III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 201 

Expressing the regret of the Senate for the passage of discriminatory laws 

against the Chinese in America, including the Chinese Exclusion Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2011 

Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. HATCH, Mrs. 

MURRAY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. KIRK, Mr. CARPER, 

Mr. COONS, and Mr. HOEVEN) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

OCTOBER 6, 2011 

Committee discharged; considered, amended, and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the regret of the Senate for the passage of discriminatory laws against the Chinese in America, including the Chinese Exclusion Act. 

Whereas many Chinese came to the United States in the 

19th and 20th centuries, as did people from other countries, in search of the opportunity to create a better life 

for themselves and their families; 

Whereas the contributions of persons of Chinese descent in 

the agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, 

fishing, and canning industries were critical to establishing the foundations for economic growth in the Nation, particularly in the western United States; 


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Whereas United States industrialists recruited thousands of 

Chinese workers to assist in the construction of the Nation’s first major national transportation infrastructure, 

the Transcontinental Railroad; 

Whereas Chinese laborers, who made up the majority of the 

western portion of the railroad workforce, faced grueling 

hours and extremely harsh conditions in order to lay hundreds of miles of track and were paid substandard wages; 

Whereas without the tremendous efforts and technical contributions of these Chinese immigrants, the completion of 

this vital national infrastructure would have been seriously impeded; 

Whereas from the middle of the 19th century through the 

early 20th century, Chinese immigrants faced racial ostracism and violent assaults, including— 

(1) the 1887 Snake River Massacre in Oregon, at 

which 31 Chinese miners were killed; and 

(2) numerous other incidents, including attacks on 

Chinese immigrants in Rock Springs, San Francisco, Tacoma, and Los Angeles; 

Whereas the United States instigated the negotiation of the 

Burlingame Treaty, ratified by the Senate on October 19, 

1868, which permitted the free movement of the Chinese 

people to, from, and within the United States and accorded to China the status of ‘‘most favored nation’’; 

Whereas before consenting to the ratification of the Burlingame Treaty, the Senate required that the Treaty 

would not permit Chinese immigrants in the United 

States to be naturalized United States citizens; 

Whereas on July 14, 1870, Congress approved An Act to 

Amend the Naturalization Laws and to Punish Crimes 


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against the Same, and for other Purposes, and during 

consideration of such Act, the Senate expressly rejected 

an amendment to allow Chinese immigrants to naturalize; 

Whereas Chinese immigrants were subject to the overzealous 

implementation of the Page Act of 1875 (18 Stat. 477), 

which— 

(1) ostensibly barred the importation of women from 

‘‘China, Japan, or any Oriental country’’ for purposes of 

prostitution; 

(2) was disproportionately enforced against Chinese 

women, effectively preventing the formation of Chinese 

families in the United States and limiting the number of 

native-born Chinese citizens; 

Whereas, on February 15, 1879, the Senate passed ‘‘the Fifteen Passenger Bill,’’ which would have limited the number of Chinese passengers permitted on any ship coming 

to the United States to 15, with proponents of the bill 

expressing that the Chinese were ‘‘an indigestible element 

in our midst . . . without any adaptability to become citizens’’; 

Whereas, on March 1, 1879, President Hayes vetoed the Fifteen Passenger Bill as being incompatible with the Burlingame Treaty, which declared that ‘‘Chinese subjects 

visiting or residing in the United States, shall enjoy the 

same privileges . . . in respect to travel or residence, as 

may there be enjoyed by the citizens and subjects of the 

most favored nation’’; 

Whereas in the aftermath of the veto of the Fifteen Passenger Bill, President Hayes initiated the renegotiation of 

the Burlingame Treaty, requesting that the Chinese government consent to restrictions on the immigration of 

Chinese persons to the United States; 


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Whereas these negotiations culminated in the Angell Treaty, 

ratified by the Senate on May 9, 1881, which— 

(1) allowed the United States to suspend, but not to 

prohibit, the immigration of Chinese laborers; 

(2) declared that ‘‘Chinese laborers who are now in 

the United States shall be allowed to go and come of 

their own free will’’; and 

(3) reaffirmed that Chinese persons possessed ‘‘all 

the rights, privileges, immunities, and exemptions which 

are accorded to the citizens and subjects of the most favored nation’’; 

Whereas, on March 9, 1882, the Senate passed the first Chinese Exclusion Act, which purported to implement the 

Angell Treaty but instead excluded for 20 years both 

skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers, rejected an amendment that would have permitted the naturalization of 

Chinese persons, and instead expressly denied Chinese 

persons the right to be naturalized as American citizens; 

Whereas, on April 4, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur vetoed the first Chinese Exclusion Act as being incompatible with the terms and spirit of the Angell Treaty; 

Whereas, on May 6, 1882, Congress passed the second Chinese Exclusion Act, which— 

(1) prohibited skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers 

from entering the United States for 10 years; 

(2) was the first Federal law that excluded a single 

group of people on the basis of race; and 

(3) required certain Chinese laborers already legally 

present in the United States who later wished to reenter 

to obtain ‘‘certificates of return’’, an unprecedented requirement that applied only to Chinese residents; 


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Whereas in response to reports that courts were bestowing 

United States citizenship on persons of Chinese descent, 

the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 explicitly prohibited 

all State and Federal courts from naturalizing Chinese 

persons; 

Whereas the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 underscored the 

belief of some Senators at that time that— 

(1) the Chinese people were unfit to be naturalized; 

(2) the social characteristics of the Chinese were 

‘‘revolting’’; 

(3) Chinese immigrants were ‘‘like parasites’’; and 

(4) the United States ‘‘is under God a country of 

Caucasians, a country of white men, a country to be governed by white men’’; 

Whereas, on July 3, 1884, notwithstanding United States 

treaty obligations with China and other nations, Congress 

broadened the scope of the Chinese Exclusion Act— 

(1) to apply to all persons of Chinese descent, 

‘‘whether subjects of China or any other foreign power’’; 

and 

(2) to provide more stringent requirements restricting Chinese immigration; 

Whereas, on October 1, 1888, the Scott Act was enacted into 

law, which— 

(1) prohibited all Chinese laborers who would choose 

or had chosen to leave the United States from reentering; 

(2) cancelled all previously issued ‘‘certificates of return’’, which prevented approximately 20,000 Chinese laborers abroad, including 600 individuals who were en 

route to the United States, from returning to their families or their homes; and 


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(3) was later determined by the Supreme Court to 

have abrogated the Angell Treaty; 

Whereas, on May 5, 1892, the Geary Act was enacted into 

law, which— 

(1) extended the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years; 

(2) required all Chinese persons in the United 

States, but no other race of people, to register with the 

Federal Government in order to obtain ‘‘certificates of 

residence’’; and 

(3) denied Chinese immigrants the right to be released on bail upon application for a writ of habeas corpus; 

Whereas on an explicitly racial basis, the Geary Act deemed 

the testimony of Chinese persons, including American 

citizens of Chinese descent, per se insufficient to establish the residency of a Chinese person subject to deportation, mandating that such residence be established 

through the testimony of ‘‘at least one credible white witness’’; 

Whereas in the 1894 Gresham-Yang Treaty, the Chinese government consented to a prohibition of Chinese immigration and the enforcement of the Geary Act in exchange 

for the readmission of previous Chinese residents; 

Whereas in 1898, the United States— 

(1) annexed Hawaii; 

(2) took control of the Philippines; and 

(3) excluded thousands of racially Chinese residents 

of Hawaii and of the Philippines from entering the 

United States mainland; 

Whereas on April 29, 1902, Congress— 


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(1) indefinitely extended all laws regulating and restricting Chinese immigration and residence; and 

(2) expressly applied such laws to United States insular territories, including the Philippines; 

Whereas in 1904, after the Chinese government exercised its 

unilateral right to withdraw from the Gresham-Yang 

Treaty, Congress permanently extended, ‘‘without modification, limitation, or condition’’, all restrictions on Chinese immigration and naturalization, making the Chinese 

the only racial group explicitly singled out for immigration exclusion and permanently ineligible for American 

citizenship; 

Whereas between 1910 and 1940, the Angel Island Immigration Station implemented the Chinese exclusion laws by— 

(1) confining Chinese persons for up to nearly 2 

years; 

(2) interrogating Chinese persons; and 

(3) providing a model for similar immigration stations at other locations on the Pacific coast and in Hawaii; 

Whereas each of the congressional debates concerning issues 

of Chinese civil rights, naturalization, and immigration 

involved intensely racial rhetoric, with many Members of 

Congress claiming that all persons of Chinese descent 

were— 

(1) unworthy of American citizenship; 

(2) incapable of assimilation into American society; 

and 

(3) dangerous to the political and social integrity of 

the United States; 

Whereas the express discrimination in these Federal statutes 

politically and racially stigmatized Chinese immigration 


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into the United States, enshrining in law the exclusion of 

the Chinese from the political process and the promise of 

American freedom; 

Whereas wartime enemy forces used the anti-Chinese legislation passed in Congress as evidence of American racism 

against the Chinese, attempting to undermine the Chinese-American alliance and allied military efforts; 

Whereas, in 1943, at the urging of President Franklin D. 

Roosevelt, and over 60 years after the enactment of the 

first discriminatory laws against Chinese immigrants, 

Congress— 

(1) repealed previously enacted anti-Chinese legislation; and 

(2) permitted Chinese immigrants to become naturalized United States citizens; 

Whereas despite facing decades of systematic, pervasive, and 

sustained discrimination, Chinese immigrants and Chinese-Americans persevered and have continued to play a 

significant role in the growth and success of the United 

States; 

Whereas 6 decades of Federal legislation deliberately targeting Chinese by race— 

(1) restricted the capacity of generations of individuals and families to openly pursue the American dream 

without fear; and 

(2) fostered an atmosphere of racial discrimination 

that deeply prejudiced the civil rights of Chinese immigrants; 

Whereas diversity is one of our Nation’s greatest strengths, 

and, while this Nation was founded on the principle that 

all persons are created equal, the laws enacted by ConVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:27 Oct 07, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR201.ATS SR201

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gress in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that restricted the political and civil rights of persons of Chinese 

descent violated that principle; 

Whereas although an acknowledgment of the Senate’s actions 

that contributed to discrimination against persons of Chinese descent will not erase the past, such an expression 

will acknowledge and illuminate the injustices in our national experience and help to build a better and stronger 

Nation; 

Whereas the Senate recognizes the importance of addressing 

this unique framework of discriminatory laws in order to 

educate the public and future generations regarding the 

impact of these laws on Chinese and other Asian persons 

and their implications to all Americans; and 

Whereas the Senate deeply regrets the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act and related discriminatory laws 

that— 

(1) resulted in the persecution and political alienation of persons of Chinese descent; 

(2) unfairly limited their civil rights; 

(3) legitimized racial discrimination; and 

(4) induced trauma that persists within the Chinese 

community: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND EXPRESSION OF RE3 GRET. 

4 The Senate— 

5 (1) acknowledges that this framework of anti6 Chinese legislation, including the Chinese Exclusion 

7 Act, is incompatible with the basic founding prinVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:27 Oct 07, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR201.ATS SR201

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1 ciples recognized in the Declaration of Independence 

2 that all persons are created equal; 

3 (2) deeply regrets passing 6 decades of legisla4 tion directly targeting the Chinese people for phys5 ical and political exclusion and the wrongs com6 mitted against Chinese and American citizens of 

7 Chinese descent who suffered under these discrimi8 natory laws; and 

9 (3) reaffirms its commitment to preserving the 

10 same civil rights and constitutional protections for 

11 people of Chinese or other Asian descent in the 

12 United States accorded to all others, regardless of 

13 their race or ethnicity. 

14 SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER. 

15 Nothing in this resolution may be construed— 

16 (1) to authorize or support any claim against 

17 the United States; or 

18 (2) to serve as a settlement of any claim 

19 against the United States. 

Æ 


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