Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community and commemorate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. As a member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the only Chinese American in the U.S. Senate, and sole Native Hawaiian in the U.S. Congress, I am proud to stand here to honor the accomplishments and diversity of the AAPI community.
In 1978, my friends and dear colleagues Representatives Frank Horton and Norman Mineta, joined by Hawaii's Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Spark Matsunaga, introduced the first resolutions establishing Asian Pacific American Heritage Week to recognize the ongoing contributions to our nation of the AAPI population. Representatives Horton and Mineta worked with their colleagues in the 102nd Congress to make Asian Pacific American Heritage Week a month-long celebration, and succeeded in doing so with enactment of Public Law 102-450 in 1992. I look back with pride over the past 25 years since our great nation first observed Asian Pacific American Heritage Week.
Throughout this month, federal agencies and AAPI and other organizations will hold events in celebration of the diversity of the AAPI population that range from samplings of Asian cuisines to dance, and policy lectures by distinguished speakers. Each event demonstrates the contributions that AAPI individuals have made to our country. I commend agencies and organizations for sponsoring such events to increase public awareness of the contributions made by the AAPI community.
This month presents us with a good opportunity to reexamine the need to increase AAPI participation in our federal government. I encourage the President to renew Executive Order 13216, the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (the Commission), which expired on June 7, 2003. The Commission is mandated to develop, monitor, and coordinate federal efforts to improve AAPI participation in government programs; foster research and data collection for AAPI populations and sub-populations; and increase public and private sector and community involvement in improving the health and well-being of the AAPI community. AAPI citizens, whether employed in the private and public sector, deserve the coordination of services that the Commission can facilitate.
Mr. President, our celebration of AAPI history includes remembrances of the challenges and hardships that have been overcome. For example, we will never forget the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. At the newly opened Manzanar National Historic Site Interpretive Center at the Manzanar War Relocation Center, we have an opportunity to explore our past and reflect. The AAPI community, specifically the Japanese American National Museum and Japanese American Citizens League, are exploring ways to preserve and recall history at the other sites that mark this traumatic time in our country's history in an effort to ensure that such actions do not repeat themselves.
Mr. President, this month also affords us time to reflect on the various social needs that exist in the AAPI community. Its population enriches our culture linguistically through a range of languages, such as Chinese, Hawaiian, Korean, Japanese, Malay, Samoan, Tamil, Thai, Vietnamese, and various Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian languages. Our nation benefits from this linguistic diversity in our ability to compete in the global economy, and U.S. national security is strengthened by increasing the pool of individuals fluent in critical languages. Fluency in foreign languages is one of the vital skills necessary for the United States to exercise international leadership economically and politically. However, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, slightly less than half of the 7 million AAPI who speak a language other than English at home report that they speak English "very well." We need to better address the educational needs of all limited English proficiency students, children, and adults.
I want to extend my gratitude to the patriotic men and women serving our country in the military, including the 60,813 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Services, as well as the 28,066 in the Reserves and National Guard. I also commend the 351,000 AAPI veterans, 57,000 of whom are of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander heritage, for their excellence in defending our nation.
In addition, individual achievements among the AAPI population are many. Though impossible to enumerate all those extraordinary individuals, I would like to cite a few examples.
Army Specialist Hilario Bermanis of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division was presented with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for Meritorious Conduct in Operation Iraqi Freedom. On July 16, 2003, the award presentation ceremony took place bedside at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he was convalescing from grave injuries. Specialist Bermanis and a fellow soldier were on guard duty in southern Baghdad when they sustained an attack by rocket propelled grenades on June 10, 2003. His fellow soldier died instantly and Specialist Bermanis lost both legs and his left hand. Officials from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the U.S. Government have visited him at Walter Reed and praised him for his courage and exemplary service. A senior U.S. official commended Specialist Bermanis's service as representative of FSM citizens' commitment to the security of the United States and Pacific region. Specialist Bermanis hails from Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia.
Dr. Yuan-Cheng Fung, the recipient of the Chinese Institute of Engineers' Distinguished Life Time Achievement Award, is a pioneer in bioengineering and founder of the University of California, San Diego's bioengineering department. Born in China in 1919, Dr. Fung began his career as an aeronautics engineer working for the Chinese government. Dr. Fung received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1948, where he became a faculty member and a major contributor to the field of aeroelasticity. When his mother developed glaucoma, Dr. Fung's interests shifted to medical science. Combining an expertise in force and motion from aeronautics with physiology, he synthesized a new understanding of how the body functions and became the father of biomechanics.
Lauren Moriarty, a Native Hawaiian, is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and was confirmed for the rank of Ambassador to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, where she was recently the U.S. Senior Official. Having previously served in Beijing and Taipei, Ms. Moriarty led the Economic Sections at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China (1999-2001) and the American Institute in Taiwan (1994-1997) as those two economies completed negotiations to accede to the World Trade Organization. She has received numerous awards, including the State Department's 1993 Arnold L. Raphel Award for her leadership and mentoring of her subordinates.
Indra K. Nooyi is the widely admired President and Chief Financial Officer for PepsiCo and highest ranking Indian-born woman in corporate America. Upon emigrating to the United States in 1978, Ms. Nooyi entered the Yale School of Management. She worked from midnight to five in the morning to support herself at school. A firm believer in human potential and an advocate of education, Ms. Nooyi has received awards for her dedication to human capital management. She is ranked by Fortune magazine as one of America's top 50 most powerful women.
AAPI cultural and linguistic diversity, entrepreneurship, public service, and scientific endeavors illustrate a number of the ways that our nation excels. The United States is the most energetic and innovative country because of the combination of these AAPI strengths with the diverse abilities and skills of our nation's other ethnic and racial groups. The U.S. is also a leader in the world because of our ability to acknowledge, celebrate, and utilize the potency of our combined, diverse citizenry, including the contributions from every member of our AAPI community. In the world that is all too frequently wracked by ethnic and religious conflicts, we can demonstrate to others how racial and ethnic harmony in the U.S. provides a balance that encourages a stable democracy, provides for well-functioning societies, and sustains the most powerful economy in the world.
In closing, I extend my deepest aloha to all in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and I urge my colleagues to participate in commemorations of this month in their states and our Nation's Capital.
