Asian hate speech related to COVID-19. Now, this pandemic is leading to an alarming rate of hateful speech directed at people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States. And the truth is, as an African American, I know what hate and racism is and I know the violence that results. And the facts are: Since March, there have been over 2,500 reported cases of anti-Asian discrimination related to COVID-19, including over 1,100 cases in my home State of California. At the same time, by no accident or coincidence, the White House continues to refer to COVID-19 as the [[Page H4499]] ``China virus'' and ``kung flu'' trying to shift attention and blame away from this administration's inadequate response and poor leadership. They would rather scapegoat Asian Americans, exacerbating anti-Asian hate and violence. Congress needs to send a clear message that we will stand with our AAPI community, especially during these challenging times, to fight bigotry and racism within our country. Hate speech does lead to violence and discrimination. That is the truth. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Takano). Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to condemn the xenophobic anti-Asian rhetoric that President Trump and his allies have been using to distract us from their woefully inadequate response to COVID-19. By referring to COVID-19 almost exclusively as the ``China virus,'' the President is fueling racism and inspiring violent attacks on Asian Americans and Asian immigrants. Rather than condemning this divisive language and unifying our Nation in response to the pandemic, my Republican colleagues are blindly following suit. This partisanship is so pervasive that Congresswoman Meng's simple resolution condemning this anti-Asian sentiment could not be passed unanimously out of this Chamber. This is a disgrace. A disgrace. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a defining moment in our Nation's history. Instead of unifying to confront this disease head-on, Republicans have instead weaponized this to revive the racist blemishes of the past. Madam Speaker, I urge passage of this resolution. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Kelly of Illinois). Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Was it a disgrace a few months ago when the Democratic chairman called it the `` Wuhan coronavirus,'' or is it just a disgrace now when we are less than 7 weeks before an election and you guys want to continue to attack the President? Which is it? Because it can't be a disgrace just now when you used the exact same language that the Democrat chairman, the Democrat staff used for their subcommittee hearing. So you can get all fired up and start yelling at us, but the truth is you guys used it, the same terms you are now saying, oh, are so bad in this resolution. The hypocrisy from the left and the mob of what you can say today and can't say tomorrow is ridiculous, and the American people see it. They see it. They know this is complete BS. They know it is completely about the election, which is 7 weeks away. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington). Mr. ARRINGTON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my dear friend from Ohio, for yielding. I am listening to my colleagues and the recent speaker. Where is that passion, where is that indignation over the violent mobs that are terrorizing our communities, that are assaulting our law enforcement officers? People are being killed in cold blood in once great American cities, and not nigh a word is said in this great Chamber about what is happening to our fellow Americans whose rights are being trampled. Instead, they want to hyperventilate over this pettiness. We know what it is about, and the American people know what it is about, Madam Speaker. They know good and well this is about scoring political points. They have seen it over and over, day in and day out for the last 2 years under the Pelosi leadership of this great representative body; obstruction, more political theater, and just dividing us. This is dividing our country. This is opportunism like I have never seen before. You can't refer to a virus by its place of origin? We have been doing that for time immemorial. And now we can't call it the ``Chinese virus,'' somehow that is offensive? This is about dividing our country. This is about stoking the flames of racial dissension. It is un-American. It is unacceptable for our leaders to do what is happening today. I trust the American people; they are watching this. This is the stark contrast in leadership that we have been talking about. Do you want more of this, America? Do you want more resolutions to condemn calling the virus the ``Wuhan virus?'' Or do you want to condemn what is happening in Portland, in Seattle, and the rise in crime and the mass exodus by our police officers, who feel that they have jeopardized their livelihoods and their lives? We have disrespected them. We have demonized them. What are we doing in this Chamber? God save the Union. God have mercy that we can't just come together, solve a few problems, I don't know, like the unprecedented crisis that we are facing to get our fellow American citizens and families back on their feet. To hold China accountable for what they have done. There are real problems to solve, and I want to work with my colleagues. And they know we condemn racism. They know we don't stand for making light of something so serious. But they are seizing on this political opportunistic moment. It is the wrong time. They are on the wrong side of history here, Madam Speaker. And the ultimate judge of what happens today in this Chamber and what has happened over the last 2 years will be in the hands of we the people. And that is my faith, that is my confidence. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case). Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, and back to the subject of the resolution on the floor, which is discrimination against any and all Americans on the basis of their race. As the proud Representative of the State and district with the highest percentage of Asian Americans in this country, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 908 to condemn any and all forms of anti- Asian discrimination during and beyond this terrible pandemic. Our country confronts not only the novel coronavirus but also a virus of racism and hate. We cannot allow the one to feed off the other. On behalf of all Americans, we have a moral responsibility to call out and condemn this wave of racist hate speech, harassment, discrimination, and physical violence driven by fear, disinformation, and even purposeful exploitation. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this resolution without reservation and speak out against racism against any group in any form at any time. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski). Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, after 9/11, President Bush never once called terrorism a Muslim virus or an Arab virus or a Saudi virus. He made clear that the enemy was not the place where the terrorists came from or the people who lived there, but terrorism itself. He did that because it was right and because he knew that equating the evil of al- Qaida with an entire faith or nationality or country was exactly what our enemies wanted. So today, when prominent people in our country, whether they are Republicans or Democrats, or anybody in the media, encourage Americans to call COVID the ``China virus,'' language that seems to blame this pandemic on a country and a people, they are not only doing something wrong, something that has already encouraged violence and discrimination against Asian Americans, they are playing right into the hands of a Chinese Communist Party that wants Asian Americans to feel unwanted and unsafe in America. Now, if you want to blame this on the Chinese Government, sign me up. If you want to blame them or anybody else for lying to the American people, sign me up. But if you are going to give this virus a nationality, you are doing something wrong. And if you don't see the difference between those two things, then you don't understand what is going on in this country in this moment of division, this moment of danger that we face. Madam Speaker, I am proud to support this resolution condemning anti- [[Page H4500]] Asian rhetoric in any form. I ask my colleagues to vote for it, and I urge them to live up to it. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Cisneros). Mr. CISNEROS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution condemning all forms of anti-Asian sentiment related to COVID-19. The AAPI community in the 39th District has been an integral part of fighting the coronavirus. They are first responders, essential workers, educators, and small business owners. Yet there have been too many stories in my district and across the country of racism, discrimination, and physical and verbal assault towards Asian Americans. I had the opportunity to hear some of these stories during one of my town halls, including the emotional encounter of a constituent from Brea, California. This young woman was unable to pick up her mother's prescription drugs due to racist aggressive remarks she received that were directed towards her. She left, running away in tears. This resolution will assure that cases like hers are justly investigated and receive the attention they deserve. I thank my colleague Representative Meng for her leadership, and I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this resolution to ensure protection, safety, and respect for our AAPI community. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green). Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding the time. Madam Speaker, on this Constitution Day we will do well to heed the words of Dr. King when he reminded us that the ultimate measure of the person is not where the person stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where do you stand in times of challenge and controversy? Where do you stand when racism and anti-Semitism and anti-Asian sentiments are emanating from the highest office in the land? Where do you stand? {time} 1000 I stand with the business owner who is losing business, and some have gone out of business because of this kind of hateful violence emanating from words. I stand with the mother who has to console her child who comes home from school and who has been bullied. I stand with the child who has been bullied who comes home crying. I stand with the people of my congressional district and across this land who happen to be of Asian ancestry. I stand against racism. It is easy to say: ``I am against racism. I condemn racism.'' But when will you condemn the racist? When will you condemn the racist when it is emanating from the highest office in the land? This is Constitution Day. I close with these words from Emily Dickinson. The truest measure of the person, I have reminded you, but Dickinson reminded us that: ``A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day.'' These words live; they take on meanings; they impact people; and they cause harms. It is time for us to take a stand. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the import of this resolution could not be more clear. Anti-Asian sentiment will not be tolerated. Anti-Semitism will not be tolerated. Discrimination against anyone will not be tolerated. When language comes consistently from the White House, from other places that stoke anti-Asian sentiment, that stoke racism, this cannot be tolerated. And this House must declare that we will not tolerate it. This House must be on record against the use of language designed to stoke racism, against the use of language designed to pick out a particular ethnic group--in this case Asians, but it is the same as if it picked out a different ethnic group. No ethnic group should be the target of such obloquy, of such racism, of such opposition from the White House. None. It is unconscionable that we have to stand here and oppose the White House stoking anti-Asian sentiment. It is unconscionable that the White House would do such a thing. But if it does such a thing, then it is incumbent on this House to denounce it. It is incumbent on this House to make sure that the American people know that we do not stand with anyone, whether in the White House or anyplace else, who stokes deliberately anti-Asian sentiment. We cannot abide, we must not abide, the use of public office, the use of public facilities, the use of the public microphone to stoke anti- Asian sentiment, no more than we would tolerate it if it were stoking anti-Black sentiment or anti-Semitic sentiment. None of this is tolerable. We must not permit this. So, I say again, it cannot be allowed that, on the floor of this House, we do not denounce the use of public resources, the use of the White House, the use of public resources to stoke anti-Asian sentiment. Mr. JORDAN. Will the gentleman yield for a question? Mr. NADLER. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio for a question. Mr. JORDAN. Was The Washington Post on January 26, 2020, to use your words, stoking anti-Asian bias when they used the word ``Chinese coronavirus''? Was The New York Times on February 20, 2020, stoking anti-Asian bias when they used the term ``Wuhan coronavirus'' in their headline? Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, reclaiming my time. They learned their lesson. They stopped using such terms. They learned their lesson. They understood what this House should understand. They understood that the use of such terms stokes racism, stokes anti-Asian sentiment, and they stopped using the term because they learned the lesson. All we are saying is the White House should learn the same lesson, and they should stop using the term. And for that matter, Members of this House should stop using the term because it deliberately stokes anti-Asian sentiment. The Washington Post learned that lesson and ceased using such terms. The Washington Post learned the lesson. We are not saying that everyone knew this initially, but it is clear. It is now clear. The Washington Post learned its lesson and stopped using such terms. The New York Times learned its lesson when they realized that it was stoking anti-Asian sentiment and stopped using this term. We are saying that the White House and Members of this House and anyone else should learn the same lesson and not stoke anti-Asian sentiment by continuing the use of terms that we know stoke anti-Asian sentiment. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Bera). Mr. BERA. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 908, led by my colleague Representative Grace Meng. I do feel compelled, though, to respond to my colleague on the other side of the aisle, Mr. Jordan. I was that subcommittee chairman. We held the first coronavirus hearing in this new pandemic addressing the issues. Yes, we did identify it by its geographic origin as the Wuhan coronavirus. We also learned that as soon as we started to see instances of racism, violence against Asian Americans, that was a mistake. We stopped using that term. That is what we do as adults. We are not here to instigate racism. We are not here to instigate violence against any ethnic group. What we are here to do is actually defeat this pandemic. In that hearing, what we talked about is it is fine doing a travel ban from a country. That would buy us some time. But we also rightfully identified that that travel ban wasn't going to prevent the virus from coming to the United States. It wasn't going to protect us. We had to get ready. We squandered that time. [[Page H4501]] Look, this is a virus. It doesn't understand a country of origin. It doesn't know whether you are a Democrat or Republican, what religion or God you worship. It is a virus. It is shameful for Members of this body or anyone to continue to use language that potentially incites violence against any of our fellow citizens. That is what this resolution is about. Let's actually learn from that. I don't call it by its geographic origin. It now has a name. At that time, it didn't have a name. It is called SARS-CoV2 or COVID-19. We ought to call it by its name. We should not willfully or intentionally use language that potentially incites violence against any of our fellow citizens, that incites racism. We should be better than that. Let's show the American public that we can actually learn, and let's lead by example. That is what we should be doing in the House of Representatives. Again, we called it by its area of origin because the virus didn't have a name. We have learned from that. We don't do that. And we shouldn't intentionally use terminology that would incite violence against any ethnic group, religious group, or any of our fellow citizens. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. Madam Speaker, what we should also do is denounce violence, all the violence, we see in our urban areas. The Democrats were given that opportunity just 2 months ago when the Attorney General of the United States asked them: Why won't you speak out against the violence in our cities? Why won't you speak out against what the mob is doing in our cities? Guess what we got from them? We got silence. Let's speak out against the violence we have seen for over 100 days in Portland and so many of our other great cities. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the minority leader, the leader of our great Conference. Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. The gentleman makes a very good point. Are we here condemning two sheriffs from California getting shot while sitting in their car? No. Are we here talking about the innocent lives that are being killed night after night in Chicago or other cities? No. Are we here, in the last hours before this body rushes to the airport to leave, to debate the help that we need for COVID, for those who are unemployed, or the small businesses that are going to continue to lay off somebody or are wondering whether they can survive the next day, or for the schools wondering if they will have the resources they need, or the States? No, we are not doing that. We are not doing any of that. But I will make this one promise to you: If the majority was on the other side, we would have already done that. Madam Speaker, Democrats are neglecting the real issues. Month after month, they have refused to end our dependence on China or even acknowledge that the Chinese Communist Party is a national security threat. I have read it in the paper. We have heard it out in the public domain that the Communist Chinese Party wants to influence the election even. They have picked a side. Now, in January, Democrats were too busy impeaching the President to pay attention to what was happening in Wuhan. There is a common denominator here. Let's just go through the calendar. In January, they were too busy with impeaching. In February, they backed out of what should have been a bipartisan China Task Force. They actually said yes. The Washington Post actually had the article written. The members were already chosen. But the hour came, and the Democrats thought that was wrong. Then, let's move to May. Speaker Pelosi said focusing on China is a diversion. I look forward to hearing what the Speaker says about this resolution. Is that a diversion from solving the COVID relief that we need? In June, Chairman Smith of the Committee on Armed Services on this very floor, just over at that mic, said this about China: It is not actually their job to tell the American people about the coronavirus. Seriously? Those were the words that were spoken by the chair of the Armed Services Committee. In July, Chairman Schiff--remember who he is and what role he has. He is the chairman of the Committee on Intelligence. He said it was an escalation for the Trump administration to close down the Chinese consulate that was, according to the Secretary of State, the hub of spying and IP theft in Houston. He was the only one who thought that. And now, today, while Democrats deny the real threat of Communist China, they are delaying a coronavirus relief package because they despise the President. I heard a Member here, Madam Speaker, who said we are adults, so we think differently. You know what adults do? They give adult supervision, and they focus on things that are important. We only have a few hours left before people leave. I know Madam Speaker told us before August that we will not leave unless we get a COVID relief package. I am not sure if I should believe her then or believe her now, because I know people are going to leave in a few short hours. I know, as the majority, you have the power to schedule what comes to the floor. That was one of my jobs. So this is what they picked? This is what we are doing? Seriously? My question to the Democrats is simple: Is debating a nonbinding resolution the best use of our hour? Apparently, you have made that decision. You thought long and hard long before we came to this moment in time. You spent hours on this. I will promise you this: There is no kitchen in America that thinks this is the priority. What makes today's resolution so harmful is it does not stop discrimination. It simply spreads disinformation. At the heart of this resolution is an absurd notion that referring to the virus as the Wuhan virus or the China virus is the same as contributing to violence against Asian Americans, which I will tell you nobody on this side of the aisle supports. In fact, we have heard time and again--I just heard from my colleague on the other side. The Democrat-led Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing titled ``The Wuhan Coronavirus'' in February. {time} 1015 Should we put an ethics complaint? Are Democrats saying that their own committee members are encouraging discrimination against Asian Americans? Likewise, CNN, The Washington Post, NPR, The Guardian, all other major media outlets were referring to COVID-19 as the Wuhan coronavirus long before most Americans knew what it was. Now, let's put this in contrast, because you are wasting our time; you are spending hours on it. You think it is the most important thing, when someone is sitting there in the unemployment line or a small business is questioning whether they can stay open. So let's take this moment in time on this floor talking about it. Republicans condemn crime and discrimination in all forms. Listen to what the President said in March: ``spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form.'' But I guess you can't take his word for it, so let's waste another hour on this floor on a nonbinding resolution. Madam Speaker, I wonder--because every Member who comes here works hard to get here, I wonder the number of times Members in a debate said they would take their time to have nonbinding resolutions on the floor. I wonder the number of promises they made. Because I listened, Madam Speaker, to the Speaker up there when I handed her the gavel on what they said they would focus on. I have spent a lot of time trying to wonder what one problem this Democrat majority has solved. I have actually asked Democrats: Name me one that you solved. I haven't read a tweet from probably the most prominent of the new party's chief of staff. They had the same question. They couldn't answer it. [[Page H4502]] The President's words express what every good and decent American has known from the beginning: Asian Americans are not responsible for COVID-19. Let me be very clear. Let me state that again. The President's words express what every good and decent American has known from the beginning: Asian Americans are not responsible for COVID-19. Now, let me tell you everything else every American understands. We have an economic problem. We have people unemployed. We have small businesses questioning whether they can stay open. We have schools that are wondering could they have the money to be able to open again. But you chose an hour of this time on the last day before we leave to debate a nonbinding resolution. Congratulations. Well done. You fought hard for a majority, and this is what you decided. Unfortunately, while Democrats waste an hour of the House's time on this ridiculous resolution, the opportunity costs of the inaction are rising. And do you know who is paying the price? The American people. For months, every reasonable American has understood that America must end our dependency on China; we must move our supply chain out of China for critical needs like medicine. Do you realize we don't make penicillin? We don't make vitamins here, personal protective equipment that we strive so hard to get, and technology. The American people want safety and security. They want to return to the American way of life. I am not sure what this nonbinding resolution does, but I know we have done a lot of them since you have taken the majority. Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party is trying to hack our vaccine research at this very moment. That is why I introduced legislation earlier this summer to sanction these cybercriminals. My bill had real consequences. And you know what is so unique? I introduced the bill because there were reports out there that Russia, China, Iran wanted to hack our universities, our businesses to get that vaccine, not to work with us, but to steal it. Do you know what happens when they do that? It slows the process down. Do you know what happens when it slows the process down? It takes longer before people have a safe vaccine that would cure this virus. It is very interesting. That moment on the floor, the day after I introduced it, we actually--the FBI found two Chinese who were doing this, coming into our country, slowing the process down. We had the opportunity to have a motion to recommit on this floor. Nobody in America thought that bill would be partisan. It would only sanction those people who were caught, about right and wrong, about the safety, the security, a safe and effective vaccine being slowed down because of a foreign country coming in. So, as one, we had an opportunity to do something about it. Do you know what happened? The Democrats voted against it and defeated it. Not only did they defeat it, let me tell you, again, what the chairman of the Armed Services Committee said about it. He stood up at that microphone. He literally said it is not actually their job to tell the American people about the virus, referring to China, while they are hacking our own companies working to provide a safe and effective vaccine. You wouldn't spend 1 minute on that, but you are spending an hour on this. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. Madam Speaker, the majority won't even work with the Republicans to protect our vaccine research from hackers, and they will attack the very companies that are working around the clock to provide that safe and effective vaccine for the American people. They won't work with Republicans to restore American manufacturing to rebuild the American medical supply right here, but they will call the House back into session to debate conspiracy theories about the post office. And while we were here in that emergency meeting--and, Madam Speaker, I should probably talk about it, because there were a lot of Democrats who didn't come even though it was an emergency meeting called by the Speaker. I think it was one-third of all of them did not come. But while we were here, that one moment, the one opportunity that the Republicans had, we offered a motion, a motion to recommit, to put up funding for COVID relief. Once again, the Democrats did the exact same thing. Instead of stopping the hackers from China, what they said no to, instead of giving another COVID relief bill that opportunity--because we were in an emergency, it was the only time we were coming back, even though, Madam Speaker, the Speaker said we would not leave--they voted it down. They voted it down, the only window that we had. They won't even work with Republicans on what was supposed to be a bipartisan China task force, but they wasted an hour on a nonbinding resolution. Is this how you expect to manage the Chamber? Is this why you took the majority, to waste the American people's time? Madam Speaker, it is time for us to stop acting like the House of resolutions and start acting like the House of Representatives. Make no mistake: China aims to displace America as the world's economic superpower. If they succeed, we will have more than viruses to worry about. The stakes are too high for petty partisanship. If we want safety, if we want independence, we know what we have to do. We have to rebuild our economy, bring back our supply chain, protect our vaccine research and, yes, end our dependency on China. Our President is doing that. House Republicans have made a commitment to America to do just that. We have done it time and again, bringing the idea to the floor. Unfortunately, the majority has thought otherwise. Madam Speaker, I make this promise to you: If the sides change, if we have the opportunity and the privilege to determine what comes to this floor, we will not waste America's time in a time of crisis. We will not tell people they will not leave and then let them go. We will not have Members call it an emergency meeting and let them stay home. We believe Congress is essential. We believe the American public expects that. Madam Speaker, we have a COVID crisis. We have an economy crisis. We have a dependency on China that harms us when it comes to our health issues. We have hackers from foreign nations trying to slow a safe and effective vaccine. We have schoolkids that continue to learn from home, not in school. We have veterans who want to be able to pick their own doctors. We have an infrastructure that is crumbling, but a 5-year plan to make a difference. These are all the problems that, if the majority would switch, would be addressed. But no, today, on our last day this week, we will once again have a nonbinding resolution. I hope you fought hard for this majority. I hope you spent a lot of time and a lot of hours deciding what would come to the floor. But if this is what it is, you have fallen well short of what America expects of this Chamber. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their remarks to the Chair. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Speaker of the House. Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the recognition, but I also thank Mr. Nadler, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, for bringing this important statement of our American values to the floor of the House. I thank him and our colleagues from the Senate, Senators Kamala Harris, Tammy Duckworth, and Mazie Hirono, three Asian- American Members of the United States Senate who were so instrumental in advancing this important, as I said, statement of American values. And yes, it is a good use of time for us in the House of Representatives to state our values, to remove all doubt that people in our country are respected, and that we are not using a pandemic to have people--I will go into that in a moment. But let me just say this. Before the distinguished leader spoke, the gentleman on the other side said: Where are you when you are talking about violence, this or that? [[Page H4503]] We are there. We support peaceful demonstrations. We participate in them. They are part of the essence of our democracy. That does not include looting, starting fires, or rioting. They should be prosecuted. That is lawlessness. I am very proud that Joe Biden has presented the clarity of that, making a distinction that I don't think our colleagues quite understand but the American people do. In a poll released today, it said that the American people support congressional Democrats over President Trump in terms of dealing with the issue of crime in our country, for all of their misrepresentation. It is interesting to hear the revisionist history that the distinguished leader put on the floor of this House when he asked us what have we done. It is a very long list, and I will go into some of it. But I want to say to him, when you had the majority and the Presidency, the one thing that you did was pass a tax bill that put $2 trillion of debt onto our children and giving 83 percent of the benefits to the top 1 percent in our country. And yet you resent the fact that we want to invest more money in making it safe for our children to go back to school; more money into crushing the virus, which is what we do in the HEROES Act; and that we want to help our heroes. That is why it is called that. Our State and local employees, our State and local governments that provide services to the American people, our healthcare workers, our first responders, our police and fire, our transportation, our sanitation workers, our food providers, all of those people working make life go on for us; without them, we couldn't. And our teachers, our teachers, our teachers, the custodians of our children for a good part of their day and of their lives. {time} 1030 Yet the disdain that the Republicans have for our heroes is clear because that is the obstacle to our bringing the coronavirus legislation to the floor that is so needed. I hope that we can reach agreement on that. So when they talk about accomplishment, you had a President and you had two Houses of government. What did you do but take care of the top 1 percent to the tune of 83 percent of the bill that would put $2 trillion of debt to our children and their future? In terms of China, I have taken second place to no one in this body in my opposition to China for three decades. Sometimes I take pride in being called the most disliked American in China for my opposition to China; their trade policies which have been a rip-off of the American worker, and have fought them for decades, whether it is stealing our intellectual property, barriers to our products going into China and other violations; trying to stop their proliferation of weapons technologies of mass destruction to rogue countries, and delivery systems to make delivery possible of those weapons; to their human rights policies in Tibet and Hong Kong and now with the Uighurs and, again, all over China. So I have been on it every single day for over 30 years. I need no pontificating from the leader on the other side who seems to have newly arrived at this issue in order to deflect attention from the fact that the Russians are trying to, once again, infiltrate and jeopardize the security of our elections. Whoever interferes with our elections must be dealt with, whatever country it is; but all of a sudden it is all about China and not about Russia. I think the American people should decide who the next President of the United States is, not Vladimir Putin. So we come here today, and I say this about the legislation: We have had four bills that have been overwhelmingly bipartisan on COVID. Our first one on March 4 was testing, testing, testing; and still we do not have a commitment from this administration that we can crush the virus by testing, tracing, treatment, mask wearing, sanitation, ventilation, and separation--still. The solution is as plain as the nose on your face, which should be covered with a mask. Yet the President said he didn't want to cause panic, but he doesn't mind causing panic that will result in some terrible things happening to the Asian-American community in our country. He has brought about great angst as he shines a bright light on the injustices experienced by so many, including the surge of violence and discrimination being experienced by the Asian American/Pacific Islander community. So I thank the Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair, Judy Chu; the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair, Joaquin Castro; and the Congressional Black Caucus Chair, Karen Bass, for their leadership on this important resolution and this very necessary use of our time to condemn and combat anti-Asian sentiment. Grace Meng has led this drumbeat for justice for a generation. Together with the other leaders she has brought this legislation to the floor, and I salute her. As the resolution states--and we have all seen--at the same time that the coronavirus pandemic has broken out, so too has a disturbing epidemic of hate and discrimination against the AAPI community erupted. You may not have noticed it. You may have tried to ignore it, but it, in fact, exists. According to the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center, more than 2,500 recorded incidents of anti-Asian hate have been perpetrated against the AAPI community since March. These include both physical and verbal attacks, commuters spat on, racial slurs lobbed at passersby, community members shunned, store owners having businesses vandalized, and even little children being pushed and shoved, and families insulted in places of business. Many of these incidents represent civil rights violations, and that is a value for us to protect. It is particularly unconscionable that more than 2 million members of the AAPI community are fighting on the front lines against the COVID-19 virus, yet instead of being celebrated as heroes, they are fighting violence and bigotry. In February, during one of my visits to San Francisco's Chinatown-- which I am overwhelmingly proud to represent--I was heartbroken to witness the devastating impact that fear, stigma, and misinformation are continuing to have on its families and businesses. Nearly half of recorded incidents of anti-Asian hate, according to the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center, have occurred in California. For many of the bay area who remember the systemic injustices and discrimination perpetrated against generations of Asian Americans, this resurgence is a traumatic reminder of the lingering specter of xenophobia. Sadly, this bigotry is being fueled by some in Washington, D.C.--I thought there would be almost unanimous consent to condemn violence against Asian Americans--even from the White House itself, which uses dangerous, false, and offensive terms to describe the coronavirus. The World Health Organization and the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, have explicitly warned against linking infectious diseases to a specific ethnicity because of the stigmatizing effects which have serious impact on health and defeating the virus. As the CDC chief medical officer said, stigma is the enemy of public health. Anti-AAPI bigotry violates our bedrock American values and undermines our fight against the coronavirus, and it must end. That is why we must do our part to combat hate, and that is why I am proud to support this resolution and am proud to bring it to the floor as an appropriate and excellent statement of values and good use of our time, instead of giving tax breaks to the wealthiest people in our country at the expense of our children and their future. It calls on public officials to condemn and denounce any and all anti-Asian sentiment in any form, and it recognizes that the health and safety of all Americans, no matter their background, must be of the utmost priority. We are none of us safe until all of us are safe. It condemns all manifestations of expressions of racism, xenophobia, discrimination, anti-Asian sentiment, scapegoating, and ethnic or religious intolerance. It calls on Federal law enforcement officials working with State and local officials to investigate and collect data on hate crimes and bring perpetrators to justice. It recommits our leaders to diversity and inclusion, including in our response to COVID-19. [[Page H4504]] This resolution has the support of hundreds of organizations, including from the medical and scientific communities. Now I know science doesn't mean much to you because you are anti- science, but the scientific community, the American College of Physicians, recently wrote a letter of support for this resolution, stating: It is an essential step to support the health and safety of our Nation during a national crisis. Hate crimes directed against individuals based on individuals' race, ethnic origin, ancestry, primary language, cultural background or nationality are a true public health threat. He goes on to say: It is imperative that physicians, and all people, speak out against hate and discrimination, especially during this national crisis caused by COVID-19. At this challenging time, our Nation's focus should be on respecting the dignity of everyone. That should always be the case. We cannot allow prejudice and discrimination to divide us. So let me just close by adding this: we had a tremendous opportunity, as I said, we passed four bills that were overwhelmingly bipartisan. The CARES Act has done some good things for our country. It also gave an enormous, practically $150 billion, tax break to the wealthiest in our country and made it retroactive. What did that have to do with the coronavirus, making a tax break for the wealthy retroactive? They can't pass a bill without doing something at the high end and then worrying when we want to help working class families in our country. Anyway, our counter to that bill was called the Take Responsibility Act. Those two bills came together. We were able to find our common ground, even though we had to swallow some bitter pills in order to help America's working families as well as small businesses in our country. Why does it have to be so hard? Because there is an anti-science attitude in this Congress and in this administration. There is an anti-governance; there is contempt of science; and there is disdain for State and local government which does so much for our country. Don't take it from me. The chairman of the Fed is saying that it recognizes that State and local government are an important part of our economy. Don't take it from me that we cannot open our economy unless we crush this virus. That is exactly what the Fed chairman said yesterday: it is essential to do this. But it takes money, it takes respect for science, and respect for the advice of scientific leaders in our country that has been absent. Instead, they play a blame game. Who pays the price? The Asian-American community in our country. That is why it is essential for us to follow Grace Meng's lead and that of the Hispanic, Asian-Pacific, and Black Caucus leadership today. I thank, again, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for his leadership in bringing this important legislation to the floor. It is one of many. We have many bills that we have taken up and we will take up next week as we try to work together to find our common ground. One thing that we are working on right now is to keep government open, because while they may have an anti-governance attitude, we know that we have to make our compromises to keep government open. So, Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to use my Speaker's 1 minute to salute the leadership and thank the sponsors of this legislation. You bring luster to the House of Representatives when you enable us to associate ourselves with the great values of our country and to respect the dignity and worth of everyone in our country. It has never been more important than in this time of great crisis in our country. The SPEAKER pro tempore. I want to remind all Members to address their remarks to the Chair. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the Speaker of the House said that the Russians are trying to jeopardize the security of our election. So are the Democrats. Democrats are trying to win the election after the election. Democrats in Pennsylvania have filed a lawsuit that says you can fix errors on absentee ballots after the ballot has been returned to the Board of Elections. I don't even know what this means. Can you vote in a race you didn't vote in? Can you change a vote? What does that mean, you can fix errors after you have already submitted the ballot? In Nevada, Democrats passed a law that says you can accept mail-in ballots 3 days after the election, even if the postmark date on the ballot on the envelope can't be distinguished. They are trying to win the election after the election. That is scary. The Speaker said that the White House is using dangerous and offensive language. The premise of the resolution in front of us is language can cause people to take action, and if you use the term ``China virus'' or ``Wuhan virus'', somehow that will lead to bias against Asian-American people; even though they used the terms ``China virus'' and ``Wuhan virus''. Everyone in the mainstream media used it. They used it in the committee hearing notice. Even though all that is there, they now say, oh, if you use those terms it will lead to anti-Asian bias. But they don't talk about the language they use and the left uses, the language the Speaker uses and how that may create an environment that will lead to violence. The Speaker of the House called the President of the United States an enemy of the state and said his supporters in Congress--Republicans--are enemies of the state. They don't talk about that. No. China virus can lead people to take action, but, no, not when the Speaker of the House calls the President of the United States and Republican Members of Congress enemies of the state. Two years ago a Democrat Member of Congress, the chair of a committee said this 2 years ago this summer: If you see somebody in the Trump Cabinet, you create a crowd, you push back on them, you tell them they are not welcome anymore anywhere. She encouraged her constituents to approach people in the Trump administration, harass them, and tell them they are not welcome anymore anywhere. She encouraged direct action. That is far different from using the term ``China virus'' which they used and which they had in a committee notice. {time} 1045 This individual Member of Congress said, ``Go harass people in the Trump Cabinet.'' The Speaker of the House calls Republicans ``enemies of the State.'' And that is all fine by them. But, oh, you say, ``the virus started in Wuhan, China,'' and somehow you are terrible. This is the crazy world the left is in today. The crazy world they are in today. And, again, as said earlier by the gentleman from Texas and by others, I think the American people see right through this baloney, see right through it. This is ridiculous. I hope we get our senses and start--as the Republican minority leader said--I hope we would actually start spending more of our time on issues of more value to the American people. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee). Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank our distinguished chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, and I thank and applaud the gentlewoman from New York for her outstanding leadership and championing the rights of all Americans. Madam Speaker, from the unwarranted, unwanted allegations of hysterectomies in immigrant women around the Nation in detention centers, to the President of the United States taking to the bully pit to be able to call COVID-19 and the coronavirus the ``China virus,'' we are finding ourselves in the midst of confusion that is hurting the American people--hurting them in two ways: One, over 6 million COVID-19 infections in the United States, and now, predictions of upwards of 250,000 dead. [[Page H4505]] Every one of them we, as Members of the United States Congress, should mourn because families, sadly, are having to bury family members having not seen them in their last days. What good is it to use that word--the ``Wuhan'' virus? That is not the scientific term. And out of that, we have created a hostile situation for our Asian-American friends, for Asian Americans who have been at the front lines fighting on behalf of this Nation. The use of anti-Asian terminology and rhetoric related to COVID-19, such as the Chinese virus, Wuhan virus, kung flu have perpetrated anti- Asian stigma and is reminiscent of dark and shameful chapters in America's past where Asian Americans were labeled as the ``yellow peril'' and interned in relocation camps. Madam Speaker, more than 23 million Asian American and Pacific Islanders account for 7 percent of the Nation's population in the United States, but over 2 million Asian American and Pacific Islanders are working on the front lines of this COVID-19 pandemic in healthcare, law enforcement, first responders, transportation, supermarkets, and other service industries. They feel threatened. For example, in March 2020, an Asian woman wearing a mask was kicked and punched at a New York City subway station by individuals; two children and two adults were stabbed at a wholesale grocery store. This was anti-Asian rhetoric. Finally, let me say, my own constituent, Coco Ma, in Houston, was afraid to go into a grocery store. Madam Speaker, include an article describing her concern. [From houstonchronical.com, Apr. 17, 2020] In Houston's New Normal, a Different Curve Emerges: Outward Racism Toward Asian Americans (By Olivia P. Tallet) Coco Ma knows it's risky to leave her house amid the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of Houston area confirmed cases increases and the peak is yet to come. The Rice University MBA student, however, doesn't even do the occasional run to the supermarket because, for her, the risk comes not only with battling against the virus but also against the vitriol aimed at Asian Americans like her, stereotyped as culprits of the pandemic. ``I have that fear . . . I ask my husband, who is white, to pick up the food we order. I'm afraid to go inside myself,'' said Ma, aware of the scapegoating impacting Chinese Americans and Asians in general who are mistaken as people from China, where the COVID-19 pandemic was first detected. Almost 1,500 hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. have been reported to the STOP AAPI HATE initiative since it began tracking incidents March 19. ``We know that (that) number is only a drop in the bucket. We know that this is really ubiquitous now,'' said lawyer Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and founder of the tracking hate initiative, headquartered in California. Although the tracking isn't well known around the country, it has already received reports of incidents in 46 states, including Texas, said Kulkarni. The majority of the attacks are verbal, but some are also physical. To report incidents Hate and racist incidents against Asian Americans related to the COVID-19 pandemic can be reported to: Hate is Contagious: racismiscontagious.com; Stop AAPI Hate: asianpacificpolicyandplanningcouncil.org/stop-aapi-hate. In West Texas, a man stabbed and cut members of a family from Burma, at a supermarket in Midland on March 14. The father and one of his two small children were severely wounded before a store employee subdued the attacker. The man allegedly said he did it because he thought the family was from China and infecting people with the virus. Local media outlets reported that the FBI is investigating the case as a hate crime. In Houston, a city known for its diversity and tolerance, a woman verbally attacked the owner of the Vietnamese restaurant Vietopia earlier this month in a parking lot in front of the business, screaming expletives and, ``You, get out of our country.'' ``I felt unwanted here. We were very offended,'' said Sammi Tran, co-owner and wife of the victim, who videotaped the incident. ``My husband was born here in America. We don't harm anybody, but this is happening now. I've never felt like this before.'' ``We go to the supermarket and they look at us as if we were ugly people,'' Tran said. `Racism Is Contagious' At over half a million people, Asians make up 8 percent of the population in the Houston metro area. Residents with Chinese heritage represent the third largest subgroup after Indian and Vietnamese. Roughly 70 percent of Asians in the city are U.S. born or naturalized citizens, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Statewide, about 1.5 million residents identify as Asians, or 5.2 percent of the population. In Houston's Chinatown, the novel coronavirus hit businesses hard in January, well before residents were ordered to stay at home. Rumors spread on social media falsely claiming that an Asian supermarket in the area was shut down by the government due to coronavirus infections. Although there wasn't a single COVID-19 case in the state at the time, the rumors quickly propelled a fear of contagion and customers avoided the area, driving losses that reached 70 percent overnight for many Asian American businesses. Not long afterward, President Donald Trump called the agent of the pandemic ``the Chinese virus,'' stirring outrage and concern among Asian Americans. ``The community feels under siege. There is a genuine, palpable sense of fear in the Asian American community, they feel that they're being targeted,'' said Texas Representative Gene Wu, a Democrat from Houston. ``And this is not a Democratic or Republican issue. I've heard this from Democratic and Republican'' Asians. Trump recently said he was not going to use ``Chinese virus'' anymore, but some of his supporters do. ``China poisoned our people. President Trump has the courage to call it as it is: The Chinese Virus,'' the narrator's voice says over a sinister music clip in a campaign ad currently running on local television stations for Kathaleen Wall, who is in the GOP runoff for the 22nd District of Texas, representing the Sugar Land area. Asked if she didn't consider that her ad could negatively impact Asian Americans, she answered in an email: ``Leave it to Texas Democrats like Sri Preston Kulkarni to defend the Chinese Communist Party while ten thousand Americans have died because of the Coronavirus.'' Kulkarni is the Democratic candidate running in the November general election for District 22. Wea H. Lee, chairman of the Asian Southern News Group and the business organization International Trade Center in Houston, said attempts to diminish Asian people and their cultures overlook their success and integration in the country, such as having higher levels of income and education than the U.S. population overall. ``These politicians, the people making this kind of statement, it's so stupid, they are so nave that they don't see really what our community looks like,' said Lee. The Anti Defamation League warns that online forums and posts, some from white supremacist groups, are ridiculing Chinese people in relation to COVID-19 and portraying them as a dirty culture. A national campaign called ``Racism Is Contagious'' is using data to raise awareness about the issue and collect reports of abuses. It shows photos of Asians wearing a mask with the message ``I am not a Virus,'' which has become a viral hashtag. Invisible stories For many Chinese Americans, the real story buried under the vitriolic noise is that their network of connections with China, Asian doctors and business people is precisely what has helped them help others during the coronavirus crisis. The North Houston Chinese American community, for example, acquired part of its donation of masks and medical supplies to local healthcare providers via their connections in China, said Yanbo Wang, one of the organizers. They raised over $14,000 in donations from 98 families and have helped seven nonprofit health providers and organizations. ``We paid for shipments to bring masks that people in China donated to us,'' said Wang. The shipment arrived right when those supplies were difficult to find. Similarly, The Pearland Chinese Association collected and donated masks and other products from many Asian Americans who bought them earlier in the year. Hearing from their families in China about the epidemic gave them an edge to prepare and acquire products before the pandemic was well known in America. Jie Wu, a board member of the association, said many Asian Americans who work in the Texas Medical Center also let them know early about concerns with medical supplies. She said they mobilized and raised thousands of dollars plus masks, gloves and protective gowns, in what the organization calls ``The Love for the Community Initiative.'' Masks were collected among school parents, many of whom worry that the stigma can hurt Asian American children born in the U.S. Some reports nationwide have already pointed to hateful incidents against minors. Coco Ma, the co-founder of #SnacksForMedStaff initiative, is also concerned about the stereotyping. ``But I also want people to understand that I wanted to start the campaign not to prove who I am (and that) people should not get mad at me'' as an Asian person, said Ma. ``We Asians are doing this because we care.'' The idea of sending food to medical teams working in hospitals with COVID-19 cases came to Ma while talking on the phone with her mother, who is an administrator at a hospital in China dealing with the pandemic. Initially, she sent snacks to a few healthcare providers, but the initiative grew with people sending her money for a GoFundMe campaign. Ma, a Houston resident, and her classmate and program partner Kathleen Harcourt, [[Page H4506]] who is Asian American, have now created a website to make all the #SnacksForMedStaff activities transparent to donors. They have raised around $12,000 of a $20,000 goal and have sent food packages to hospital teams in Texas and other four states among the hardest hit by the pandemic. ``We are getting very good feedback from doctors,'' Ma said. ``They feel appreciated.'' As the coronavirus is soon expected to peak locally, adding pressure to medical teams, Ma said her initiative will raise the funding goal and provide more packages. ``People are so polarized,'' said Ma. ``Forget about politics, especially during this pandemic. Forget about race. Focus on what is the problem and coming up with a solution. This is about humanity first.'' Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I support this legislation because we have to stand to cure, to fix COVID-19, not to stigmatize and destroy the opportunity of saving America and doing the right thing by science. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, and the Budget Committee, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 908, which condemns anti-Asian sentiment in all its forms and manifestations, from whatever quarter, and from whomever, from the ordinary citizen up to and including the President of the United States. Since January 2020, there has been a dramatic increase in reports of hate crimes and incidents against those of Asian descent and the danger accelerates as the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19, which currently stands at 197,000, continues to increase and is expected to exceed 250,000 by Election Day on November 3, 2020. The use of anti- Asian terminology and rhetoric related to COVID-19, such as the ``Chinese Virus'', ``Wuhan Virus'', and ``Kung-flu'' have perpetuated anti-Asian stigma and is reminiscent of dark and shameful chapters in America's past where Asian-Americans were escaped as the ``yellow peril'' and interned in relocation camps. Madam Speaker, more than 23,000,000 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders account for 7 percent of the Nation's population in the United States and over 2,000,000 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are working on the frontlines of this COVID-19 pandemic in health care, law enforcement, first responders, transportation, supermarkets, and other service industries. Madam Speaker, there are approximately 2 million Asian American owned businesses that generate over $700 billion in annual revenue and employ nearly 4.5 million workers. According to a recent study, there were over 400 cases related to COVID-19 anti-Asian discrimination just between February 9, 2020, and March 7, 2020 with Asian Americans being harassed, assaulted, and scapegoated for the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, in March 2020, anti-Asian woman wearing a mask was kicked and punched at a New York City subway station; two children and two adults were stabbed at a wholesale grocery in Midland, Texas; a couple was assaulted and robbed by a group of attackers in Philadelphia; and a 16-year-old boy was sent to the hospital after being attacked by bullies in Los Angeles, California. According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, during this pandemic a different curve has emerged in the Harris County metroplex, one of outward racism toward Asian Americans, where the increased use of anti- Asian rhetoric has also resulted in Asian-American businesses being targeted for vandalism. Madam Speaker, the Secretary General of the United Nations called for international solidarity and an end to any ill-founded discrimination of the outbreak's victims. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) counsels against that naming COVID-19 by its geographic location or linking it to a specific ethnicity because such linkage perpetuates stigma. For this reason, in 2015, the WHO issued guidance calling on media outlets, scientists, and national authorities to avoid naming infectious diseases for locations. On February 27, 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services stated ``ethnicity is not what causes the novel coronavirus'' and that it is inappropriate and inaccurate to call COVID-19 the ``Chinese virus.'' On February 28, 2020, Dr. Mitch Wolfe, the Chief Medical Officer of the CDC said, ``Stigma is the enemy of public health'' and on March 10, 2020, Dr. Robert Redfield, the Director of the CDC, testified that use of the term ``Chinese coronavirus'' is wrong and inappropriate. So, I am proud to be an original cosponsor and to strongly support H. Res. 908 introduced by my friend, the gentlelady from New York, Congresswoman Meng. The resolution calls on all public officials to condemn and denounce any and all anti-Asian sentiment in any form and recognizes that the health and safety of all Americans, no matter their background, must be of utmost priority. The resolution condemns all manifestations of expressions of racism, xenophobia, discrimination, anti-Asian sentiment, scapegoating, and ethnic or religious intolerance and calls on Federal law enforcement officials, working with State and local officials to expeditiously investigate and document all credible reports of hate crimes and incidents and threats against the Asian- American community in the United States. The resolution also calls upon federal, state, and local authorities to so, collect data to document the rise of incidences of hate crimes due to COVID-19; and to take action whenever appropriate to hold the perpetrators of those crimes, incidents, or threats accountable and bring such perpetrators to justice. Finally, and importantly, H. Res. 908 recommits United States leadership in building more inclusive, diverse, and tolerant communities and combatting misinformation and discrimination that put Asian Americans at risk. I urge all Members to join me in voting for H. Res. 908 and I thank Congresswoman Meng for introducing this important resolution. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. Spanberger). Ms. SPANBERGER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 908. I rise today in support of my constituents of Asian descent. Central Virginia is the proud home to a strong and vibrant Asian- American community. And since COVID-19 began, we have seen a disturbing increase in hate crimes directed at the Asian-American community across the country, including in Virginia. Our neighbors, our fellow Americans, should never be the victims of discrimination, violence or derision. And today, I am proud to stand with them and support this resolution on the floor of the House. We should all actively and forcefully condemn these acts of hate directed at our friends and our neighbors, at home, across our communities. And today, I am proud to do so with my vote on the floor of the House. A vote that affirms the following: That we call on public officials to condemn and denounce anti-Asian sentiment; That we recognize that the health and safety of all Americans of any background should be our priority; That we condemn the manifestation and the expression of racism, xenophobia, and anti-Asian sentiment; That we call on Federal law enforcement officials working with State and local officials to expeditiously investigate hate crimes; and That we recommit the United States' leadership to build a more inclusive, tolerant society. Madam Speaker, to my colleagues who agree with these principles, I urge them to vote ``yes'' in support of this resolution and in support of our neighbors. I, for one, will proudly vote ``yes.'' Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the resolution for all the reasons we have articulated here this morning. I think it is important to go back and just remember, this is not about people of Asian- American descent. This is not about the Chinese people. It is about the Chinese Communist Party. It is about the Chinese Government, a government that lied to us about the origins of this virus, lied to the world, used the World Health Organization to continue to mislead the United States and the world. That has been where the criticism has been targeted by the President. But, again, 7 weeks before an election, Democrats don't care about the facts. They care about attacking the President, calling his supporters, as the Speaker of this House did, ``enemies of the state,'' bringing a resolution to the floor of this nature, but not being willing to condemn the violence and the mobs in the streets of our cities and certain places for over 100 days straight, looting and violence and rioting and attacks on our law enforcement officers. Nope, can't. We can't bring a resolution. We can't talk about that. When the Attorney General of the United States asked, the Democrat members of the Committee on the Judiciary won't even speak up then. Madam Speaker, I hope we defeat this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, this is an important resolution that will put the House firmly on record against the insidious [[Page H4507]] form of racism and racial scapegoating that we have seen since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It is completely unacceptable to use derogatory and prejudicial terms, like ``Chinese virus'' or ``Wuhan virus,'' as if they merely describe the factual reality of where the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 originated. First, this logic does nothing to justify the use of the term ``kung flu,'' another term often used by some to describe COVID-19, a term clearly designed to mock Asians and to associate them unfairly with this disease. Madam Speaker, the need for this legislation is clear. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. MENG. Madam Speaker, as millions across our nation continue to be impacted by the coronavirus, many continue to live in fear following the dramatic increase of threats and attacks against those of Asian descent since the COVID-19 outbreak. Since January 2020, there has been a significant number of reports of anti-Asian incidents; wherein, due to scapegoating Asian Americans for the spread of COVID-19, many are being threatened, harassed, or assaulted, or have had their businesses vandalized. The upsurge of racial discrimination against Asian Americans has been fueled by misinformation about the coronavirus and usage of anti-Asian rhetoric and terms like ``Chinese virus'' and ``Kung-flu.'' All of our nation's leaders must stop using these racist phrases that instigate hatred and violence. In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Asian Americans are left fighting an additional front--that of hate and bigotry. That is why I introduced a resolution condemning all forms of anti- Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19. We, as leaders of this nation, must coalesce and condemn all manifestations of expressions of racism, xenophobia, discrimination, and anti-Asian sentiment and scapegoating. We must denounce any and all anti-Asian sentiment of any form. Madam Speaker, during this time of heightened anxiety and fear surrounding COVID-19, we cannot lose sight of protecting the health and safety of every single person--no matter their race, ethnicity, religion, or background. The House must take a strong stand against the sickening intolerance, bigotry, and violence that is leaving a terrible stain on our nation's history, especially during this moment of an unprecedented public health crisis. The adoption of this resolution is a necessary step to confront the second pandemic of racism and discrimination in this country. I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort to keep all Americans safe. Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 908--Condemning all forms of anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19. I praise my distinguished colleague, Congresswoman Grace Meng, First Vice-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), for her exemplary leadership on this Resolution on behalf of Asian-Americans and Asian and Pacific Islander communities all over the world. With this Resolution, I am reminded of the talented and brave Asians and Asian-Americans who have helped lead us through COVID-19. I think of my district's University of Toledo Medical Center's molecular specialist, Dr. Ji-Youn Yeo, Ph.D., a Postdoctoral Fellow of South Korean descent. Dr. Yeo's expertise helped the Center's coronavirus pathology lab modify its test to keep employees safe during the testing process. First Lady of Maryland, Yumi Hogan, was instrumental in obtaining 500,000 testing kits for Maryland by working with the South Korean Ambassador to the United States, Lee Soo Hyuk. The people of South Korea were able to minimize the devastation of COVID-19 on its own shores and became an example to the world by implementing lessons and procedures learned from its MERS outbreak. These efforts are a significant representation of how Asian communities are helping to combat the corona virus. To incite anti-Asian sentiments through racism, discrimination, or religious intolerance, especially related to COVID-19, is an insult to the very people who have helped shape our country. At this difficult time as we experience a resurgence of this troubling discrimination, I am reminded of my trailblazing colleagues as they continue the fight against discrimination, and through their efforts, are making our nation a fairer and more just society. One such trailblazer is the distinguished Chairwoman of CAPAC, Congresswoman Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to the United States Congress. She has served with great dignity and has been a fierce leader and advocate for Asian Americans. Former Congressman and CAPAC Chair Emeritus, Mike Honda, a statesman who was forced into a Japanese internment camp with his family in Colorado and then thrived to become a Member of the United States House of Representatives. He experienced xenophobia firsthand, and we heartfully thank him for teaching all those who face oppression that they have the ability to overcome and achieve remarkable things. I also recognize our distinguished Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Congressman Mark Takano. He is a consummate educator and brave leader who became the first openly gay person of color to serve in Congress. These are some of America's finest patriots. I had the honor and privilege to serve with Congress' first female Member of color, Patsy Mink. A third generation Japanese American, she achieved greatness through insurmountable barriers. A fighter for the fundamental belief in equality, Mink co-authored Title IX to ensure that no person, regardless of sex, could be excluded from any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. She was ahead of her time and laid a great foundation for Asian Americans and women to follow. Congresswoman Meng's efforts today proudly honor her memory. To the current and past Asian American and Pacific Islander Members of Congress, the current 74 bicameral members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the many Asian Americans who are working every day to make sure America stands tall during COVID-19, I salute them and their service to a grateful nation. I urge support for H. Res. 908. Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker. I rise today to support H. Res. 908, which condemns all forms of anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19. Since the beginning of this pandemic, the Asian American community in Philadelphia and nationwide has seen an alarming surge in anti-Asian bigotry and in hate crimes. There is no doubt that COVID-19 has resulted in the spread of hate, racism, and xenophobia toward the Asian American community. As you may already know, the FBI warned at the end of March that they expected to see hate crime incidents against Asian Americans to increase suddenly as the general public associated the coronavirus with the Asian American population. At its peak, there were nearly 100 hate incidents being reported each day. Yet, the President and his Administration failed to address this and fueled this misconception with their rhetoric. Madam Speaker, words matter. This widespread racism against Asian Americans during this public health crisis is a serious and destructive issue that negatively impacts the lives of millions in our nation. Congress has a duty to address the ongoing anti-Asian sentiment and break the silence, raise awareness, and change the public perception surrounding it. In my hometown of Philadelphia, we have witnessed far too many hate crimes. Back in February, a young man and woman were physically assaulted by a group of juveniles at a SEPTA station in what appeared to be a racially motivated anti-Asian attack. In March, several Asian American homes were harassed through letters. Later in April, an Asian American-owned restaurant in my Congressional district was vandalized with spray-paint graffiti that included a racial slur. Just last month, an Asian American pregnant mother was attacked on the streets by someone who deliberately mentioned her race during the attack. The Asian American community has enriched the city of Philadelphia, and our nation, and we must do more to protect them. The prejudice against the Asian American community distracts us from finding real solutions to the pandemic at a time when they are much needed. Madam Speaker, now, more than ever, it is important to stand in solidarity with the Asian American community. We cannot let the rise in hateful rhetoric and discrimination go unchecked. We must work together to build a more inclusive and diverse society, and this resolution is a step toward achieving that. urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution to build on America's diversity, which has proven to be one of our greatest strengths. Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 908, which condemns the anti-Asian rhetoric that has arisen because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Madam Speaker, our Asian friends, neighbors and family members have been unfairly targeted by bigotry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using terms like the ``China Virus'' and ``Kung Flu'' is offensive to the communities I represent in the Lower East Side and Brooklyn. Our friends and neighbors in these communities are essential workers and small business owners who provided critical services to our community as the pandemic raged across New York City, and continue to play an essential role in our city's recovery from the virus. Unfortunately, New York City has seen a spike in bias crimes. We cannot let hate crimes go unpunished, let alone condone them. As the resolution states, there are over 2 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders [[Page H4508]] working on the frontline combatting against the pandemic. We must stand in solidarity with our friends and neighbors by denouncing the vitriol and anti-Asian sentiment. Our response to this pandemic should have been a unifying moment for our country. Instead, the administration has actively sought to inflame racial tensions. Today, we say ``no more'' to the anti-Asian rhetoric from the White House. I am proud to cosponsor this bill and I want to thank my colleague from New York Representative Grace Meng, for her leadership on this issue and urge all my colleagues to support its passage. Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution that condemns all forms of anti-Asian sentiment during this COVID-19 pandemic. This public health crisis has caused significant pain and suffering to communities across our nation, and we are especially concerned about an apparent increase in verbal and physical attacks, as well as discrimination, against Asian Americans. Our society must clearly state that this xenophobia must not and will not be accepted. Asian Americans are not responsible for the spread of COVID-19, and yet they have been repeatedly harassed, discriminated, and even attacked by some who wrongly believe they are at fault. There are over two thousand reported incidences of coronavirus-related discrimination by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. We must better protect our vulnerable communities during times of turmoil, and it is even more egregious that many of these same victims are simultaneously fighting this pandemic as doctors, nurses, and other frontline providers. Therefore, I am proud to support this resolution that explicitly calls on all public officials to condemn and denounce all anti-Asian sentiment in any form. Additionally, I am pleased that this legislation recognizes that the health and safety of all Americans, no matter their background, must be our utmost priority. On behalf of the constituents of the 30th Congressional District of Texas, I am proud to support this resolution condemning anti-Asian sentiment during this pandemic, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation. The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired. Pursuant to House Resolution 1107, the previous question is ordered on the resolution and the preamble. The question is on the resolution. The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it. Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 965, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question are postponed. ____________________
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