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Congressional Daily Record
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April 30, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextNATIVE HAWAIIAN, AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH AS AN IMPORTANT
NATIVE HAWAIIANS, AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS TO THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED
STATES
Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Collins, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Coons, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Smith, Mr. Warnock, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Booker, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Fetterman, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Reed, Ms. Rosen, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Warren, Mr. Kim, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Wyden) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
S. Res. 720
Whereas the people of the United States join together each
May to pay tribute to the contributions of generations of
Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders who
have enriched the history of the United States;
Whereas the history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians,
and Pacific Islanders in the United States is inextricably
tied to the story of the United States;
Whereas the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific
Islander community is an inherently diverse population,
composed of more than 70 distinct ethnicities and speaking
more than 100 language dialects;
Whereas, according to the Bureau of the Census, the Asian
American population grew faster than any other racial or
ethnic group over the last decade, growing by nearly 55.5
percent between 2010 and 2020, and during that same time
period, the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population
grew by 30.8 percent;
Whereas there are more than 25,000,000 residents of the
United States who identify as Asian and approximately
1,800,000 residents of the United States who identify as
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, making up more than 10
percent of the total population of the United States;
Whereas the month of May was selected for Asian American,
Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month because
the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States on
May 7, 1843, and the first transcontinental railroad was
completed on May 10, 1869, with substantial contributions
from Chinese 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, ceremonies, and
activities;
Whereas 2026 marks several anniversaries, including—
(1) the 250th anniversary of the independence and founding
of the United States and the recognition of service of Asian
Americans in the United States military since the
Revolutionary War;
(2) the 50th anniversary of Presidential Proclamation 4417,
dated February 19, 1976 (41 Fed. Reg. 7741), in which
President Gerald Ford formally rescinded Executive Order 9066
(7 Fed. Reg. 1407; relating to authorizing the Secretary of
War to prescribe military areas) and condemned the
incarceration of United States citizens and lawful permanent
residents of Japanese ancestry during World War II;
(3) the 70th anniversary of the election to the House of
Representatives of Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian
American, first Indian American, and first Sikh American
elected to Congress;
(4) the 80th anniversary of the passage of the amendments
made by the Act of July 2, 1946 (commonly known as the
“Luce-Cellar Act of 1946”) (Public Law 79-483; 60 Stat.
416, chapter 534), which allowed Filipinos and Indians to
immigrate to the United States and become naturalized United
States citizens;
(5) the 80th anniversary of the passage of the First
Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act, 1946
(Public Law 79-301; 60 Stat. 6, chapter 30), and the Second
Supplemental Surplus Appropriation Rescission Act, 1946
(Public Law 79-391; 60 Stat. 221, chapter 271), which
stripped military benefits from Filipino World War II
veterans in the service of the United States Armed Forces;
(6) the 105th anniversary of the first premiere of an
American film featuring an Asian American woman, Anna May
Wong, in “Bits of Life”; and
(7) the 10th anniversary of the passage of Public Law 114-
157, which removed all references to “Oriental”, a
derogatory and antiquated term used to describe Asian
Americans, from Federal law;
Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific
Islanders have made significant contributions to the United
States at
all levels of the Federal Government and in the Armed Forces,
including—
(1) Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American elected to
Congress;
(2) Daniel K. Inouye, a Medal of Honor and Presidential
Medal of Freedom recipient who, as President pro tempore of
the Senate, was the then-highest-ranking Asian American
government official in the history of the United States;
(3) Hiram L. Fong, the first Asian American Senator;
(4) Patsy T. Mink, the first woman of color and Asian
American woman elected to Congress;
(5) Herbert Y.C. Choy, the first Asian American to serve as
a Federal judge;
(6) Daniel K. Akaka, the first Senator of Native Hawaiian
ancestry; and
(7) Norman Y. Mineta, the first Asian American member of a
Presidential cabinet;
Whereas the 119th Congress includes 25 Members of Asian and
Pacific Islander descent;
Whereas, in 2026, the Congressional Asian Pacific American
Caucus is composed of 84 Members, and other congressional
caucuses work on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific
Islander issues also;
Whereas, in 2026, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, 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, Connecticut,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,
Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming; and
(2) the Territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
Whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific
Islanders represent more than 8 percent of Federal judges and
hundreds of thousands of Federal employees, including
hundreds of staffers of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific
Islander descent who serve as staff in the Senate and the
House of Representatives;
Whereas the incidence of hate crimes against Asian
Americans continues to be nearly 3 times higher than the
levels observed before the COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas discrimination against Asian Americans, especially
in moments of crisis, is not a new phenomenon, and violence
against Asian Americans has occurred throughout United States
history, including—
(1) the enactment of the Act entitled “An Act
supplementary to the Acts in relation to Immigration”,
approved March 3, 1875 (commonly referred to as the “Page
Act of 1875”) (18 Stat. 477, chapter 141), which restricted
entry of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian women to the
United States and effectively prohibited the immigration of
Chinese women, preventing the formation of Chinese families
in the United States and limiting the number of native-born
Chinese citizens;
(2) the enactment of the Act entitled “An Act to execute
certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese”, approved
May 6, 1882 (commonly known as the “Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882”) (22 Stat. 58, chapter 126), which was the first law
to explicitly exclude an entire ethnic group from immigrating
to the United States;
(3) the issuance of Executive Order 9066 (7 Fed. Reg. 1407;
relating to authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe
military areas) on February 19, 1942, which authorized the
forced relocation and incarceration of approximately 125,000
individuals of Japanese ancestry during World War II, the
majority of whom were citizens of the United States;
(4) on June 23, 1982, the murder of Vincent Chin;
(5) on January 17, 1989, the Cleveland Elementary School
shooting in which a gunman used an AK-47 to kill 5 children,
4 of whom were of Southeast Asian descent;
(6) the rise in discrimination and violence against Muslim,
Sikh, Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Americans
following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon on September 11, 2001;
(7) on August 5, 2012, the mass shooting at a Sikh temple
in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which a white supremacist fatally
shot 6 people and wounded 4 others; and
(8) on March 16, 2021, the murder of 8 people, including 6
Asian women, at 3 separate Asian-owned businesses in the
Atlanta, Georgia, region;
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; 135 Stat. 265),
which was signed into law on May 20, 2021;
Whereas, in celebration of the contributions of Asian
Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the
United States, Congress passed the Commission To Study the
Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific
American History and Culture Act (Public Law 117-140; 136
Stat. 1259) to establish a commission to study the creation
of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and
Culture, which was signed into law on June 13, 2022;
Whereas, as part of the American Women Quarters Program,
the United States Mint has issued commemorative quarters
honoring the contributions of—
(1) Chinese American film star Anna May Wong;
(2) Native Hawaiian composer and cultural advocate Edith
Kanaka`ole;
(3) Japanese American Congresswoman Patsy Mink; and
(4) Korean American disability justice advocate Stacey Park
Milbern;
Whereas, as part of the Native American $1 Coin Program,
the United States Mint has issued a commemorative $1 coin
honoring the contributions of Mary Kawena Pukui, a renowned
Native Hawaiian scholar, anthropologist, ethnographer,
author, composer, dancer, and educator whose work ensured the
preservation and perpetuation of the Native Hawaiian
language, history, and culture;
Whereas there remains much to be done to ensure that Asian
Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have
access to resources and a voice in the Federal Government and
continue to advance in the political landscape of the United
States; and
Whereas celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and
Pacific Islander Heritage Month provides the people of the
United States with an opportunity to recognize the
achievements, contributions, and history of, and to
understand the challenges faced by, Asian Americans, Native
Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) recognizes the significance of Asian American, Native
Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as an important
time to celebrate the significant contributions of Asian
Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the
history of the United States; and
(2) recognizes that Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and
Pacific Islander communities enhance the rich diversity of
and strengthen the United States.