Title: A resolution recognizing the significance of May 2017 as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month and as an important time to celebrate the significant contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States.
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
Recognizes the significance of May 2017 as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month as an important time to celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States.
Recognizes that the Asian American and Pacific Islander community enhances the rich diversity of the United States.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 183 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 183

  Recognizing the significance of May 2017 as Asian/Pacific American 
 Heritage Month and as an important time to celebrate the significant 
 contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the history 
                         of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2017

 Mr. Schumer (for Ms. Hirono (for herself, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Harris, 
 Ms. Murkowski, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Booker, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Cortez Masto, 
 Mr. Franken, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Markey, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Schatz, Mr. 
Menendez, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Coons, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Merkley, 
Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Casey, and Mr. Heller)) 
 submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing the significance of May 2017 as Asian/Pacific American 
 Heritage Month and as an important time to celebrate the significant 
 contributions of Asian Americans 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 and Pacific 
        Islanders who have enriched the history of the United States;
Whereas the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United 
        States is inextricably tied to the story of the United States;
Whereas the Asian American and Pacific Islander community is a diverse 
        population, comprised of more than 45 distinct ethnicities and more than 
        100 language dialects;
Whereas, according to the Bureau of the Census, the Asian American population 
        grew at a faster rate than any other racial or ethnic group in the 
        United States during the last decade, surging nearly 46 percent between 
        2000 and 2010, a growth rate that is 4 times the rate for the total 
        population of the United States;
Whereas, according to the 2010 decennial census, there are approximately 
        17,300,000 residents of the United States who identify themselves as 
        Asian and approximately 1,200,000 residents of the United States who 
        identify themselves as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, making 
        up approximately 5.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, of the total 
        population of the United States;
Whereas the month of May was selected for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month 
        because the first immigrants from Japan arrived in the United States on 
        May 7, 1843, and the first transcontinental railroad was completed on 
        May 10, 1869, with substantial contributions from immigrants from China;
Whereas section 102 of title 36, United States Code, officially designates May 
        as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month and requests that the President 
        issue an annual proclamation calling on the people of the United States 
        to observe Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month with appropriate 
        programs, ceremonies, and activities;
Whereas Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, such as Daniel K. Inouye, a Medal 
        of Honor and Presidential 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, Dalip Singh 
        Saund, the first Asian American elected to serve in Congress, Patsy T. 
        Mink, the first woman of color and the first Asian American woman to be 
        elected to Congress, Hiram L. Fong, the first Asian American Senator, 
        Daniel K. Akaka, the first Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry, Norman 
        Y. Mineta, the first Asian American member of a presidential cabinet, 
        Elaine L. Chao, the first Asian American woman member of a presidential 
        cabinet, Mee Moua, the first Hmong American elected to a State 
        legislature, and others, have made significant contributions in both the 
        Government and Armed Forces of the United States;
Whereas 2017 marks several important milestones for the Asian American and 
        Pacific Islander community, including--

    (1) the 155th anniversary of the date of enactment of the Act of July 
1, 1862 (12 Stat. 489, chapter 120), which promoted the construction of the 
transcontinental railroad;

    (2) the 135th anniversary of the date of enactment of the Act entitled 
``An Act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese'', 
approved May 6, 1882 (22 Stat. 58, chapter 126);

    (3) the 105th anniversary of the first planting of a cherry tree from 
Japan in Washington, DC;

    (4) the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 (7 Fed. 
Reg. 1407; relating to authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe 
military areas), which authorized the internment of Japanese-Americans; and

    (5) the 25th anniversary of the formal establishment of Asian/Pacific 
American Heritage Month;

Whereas, in 2017, the Polynesian Voyaging Society will complete the final leg of 
        its Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage after 4 years of sailing the world and 
        teaching traditional wayfinding practices, along with the importance of 
        caring for the land and sea;
Whereas, in 2017, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, a bicameral 
        caucus of Members of Congress advocating on behalf of Asian Americans 
        and Pacific Islanders, is composed of 50 Members, including 17 Members 
        of Asian or Pacific Islander descent;
Whereas, in 2017, Asian Americans 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, Colorado, Connecticut, 
Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New 
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, 
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and 
West Virginia; and

    (2) the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands;

Whereas the number of Federal judges who are Asian Americans or Pacific 
        Islanders doubled between 2001 and 2008 and more than tripled between 
        2009 and 2016, reflecting a commitment to diversity in the Federal 
        judiciary that has resulted in the confirmation of high-caliber Asian 
        American and Pacific Islander judicial nominees;
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 opportunity to recognize the achievements, 
        contributions, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and 
        to appreciate the challenges faced by Asian Americans and Pacific 
        Islanders: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the significance of May 2017 as Asian/
        Pacific American Heritage Month and 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 the Asian American and Pacific Islander 
        community strengthens, and enhances the rich diversity of, the 
        United States.
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