III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 653 

Recognizing the significance of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month as 

an important time to celebrate the significant contributions of Asian 

Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of 

the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2022 

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

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. WICKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, 

Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WARNER, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

the Judiciary 

JULY 12, 2022 

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the significance of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month as an important time to celebrate the significant contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United 

States. 

Whereas the people of the United States join together each 

May to pay tribute to the contributions of generations of 


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

Whereas the history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, 

and Pacific Islanders in the United States is inextricably 

tied to the story of the United States; 

Whereas the Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 

Islander community is an inherently diverse population, 

composed of more than 45 distinct ethnicities and more 

than 100 language dialects; 

Whereas, according to the Bureau of the Census, the AsianAmerican population grew faster than any other racial or 

ethnic group over the last decade, surging 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 approximately 24,000,000 residents of the 

United States who identify as Asian and approximately 

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

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, making up 

nearly 7 percent of the total population of the United 

States; 

Whereas the month of May was selected for Asian/Pacific 

American Heritage Month because the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States on May 7, 1843, 

and the first transcontinental railroad was completed on 

May 10, 1869, with substantial contributions from Chinese immigrants; 

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

designates May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage 

Month and requests the President to issue an annual 

proclamation calling on the people of the United States 


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

Whereas 2022 marks several important milestones for the 

Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, including— 

(1) the 140th anniversary of the enactment of the 

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred the entry 

of Chinese immigrants to the United States for more 

than 50 years and spurred a series of anti-immigrant 

policies targeting immigration from the Asia-Pacific region; 

(2) the 40th anniversary of the murder of Vincent 

Chin, a Chinese-American man who was beaten to death 

in Michigan by 2 White men angered by layoffs in the 

auto industry; 

(3) the 30th anniversary of the enactment of the Act 

entitled ‘‘An Act to designate May of each year as ‘Asian/ 

Pacific American Heritage Month’ ’’, approved October 

23, 1992 (36 U.S.C. 102); and 

(4) the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the 

Asian American and Native American Pacific IslanderServing Institutions program, which was authorized 

under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (Public 

Law 110–84; 121 Stat. 784); 

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 

United States Armed Forces, including— 

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

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


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Asian-American government official in the history of the 

United States; 

(2) Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian-American 

Congressman; 

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

Asian-American woman to be elected to Congress; 

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

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

Hawaiian ancestry; 

(6) Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian-American 

member of a Presidential cabinet; 

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

member of a Presidential cabinet; and 

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

Asian American to hold the Office of the Vice President; 

Whereas the 117th Congress includes a record 21 Members 

of Asian or Pacific Islander descent; 

Whereas, in 2022, the Congressional Asian Pacific American 

Caucus, a bicameral caucus of Members of Congress advocating on behalf of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, is composed of 76 Members, 

and other caucuses working on Asian-American, Native 

Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander issues may be established; 

Whereas, in 2022, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and 

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

(1) the States of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, 

Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New 


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Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North 

Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, 

Wisconsin, and Wyoming; and 

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

the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; 

Whereas, in 2022, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and 

Pacific Islanders honorably serve throughout the Federal 

judiciary; 

Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders represent more than 6 percent of Federal employees, including hundreds of staffers of Asian or Pacific Islander descent who serve as staff in the Senate and the 

House of Representatives; 

Whereas, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and 

Extremism, there was a 339 percent increase in antiAsian hate crimes in 2021, and the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation recorded a 73 percent increase in such 

crimes in 2020; 

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

related to the COVID–19 pandemic, including approximately 11,000 hate incidents, including shunning, verbal 

and online harassment, physical assault, and civil rights 

violations, that were reported to Stop AAPI Hate from 

the start of the pandemic through December 31, 2021, 

and countless other incidents that have not been reported; 

Whereas, according to a survey conducted during September 

and October of 2021 by Stop AAPI Hate, 1 in 5 Asian 

Americans (21.2 percent) and Pacific Islanders (20.0 


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percent) reported experiencing a hate incident in the past 

year; 

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 Page Act of 1875, 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 Chinese Exclusion Act of 

1882, which was the first law to explicitly exclude an entire ethnic group from immigrating to the United States; 

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

which authorized the forced relocation and incarceration 

of approximately 120,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry during World War II, the majority of whom were 

United States citizens; 

(4) the murder of Vincent Chin; 

(5) the Cleveland Elementary School shooting on 

January 17, 1989, 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, and South Asian Americans following the 

September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center 

and the Pentagon; 

(7) the mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak 

Creek, Wisconsin, on August 5, 2012, in which a White 

supremacist fatally shot 6 people and wounded 4 others; 


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(8) the shooting of 9 people near Atlanta, Georgia, 

on March 16, 2021, at 3 separate Asian-owned businesses, in which 8 people were killed, including 6 Asian 

women; and 

(9) the shooting of 6 people in Laguna Woods, California, on May 15, 2022, in which members of the Irvine 

Taiwanese Presbyterian Church were targeted; 

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 the COVID–19 pandemic has deeply impacted the 

Asian-American and Pacific Islander community; 

Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have been disproportionately impacted by the 

COVID–19 pandemic, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific 

Islanders have faced among the highest infection and 

mortality rates out of any racial group in several States; 

Whereas more than 2,000,000 Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander first responders, health care 

providers, and frontline workers are among the unsung 

heroes in the Nation’s fight against COVID–19; 

Whereas there remains much to be done to ensure that Asian 

Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have 

access to resources and a voice in the Government of the 

United States and continue to advance in the political 

landscape of the United States; and 

Whereas celebrating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month 

provides the people of the United States with an opportunity to recognize the achievements, contributions, and 


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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/Pacific 

3 American Heritage Month as an important time to 

4 celebrate the significant contributions of Asian 

5 Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders 

6 to the history of the United States; and 

7 (2) recognizes that Asian-American, Native Ha8 waiian, and Pacific Islander communities enhance 

9 the rich diversity of and strengthen the United 

10 States. 

Æ 


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