IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 448 
Recognizing the significance of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in 
May as an important time to celebrate the significant contributions 
of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United 
States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 28, 2021 
Ms. CHU (for herself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MENG, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. BERA, 
Mr. PETERS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 
KAHELE, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. GREEN of Texas, 
Mr. TRONE, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, and Ms. SPEIER) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the significance of Asian/Pacific American Herit-
age Month in May as an important time to celebrate 
the significant contributions of Asian Americans and Pa-
cific 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 and Pacific Islanders who have enriched 
the history of the United States; 
Whereas the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Island-
ers in the United States is inextricably tied to the story 
of the United States; 
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•HRES 448 IH 
Whereas the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community 
is an inherently diverse population, comprised of over 45 
distinct ethnicities and over 100 language dialects; 
Whereas according to the United States Census Bureau, the 
Asian-American population grew faster than any other 
racial or ethnic group over the last decade, surging 81 
percent between 2000 and 2019; 
Whereas there are approximately 22,900,000 residents of the 
United States who identify themselves as Asian and ap-
proximately 1,600,000 residents of the United States who 
identify themselves as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Is-
lander, making up over 7 percent of the total United 
States population; 
Whereas the month of May was selected for Asian/Pacific 
American Heritage Month because the first Japanese im-
migrants arrived in the United States on May 7, 1843, 
and the first transcontinental railroad was completed on 
May 10, 1869, with substantial contributions from Chi-
nese 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, cere-
monies, and activities; 
Whereas 2021 marks several important milestones for the 
Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, includ-
ing— 
(1) the 45th anniversary of Presidential Proclama-
tion 4417, dated February 19, 1976 (41 Fed. Reg. 
7741), in which President Gerald Ford formally re-
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•HRES 448 IH 
scinded Executive Order 9066 (7 Fed. Reg. 1407; relat-
ing to authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe mili-
tary areas) and condemned the incarceration of United 
States citizens and lawful permanent residents of Japa-
nese ancestry during World War II; 
(2) the 65th anniversary of the election to the House 
of Representatives of Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian 
American, first Indian American, and first Sikh Amer-
ican elected to Congress; 
(3) the 75th anniversary of the passage of the Luce– 
Celler Act of 1946, which allowed Filipinos and Indians 
to immigrate to the United States and become natural-
ized United States citizens; 
(4) the 75th anniversary of the passage of the First 
Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act, 
1946 (Public Law 79–301; 60 Stat. 6) and the Second 
Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act, 
1946 (Public Law 79–391; 60 Stat. 221), which stripped 
military benefits from Filipino World War II veterans in 
the service of the United States Armed Forces; 
(5) the 100th anniversary of the first premier in a 
United States film of an Asian-American woman, Anna 
May Wong, in ‘‘Bits of Life’’; 
(6) the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Ha-
waiian Homes Commission Act, which set aside approxi-
mately 200,000 acres as a land trust for the rehabilita-
tion of the Native Hawaiian people through a govern-
ment-sponsored homesteading program; and 
(7) the 150th anniversary of the Chinese Massacre 
of 1871 in which a mob of 500 White men killed approxi-
mately 20 Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles’s China-
town, making the event one of the largest mass lynchings 
in United States history; 
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•HRES 448 IH 
Whereas Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made 
significant contributions to the United States at all levels 
of the Federal Government and the United States Armed 
Forces, including— 
(1) Daniel K. Inouye, a Medal of Honor and Presi-
dential Medal of Freedom recipient who, as President pro 
tempore of the Senate, was the highest ranking 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 Sen-
ator; 
(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 Devi Harris, the first Asian-American 
Vice President of the United States; 
Whereas the 117th Congress includes a record 21 Members 
of Asian or Pacific Islander descent; 
Whereas, in 2021, the Congressional Asian Pacific American 
Caucus, a bicameral caucus of Members of Congress ad-
vocating on behalf of Asian Americans and Pacific Is-
landers, is composed of 75 Members; 
Whereas, in 2021, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are 
serving in State and Territorial legislatures across the 
United States in record numbers, including in— 
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•HRES 448 IH 
(1) the States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Con-
necticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kan-
sas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Min-
nesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 
New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsyl-
vania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, 
Wisconsin, and Wyoming; and 
(2) the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; 
Whereas, in 2021, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 
honorably serve at all levels of the Federal judiciary; 
Whereas Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been 
disproportionately impacted by the COVID–19 pandemic, 
with Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders facing 
among the highest infection and mortality rates out of 
any racial group in several States; 
Whereas there are over 2 million Asian American and Pacific 
Islander first responders, health care providers, and 
frontline workers who are among the unsung heroes in 
the Nation’s fight against COVID–19; 
Whereas, since January 2020, there has been a dramatic in-
crease in reports of anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents 
related to the COVID–19 pandemic, including— 
(1) over 6,600 incidents reported over the past year 
according to Stop AAPI Hate; 
(2) hate crimes surging by 169 percent across 15 
major cities from the first quarter of 2020 to the first 
quarter of 2021; and 
(3) the murder of 8 people in the Atlanta, Georgia, 
region on March 16, 2021, at 3 separate Asian-owned 
businesses; 
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•HRES 448 IH 
Whereas discrimination targeting Asian Americans, especially 
in moments of crisis, is not a new phenomenon and has 
occurred throughout United States history, including— 
(1) the Page Act of 1875, which prohibited Chinese 
American women from immigrating to the United States; 
(2) the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was 
the first law to explicitly name an entire ethnic group for 
exclusion from immigrating to the United States; 
(3) the signing of Executive Order 9066 in 1942, 
which authorized the relocation and incarceration of ap-
proximately 120,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry 
during World War II, the majority of whom were United 
States citizens; 
(4) the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 by two 
White autoworkers who mistakenly believed that Chin 
was Japanese and blamed him for the loss of their jobs 
due to the rise of the Japanese automotive industry; 
(5) the Cleveland Elementary School Shooting on 
January 17, 1989, where a gunman used an AK–47 to 
kill five children, four of whom were of Southeast Asian 
descent; 
(6) the mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak 
Creek, Wisconsin, on August 5, 2012, where a White su-
premacist fatally shot six people and wounded four oth-
ers; and 
(7) 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; 
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), 
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•HRES 448 IH 
which was signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden 
on May 20, 2021; 
Whereas there remains much to be done to ensure that Asian 
Americans 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 oppor-
tunity to recognize the achievements, contributions, and 
history of, and to understand the challenges faced by, 
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the significance of Asian/Pacific 
American Heritage Month as an important time to 
celebrate the significant contributions of Asian 
Americans and Pacific Islanders to the history of the 
United States; and 
(2) recognizes that Asian-American and Pacific 
Islander communities enhance the rich diversity of 
and strengthen the United States. 
Æ 
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