IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 683 
Expressing the regret of the House of Representatives for the passage of 
laws that adversely affected the Chinese in the United States, including 
the Chinese Exclusion Act. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 8, 2012 
Ms. CHU (for herself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ISSA, Mr. BUR-
TON of Indiana, Mr. CLAY, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
SCHIFF, and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the regret of the House of Representatives for 
the passage of laws that adversely affected the Chinese 
in the United States, including the Chinese Exclusion 
Act. 
Whereas many Chinese came to the United States in the 
19th and 20th centuries, as did people from other coun-
tries, in search of the opportunity to create a better life; 
Whereas the United States ratified the Burlingame Treaty on 
October 19, 1868, which permitted the free movement of 
the Chinese people to, from, and within the United States 
and made China a ‘‘most favored nation’’; 
Whereas in 1878, the House of Representatives passed a res-
olution requesting that President Rutherford B. Hayes 
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•HRES 683 IH 
renegotiate the Burlingame Treaty so Congress could 
limit Chinese immigration to the United States; 
Whereas, on February 22, 1879, the House of Representa-
tives passed the Fifteen Passenger Bill, which only per-
mitted 15 Chinese passengers on any ship coming to the 
United States; 
Whereas, on March 1, 1879, President Hayes vetoed the Fif-
teen Passenger Bill as being incompatible with the Bur-
lingame Treaty; 
Whereas, on May 9, 1881, the United States ratified the 
Angell Treaty, which allowed the United States to sus-
pend, but not prohibit, immigration of Chinese laborers, 
declared that ‘‘Chinese laborers who are now in the 
United States shall be allowed to go and come of their 
own free will,’’ and reaffirmed that Chinese persons pos-
sessed ‘‘all the rights, privileges, immunities, and exemp-
tions which are accorded to the citizens and subjects of 
the most favored nation’’; 
Whereas the House of Representatives passed legislation that 
adversely affected Chinese persons in the United States 
and limited their civil rights, including— 
(1) on March 23, 1882, the first Chinese Exclusion 
bill, which excluded for 20 years skilled and unskilled 
Chinese laborers and expressly denied Chinese persons 
alone the right to be naturalized as American citizens, 
and which was opposed by President Chester A. Arthur 
as incompatible with the terms and spirit of the Angell 
Treaty; 
(2) on April 17, 1882, intending to address Presi-
dent Arthur’s concerns, the House passed a new Chinese 
Exclusion bill, which prohibited Chinese workers from en-
tering the United States for 10 years instead of 20, re-
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•HRES 683 IH 
quired certain Chinese laborers already legally present in 
the United States who later wished to reenter the United 
States to obtain ‘‘certificates of return,’’ and prohibited 
courts from naturalizing Chinese individuals; 
(3) on May 3, 1884, an expansion of the Chinese 
Exclusion Act, which applied it to all persons of Chinese 
descent, ‘‘whether subjects of China or any other foreign 
power’’; 
(4) on September 3, 1888, the Scott Act, which pro-
hibited legal Chinese laborers from reentering the United 
States and cancelled all previously issued ‘‘certificates of 
return,’’ and which was later determined by the Supreme 
Court to have abrogated the Angell Treaty; and 
(5) on April 4, 1892, the Geary Act, which reauthor-
ized the Chinese Exclusion Act for another ten years, de-
nied Chinese immigrants the right to be released on bail 
upon application for a writ of habeas corpus, and con-
trary to customary legal standards regarding the pre-
sumption of innocence, authorized the deportation of Chi-
nese persons who could not produce a certificate of resi-
dence unless they could establish residence through the 
testimony of ‘‘at least one credible white witness’’; 
Whereas in the 1894 Gresham-Yang Treaty, the Chinese gov-
ernment consented to a prohibition of Chinese immigra-
tion and the enforcement of the Geary Act in exchange 
for readmission to the United States of Chinese persons 
who were United States residents; 
Whereas in 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii, took 
control of the Philippines, and excluded only the residents 
of Chinese ancestry of these territories from entering the 
United States mainland; 
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•HRES 683 IH 
Whereas, on April 29, 1902, as the Geary Act was expiring, 
Congress indefinitely extended all laws regulating and re-
stricting Chinese immigration and residence, to the ex-
tent consistent with Treaty commitments; 
Whereas in 1904, after the Chinese government withdrew 
from the Gresham-Yang Treaty, Congress permanently 
extended, ‘‘without modification, limitation, or condi-
tion,’’ the prohibition on Chinese naturalization and im-
migration; 
Whereas these Federal statutes enshrined in law the exclu-
sion of the Chinese from the democratic process and the 
promise of American freedom; 
Whereas in an attempt to undermine the American-Chinese 
alliance during World War II, enemy forces used the Chi-
nese exclusion legislation passed in Congress as evidence 
of anti-Chinese attitudes in the United States; 
Whereas in 1943, in furtherance of American war objectives, 
at the urging of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Con-
gress repealed previously enacted legislation and per-
mitted Chinese persons to become United States citizens; 
Whereas Chinese-Americans continue to play a significant 
role in the success of the United States; and 
Whereas the United States was founded on the principle that 
all persons are created equal: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. 
That the House of Representatives regrets the pas-
sage of legislation that adversely affected people of Chi-
nese origin in the United States because of their ethnicity. 
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SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER. 
Nothing in this resolution may be construed or relied 
on to authorize or support any claim, including but not 
limited to constitutionally based claims, claims for mone-
tary compensation or claims for equitable relief against 
the United States or any other party, or serve as a settle-
ment of any claim against the United States. 
Æ 
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