Mr. President, I am a cosponsor of S. Con. Res. 53, a sense of Congress resolution relating to the recent allegations of espionage and illegal campaign financing that have brought into question the loyalty of individuals of Asian Pacific ancestry.
Mr. President, I am concerned about the negative impact that the recent investigation of Wen Ho Lee, a scientist at Los Alamos, New Mexico, is having on the Chinese American community. Certain recent media coverage of this investigation has chosen to portray Chinese and Chinese Americans with a broad brush, using loaded words that are offensive and implying that certain people should be treated with suspicion solely because of their ethnicity or national origin. Cartoons exaggerate and poke fun at physical appearances of individuals by depicting slanted eyes and buck teeth.
In one particularly offensive example, a recent editorial in a Santa Fe, New Mexico, newspaper made fun of Asian accents, unnecessarily referred to the "Fu Manchu" character, and tried to link the allegations of stolen nuclear secrets and the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
Mr. President, Asian Pacific Americans are an important part of our body politic. They have made significant contributions to politics, business, industry, science, sports, education, and the arts. Men and women like the late Senator Sparky Matsunaga, Olympic Champion Kristi Yamaguchi, Architect I.M. Pei, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ellison Onizuka, and many others have enhanced and invigorated the life of this nation.
Asian Americans have played a fundamental part in making this country what it is today. Asian immigrants helped build the great transcontinental railroads of the 19th century. They labored on the sugar plantations of Hawaii, on the vegetable and fruit farms of California, and in the gold mines of the West. They were at the forefront of the agricultural labor movement, especially in the sugarcane and grape fields, and were instrumental in developing the fishing and salmon canning industries of the Pacific Northwest. They were importers, merchants, grocers, clerks, tailors, and gardeners. They manned the assembly lines during America's Industrial Revolution. They opened laundries, restaurants, and vegetable markets. They also served our nation in war: the famed all-Nisei 100th/442nd combat team of World War II remains the most decorated unit in U.S. military history.
Despite their contributions, Asian immigrants and Asian Pacific Americans suffered social prejudice and economic, political, and institutional discrimination. They were excluded from churches, barber shops, and restaurants. They were forced to sit in the balconies of movie theaters and the back seats of buses. They attended segregated schools. They were even denied burial in white cemeteries; in one instance, a decorated Asian American soldier killed in action was refused burial in his hometown cemetery. Rather than receive equal treatment, Asians and Pacific Islanders were historically paid lower wages than their white counterparts, relegated to menial jobs, or forced to turn to businesses and industries in which competition with whites was minimized.
For more than 160 years, Asians were also denied citizenship by a law that prevented them from naturalizing, a law that remained in effect until 1952. Without citizenship, Asians could not vote, and thus could not seek remedies through the Tammany Halls or other political organizations like other immigrant groups. The legacy of this injustice is seen today in the relative lack of political influence and representation of Asian Americans at every level and in every branch of government.
Mr. President, as a member of the Energy Committee and Governmental Affairs Committee, where I am Ranking Member on the International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services Subcommittee, I have expressed my concern about the unfair and unwarranted negative impact this issue is having on the image of the Asian Pacific American community. We need to move quickly beyond the search for ethnic scapegoats. This is the lesson of the recent concern over national security leaks. We should not overreact.
Mr. President, I applaud President Clinton's executive order of June 7, 1999, to establish a commission to study and suggest ways to improve the quality of life for Asian Pacific Americans. President Clinton rightfully stated that many Asian Pacific Americans are underserved by federal programs. The order outlines steps to ensure that federal programs, especially those that gather data on health and social services, are responsive to Asian Pacific Americans needs. It's a step in the right direction and it may focus on some of the more compelling issues involving Asian Pacific Americans in terms of improving the quality of their lives.
Thank you, Mr. President.
