May 9, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE, Vol. 152, Pt. 6 7485 of legislation already with bipartisan Tomorrow, when new worlds are to be b 2130 support, and it represents common- explored, they will be there. There are These workers and those who fol- sense solutions addressing real issues thousands of Asian Americans working lowed in their footsteps have thrived in before the country, important issues in the space program. various fields of endeavor through for all families, and it represents a And tomorrow, when it is time to their work ethic and ingenuity. They critical agenda of key items of legisla- elect the leaders that will guide our are proud Americans. They have done tion addressing problems before Amer- great Nation, they will be there, in extremely, extraordinarily well in ican families that can be done in this Congress, on the Supreme Court, and showing us what work ethic is all session of Congress. as President. If our country is to live about. f up to its promises in the Declaration of Today, the U.S. Census reports an es- Independence and the Constitution, timated 14 million or more U.S. resi- CONGRESSIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC every ethnic group will have one of its dents classify themselves as Asian Pa- CAUCUS own to serve as President. cific Americans or having Asian Pa- The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. ING- This is why we must protect the vot- cific origins, and many of whom have LIS of South Carolina). Under the ing rights of Asian Americans and oth- made extraordinary contributions to Speaker’s announced policy of January ers to vote under the Voting Rights our Nation. 4, 2005, the gentleman from California Act. We must win this battle now, so Additionally, the United States Cen- (Mr. HONDA) is recognized for 60 min- that the 14 million Asian Americans, sus reports 1.1 million businesses are utes as the designee of the minority together with all Americans, can have owned by Asian Pacific Americans; leader. the equitable input that they justly de- 312,700 military veterans have contrib- Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I would serve into our political process. uted in protecting our democracy and like to recognize the gentleman from They helped to make America great. our democratic ideals around the Texas, Congressman AL GREEN. The greatness of America rests on the world. Our Filipino veterans are still Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speak- shoulders of all Americans, none more waiting for their due benefits, having er, I rise to celebrate the contributions so than our Asian American brothers served in World War II. of the Asian Pacific Islander American and sisters. Furthermore, 46 percent of total community and to celebrate Asian Pa- Mr. HONDA. I want to thank the gen- Asian Americans and 23 percent of Pa- cific American Heritage Month. tleman from Texas for his wonderful cific Islanders’ population works in I also want to take this opportunity words, and we shall be there. management, professional and related to thank and commend my good friend Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring up occupations. I am so pleased to know from California, Congressman HONDA, now the gentlewoman from California, that they are in our legislatures. They for his strong leadership as Chair of the Congresswoman JUANITA MILLENDER- are judges. Of course, they are business Congressional Asian Pacific American MCDONALD. people. They are teachers. They have Caucus. Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD. Mr. made profound progress and extraor- Mr. Speaker, for over 200 years, Asian Speaker, let me thank my dear friend dinary contributions to this country. The figures show that Asian Pacific Americans have played a pivotal role and colleague, Congressman MIKE Americans have attained high levels of in the development of our great Na- HONDA, who is just a great leader, not tion. When it was time to build the only for the great State of California, education, employment and high me- transcontinental railroad, they were but for this great Nation. He is our dian household incomes. However, Mr. there. Chinese immigrants were paid chairman of the Congressional Asian Speaker, many Asian Pacific Ameri- $28 a month to do the very dangerous Pacific American Caucus, and I thank cans have yet to achieve their Amer- ican dream. Twenty-three percent of work of blasting and laying ties over him for convening us here tonight. treacherous terrain. It was their labor It is with great pride and pleasure the Asian Pacific population lives in under harsh working conditions, for that I rise as a proud member of the poverty. Attention needs to be given to Asian meager wages, that helped in the devel- Congressional Asian Pacific American Pacific Americans who, because of in- opment and progress of our Nation. Caucus, and on behalf of the over 80,000 adequate skills like my Cambodian When our Nation was drawn into war, Asian Pacific Americans who reside in constituents, find themselves working they were there. From World War II my district in commemoration of the just to make ends meet. We must work through the current wars in Iraq and Asian Pacific American Heritage to provide job training and other com- Afghanistan, Asian Americans have Month. I am so pleased to call him my munity-based programs that will allow been on the front lines in our battle to friend, and all of my Asian friends, and all of our citizens to fulfill their poten- defend and protect our Nation. There I am here to celebrate with them this tial. are 32 Asian American Medal of Honor great heritage month because they Asian Pacific Americans also face recipients, and thousands of others who have provided so much to this country. significant health disparities. They ac- have served and continue to coura- Since the early 1800s, Asian Pacific count for over half of the 1.4 million geously serve our Nation. Americans have played a significant chronic hepatitis B cases in the United When hundreds of thousands of peo- role in the development of our Nation. States, and they also suffer from high ple were evacuated from Louisiana and They have joined hands with the many rates of diabetes, cervical and liver Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, who came to our shores in search of op- cancers. they were there. The Asian American portunity, freedom of expression and Furthermore, the incidence of HIV/ community in my home city of Hous- adventure to make this country what AIDS is on the rise in Asian Pacific ton joined all Americans around the it is today. Their work has made this women. The work that I do on my HIV/ country in welcoming Katrina evacuees country a proud country. AIDS and my 5K AIDS Walk with var- and assisting the relief efforts. In This year marks the centennial cele- ious Asian Pacific organizations seeks Houston, the Asian American commu- bration of the first wave of Filipino mi- to address this. nity raised more than $200,000 for the grants to the United States. In 1906, Some progress has been made in ad- Katrina Relief Fund and took in over Filipino workers came to the United dressing Asian Pacific American health 15,000 displaced Americans. States, particularly to Hawaii, and issues, the availability of Asian and And the contributions of this com- later California, to work in the fields Pacific Islander cancer education ma- munity will continue far into the fu- as laborers. terials; Web tools that provide cancer ture. Tomorrow, when it is time to Many Chinese and Japanese laborers information materials in Asian and Pa- cure the diseases of the future, they who arrived in the mid-19th century cific Islander languages for those with will be there. There are more than were instrumental in the completion of limited English is a good start, but 105,000 Asian American doctors in the the transcontinental railroad on May more needs to be done to address access United States. 10 of 1869. to affordable health care. VerDate Sep 11 2014 13:10 Mar 20, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00221 Fmt 0688 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\BOUNDRECORD\BR09MY06.DAT BR09MY06 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE 7486 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE, Vol. 152, Pt. 6 May 9, 2006 For example, 50 percent of Asian Pa- as a B–17 navigator and was awarded lowed by subsequent waves of Filipino cific Americans are medically under- numerous medals. immigrants who came to settle in Ha- served since the cost of health insur- After the war, Judge Wong faced a waii and, also, other parts of the ance is a major barrier to Asian Pacific choice between joining his family’s United States, contributing to a migra- Americans who are either self-em- grocery business or entering law tion pattern that continues up to this ployed or working for small businesses school. This was not met with much day. that do not provide employee-spon- support from his parents, who would Today, Filipinos with their rich cul- sored health coverage. say, Who would hire you, a Chinese, ture and heritage have become a posi- As we celebrate May as Asian Pacific they would constantly say. Undeterred, tive influence on mainstream life in American Heritage Month, we must Wong completed his law degree in 1948, Hawaii, with many of them succeeding celebrate the legacy, the culture, the becoming the first Chinese American prominently in their respected profes- rich traditions and achievements of our graduate of Stanford Law School. sions, in business, politics, govern- Asian Pacific Americans, as well as re- After graduation, he was appointed ment, the academe and the arts. flect on the challenges faced by their deputy legislative counsel, serving the 2006 also marks the 50th year since community.