III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 693 

Recognizing the significance of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 

Islander Heritage Month as an important time to celebrate the significant 

contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2024 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, 

Mr. COONS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, 

Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WYDEN, 

Mr. REED, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. BUTLER, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. HASSAN, 

Ms. SMITH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. 

MENENDEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was considered 

and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the significance of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as an important time to celebrate the significant contributions 

of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States. 

Whereas the people of the United States join together each 

May to pay tribute to the contributions of generations of 

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders who have enriched the history of the United States; 


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•SRES 693 ATS 

Whereas the history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, 

and Pacific Islanders in the United States is inextricably 

tied to the story of the United States; 

Whereas the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 

Islander community is an inherently diverse population, 

composed of more than 70 distinct ethnicities and speaking more than 100 language dialects; 

Whereas, according to the Bureau of the Census, the Asian 

American population grew faster than any other racial or 

ethnic group over the last decade, growing by nearly 55.5 

percent between 2010 and 2020, and during that same 

time period, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 

population grew by 30.8 percent; 

Whereas there are more than 24,000,000 residents of the 

United States who identify as Asian and approximately 

1,600,000 residents of the United States who identify as 

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, making up more 

than 7 percent of the total population of the United 

States; 

Whereas the month of May was selected for Asian American, 

Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 

because the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the 

United States on May 7, 1843, and the first transcontinental railroad was completed on May 10, 1869, 

with substantial contributions from Chinese immigrants; 

Whereas section 102 of title 36, United States Code, officially 

designates May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage 

Month and requests the President to issue an annual 

proclamation calling on the people of the United States 

to observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities; 


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Whereas 2024 marks several anniversaries, including— 

(1) the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the 

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, a bicameral caucus of Members of Congress advocating on 

behalf of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders; 

(2) the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the 

Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, which was founded alongside the Congressional Asian 

Pacific American Caucus by former Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta and former Delegate to the United States House of 

Representatives from Guam Robert Underwood; 

(3) the 45th anniversary of the first Asian/Pacific 

American Heritage Week, designated in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter through Presidential Proclamation 

4650 (93 Stat. 1504; relating to Asian/Pacific American 

Heritage Week); 

(4) the 50th anniversary of Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S. 

563 (1974), in which the Supreme Court of the United 

States determined that inadequate supplemental language 

instruction for students of Chinese ancestry with limited 

English proficiency violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

(42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), expanding equal educational 

opportunities and paving the way for bilingual programs 

and additional English language instruction in public 

schools; 

(5) the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the 

Immigration Act of 1924 (commonly known as the 

‘‘Johnson-Reed Act’’) (43 Stat. 153, chapter 190), which 

imposed national origin quotas that limited the number 

of immigrants allowed entry into the United States and 

prohibited the entry of Asian immigrants; and 


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(6) the 155th anniversary of the completion of the 

first transcontinental railroad, which— 

(A) in 1869, connected the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory 

Summit, Utah; and 

(B) involved more than 12,000 Chinese laborers 

who faced racial and wage discrimination despite 

being entrusted with the most laborious tasks; 

Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have made significant contributions to the United 

States at all levels of the Federal Government and in the 

Armed Forces, including— 

(1) Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American 

elected to Congress; 

(2) Daniel K. Inouye, a Medal of Honor and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient who, as President pro 

tempore of the Senate, was the then-highest-ranking 

Asian American government official in the history of the 

United States; 

(3) Hiram L. Fong, the first Asian American Senator; 

(4) Patsy T. Mink, the first woman of color and 

Asian American woman elected to Congress; 

(5) Herbert Y.C. Choy, the first Asian American to 

serve as a Federal judge; 

(6) Daniel K. Akaka, the first Senator of Native 

Hawaiian ancestry; 

(7) Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian American 

member of a Presidential cabinet; 

(8) Elaine L. Chao, the first Asian American woman 

member of a Presidential cabinet; and 

(9) Kamala D. Harris, the first woman and the first 

Asian American to hold the Office of the Vice President; 


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Whereas the 118th Congress includes 21 Members of Asian 

and Pacific Islander descent; 

Whereas, in 2024, the Congressional Asian Pacific American 

Caucus is composed of 76 Members, and other congressional caucuses work on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander issues also; 

Whereas, in 2024, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and 

Pacific Islanders are serving in State and Territorial legislatures across the United States in record numbers, including in— 

(1) the States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, 

Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, 

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, 

Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, 

West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming; and 

(2) the Territories of American Samoa, Guam, and 

the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; 

Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders represent more than 7 percent of Federal judges 

and nearly 7 percent of Federal employees, including 

hundreds of staffers of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander descent who serve as staff in the Senate 

and the House of Representatives; 

Whereas, since March 2020, there has been a dramatic increase in reports of anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents, 

including those related to the COVID–19 pandemic, including— 

(1) a 339-percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes 

in 2021, and a 124-percent increase in 2020; 


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(2) according to Stop AAPI Hate, over 11,500 hate 

incidents reported since the start of the COVID–19 pandemic through March 2022, and countless others that 

have not been reported; 

(3) on March 16, 2021, the murder of 8 people, including 6 Asian women, at 3 separate Asian-owned businesses in the Atlanta, Georgia, region; and 

(4) on May 15, 2022, the shooting of 5 people in 

Laguna Hills, California, in which the Taiwanese congregation at Geneva Presbyterian Church was targeted; 

Whereas the incidence of hate crimes against Asian Americans continues to be above levels observed before the 

COVID–19 pandemic; 

Whereas discrimination against Asian Americans, especially 

in moments of crisis, is not a new phenomenon, and violence against Asian Americans has occurred throughout 

United States history, including— 

(1) the enactment of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act supplementary to the Acts in relation to Immigration’’, approved March 3, 1875 (commonly referred to as the 

‘‘Page Act of 1875’’) (18 Stat. 477, chapter 141), which 

restricted entry of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian 

women to the United States and effectively prohibited the 

immigration of Chinese women, preventing the formation 

of Chinese families in the United States and limiting the 

number of native-born Chinese citizens; 

(2) the enactment of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to 

execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese’’, 

approved May 6, 1882 (commonly known as the ‘‘Chinese 

Exclusion Act of 1882’’) (22 Stat. 58, chapter 126), 

which was the first law to explicitly exclude an entire ethnic group from immigrating to the United States; 


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(3) the issuance of Executive Order 9066 in 1942 (7 

Fed. Reg. 1407; relating to authorizing the Secretary of 

War to prescribe military areas), which authorized the 

forced relocation and incarceration of approximately 

120,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry during World 

War II, the majority of whom were citizens of the United 

States; 

(4) on June 23, 1982, the murder of Vincent Chin; 

(5) on January 17, 1989, the Cleveland Elementary 

School shooting in which a gunman used an AK–47 to 

kill 5 children, 4 of whom were of Southeast Asian descent; 

(6) the rise in discrimination and violence against 

Muslim, Sikh, Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian 

Americans following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001; and 

(7) on August 5, 2012, the mass shooting at a Sikh 

temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which a white supremacist fatally shot 6 people and wounded 4 others; 

Whereas, in response to the uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes 

throughout the COVID–19 pandemic, Congress passed 

the COVID–19 Hate Crimes Act (Public Law 117–13; 

135 Stat. 265), which was signed into law by President 

Joseph R. Biden on May 20, 2021; 

Whereas, in celebration of the contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the 

United States, Congress passed the Commission To 

Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of 

Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act (Public 

Law 117–140; 136 Stat. 1259) to establish a commission 

to study the creation of a National Museum of Asian PaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 May 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR693.ATS SR693

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cific American History and Culture, which was signed 

into law by President Biden on June 13, 2022; 

Whereas, as part of the American Women Quarters Program, 

the United States Mint has issued, or will issue, commemorative quarters honoring the contributions of— 

(1) Chinese American film star Anna May Wong; 

(2) Native Hawaiian composer and cultural advocate 

Edith Kanaka’ole; 

(3) Japanese American Congresswoman Patsy Mink; 

and 

(4) Korean American disability justice advocate 

Stacey Park Milbern; 

Whereas there remains much to be done to ensure that Asian 

Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have 

access to resources and a voice in the Federal Government and continue to advance in the political landscape 

of the United States; and 

Whereas celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and 

Pacific Islander Heritage Month provides the people of 

the United States with an opportunity to recognize the 

achievements, contributions, and history of, and to understand the challenges faced by, Asian Americans, Native 

Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the significance of Asian Amer3 ican, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Herit4 age Month as an important time to celebrate the sig5 nificant contributions of Asian Americans, Native 

6 Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of 

7 the United States; and 


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1 (2) recognizes that Asian American, Native Ha2 waiian, and Pacific Islander communities enhance 

3 the rich diversity of and strengthen the United 

4 States. 

Æ 


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