Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders: Legislation
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In the historic election of 2006, voters entrusted Democrats with the majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. With their votes, the American people asked for change. They cast their ballots in favor of a New Direction. By bringing a new direction to Washington, Democrats are accomplishing much on behalf of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
MEASURES ENACTED INTO LAW
ENACTED BILL INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE – The first increase in more than a decade became a reality for millions of Americans in July, thanks to action by the New Direction Congress:
- The increase in the minimum wage will benefit more than 250,000 hardworking Asian Americans over the next several years. [EPI, 4/07]
- This pay raise comes at a critical time for AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) families as real median household income has dropped by $1,381 since 2000, and, over the last six years, the number of Asian American/Pacific Islanders living in poverty has grown by 189,000. [CPS, 8/07]
ENACTED LEGISLATION MAKING COLLEGE MORE AFFORDABLE – Benefiting the more than more than 176,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander students enrolled in degree-granting institutions and those who strive to follow in their footsteps:
- The New Direction Congress has enacted the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (H.R. 2669), which the President signed into law on September 27. This is the single largest investment in college assistance since the G.I. Bill of 1944. This legislation includes numerous provisions making college more accessible and affordable.
- The College Cost Reduction and Access Act increases the Pell Grant by more than $1,000 over the next five years, restoring the purchasing power for millions of low and moderate income students. This will help the more than one in five Asian American and Pacific Islander students who receive the Pell Grant scholarship each year. [American Council on Education, 6/07]
- In addition, the legislation also cuts the interest rates on subsidized student loans in half. This cut saves the typical borrower $4,400 over the life of the loan.
- The legislation also makes new investments in minority-serving higher education institutions and for the first time creates a new designation for Asian American and Pacific Islander serving institutions.
ENACTED INNOVATION AGENDA THAT SPURS INNOVATION AND GOOD-PAYING JOBS – Congress has enacted our crucial Innovation Agenda, which makes new investments in math and science education and basic research in order to restore our ability to compete in a global economy.
- America COMPETES Act (H.R. 2272), which the President signed into law on August 9, puts us on a path to doubling funding for National Science Foundation basic research over the next 10 years, invests in some 25,000 new math and science teachers over the next five years, and works to strengthen small high-tech firms and stimulate investments in innovative technologies by small manufacturers.
- The bill also takes concrete steps toward increasing the number of women and under-represented minorities entering the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
- For example, the new law will improve the NSF’s program to increase undergraduates in science, technology, engineering and math in order to promote minority and women participation, and requires a National Academy of Sciences study on strategies to increase minority participation in the science, technology, engineering and math workforce.
ENACTED OVERDUE FUNDING TO HELP REBUILD GULF COAST COMMUNITIES RAVAGED BY HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA.
- The FY 2007 Supplemental (H.R. 2206) bill, enacted into law on May 25th, provides $6.4 billion for Gulf Coast Recovery; the Democratic-led Congress added $3 billion to meet specific urgent needs of the Gulf Coast. The law: waives the local matching requirement under the Stafford Act for FEMA disaster recovery projects, includes $1.35 billion in Community Disaster loan forgiveness, extends Low Income Housing Tax Credits allocated under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, expands access to low-income financing for homeowners in hurricane-affected areas, and extends access to emergency federal funding and allocates $60 million to pay teachers and operate schools.
ENACTED INVESTMENT IN WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE – Asian American/Pacific Islander women are 1.2 times more likely to have cervical cancer than non-Hispanic white women. [Office of Minority Health, 2007]
- On April 10th, the President signed into law H.R. 1132, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, reauthorizing the program for five more years.
- This program provides free and low-cost breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income, minority, or uninsured women and provides education and outreach services to women.
MEASURES PASSED BY THE HOUSE
FIGHTING FOR ENACTMENT OF A BILL THAT RENEWS AND IMPROVES THE STATE CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM (SCHIP) – Providing health care coverage for 10 million low-income children:
- Eight percent of Asian American Pacific Islander children are still living day-to-day without any health coverage – many of whom are eligible for coverage through Medicaid or SCHIP, but are not enrolled. [Families USA, 6/07]
- Congress has passed H.R. 976, State Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, which renews and improves the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – preserving coverage for 6 million children currently covered by SCHIP and extending coverage to 4 million uninsured children. Unfortunately, the President has vetoed this bill. The Congress will continue fighting for this health care coverage for these 10 million low-income children until it is enacted.
- This bill also takes steps to reduce health disparities in communities of color and makes critical changes to overcome the barriers to enrollment in Medicaid and SCHIP, such as expanding outreach and encouraging culturally appropriate enrollment practices.
- In addition, on May 25th, H.R. 2206 was enacted into law providing emergency funding for the SCHIP program – preventing potentially hundreds of thousands of children in 11 states from losing their health insurance or having their health coverage scaled back in the next few months.
- Head Start provides vital child development, health and nutrition services to nearly 25,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander children. [Administration for Children & Families, Office of Head Start, 2007]
- In November, the House overwhelmingly passed the conference report on Improving Head Start Act (H.R. 1429) which expands and improves the successful Head Start childhood education program, including provisions to improve classroom and teacher quality and to expand access to Head Start and Early Head Start. The President is expected to sign the bill into law soon.
- In November, the House passed the conference report on Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Act (H.R. 3043) which invests in raising the achievement levels of America’s students – providing $1.8 illion more than 2007 for giving low-income children extra help with reading and math, $150 million more for improving teacher quality, and $100 million more for providing after-school enrichment programs. Unfortunately, the President has vetoed this bill. The Congress will continue fighting for key investments in improving the education of our children.
PASSED LEGISLATION STRENGTHENING THE GROWTH OF SMALL BUSINESSES – Small businesses create two-thirds of American jobs.
- Asian American Pacific Islanders own 1.1 million small businesses across the nation, which employ more than 2.2 million people.
- The number of AAPI-owned businesses grew by 24 percent between 1997 and 2002, approximately twice the national average for all businesses.
- In April, the House passed the Small Business Lending Improvements Act (H.R. 1332) which lowers the cost of financing for small businesses by modernizing SBA lending initiatives, allowing entrepreneurs to invest further in their ventures and create jobs.
- In May, the House passed the Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act (H.R. 1873) which strengthens small business by increasing the share of federal contracts going to small businesses and limiting the ability of federal agencies to bundle smaller projects into larger projects.
PROVIDED HISTORIC INCREASE IN FUNDING FOR VETERANS AND FOR A PAY RAISE FOR BRAVE MEMBERS OF OUR MILITARY – The largest veterans’ funding increase in the history of the VA:
- There are more than 321,000 veterans of AAPI descent who have served this nation and 62,378 AAPIs who are currently on active duty in the military. Nearly 44,000 brave AAPI men and women have served their country in Afghanistan and Iraq since September 2001.
- In March, the House passed the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act (H.R. 1538), which responded to the scandal of the shocking living conditions and inattentive care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other similar facilities by providing for the improvement of care of injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Final action on this legislation is expected soon.
- In November, the House passed the conference report on Military Construction/Veterans’ Affairs Appropriations bill (H.R. 2642), which provides the largest increase in veterans’ funding in the 77-year history of the Veterans’ Administration, $3.7 billion more than the President’s request, including significantly increasing the funding for veterans’ health care, including care for PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury. The conference report was packaged with the Labor-Health-Education Appropriations bill; unfortunately, Senate Republicans stripped the military construction/veterans funding out of the bill. The Congress will keep fighting to enact this largest increase in veterans’ funding in history.
- The House has also passed the Defense Department Authorization (H.R. 1585), which provides all service members a pay raise of 3.5 percent, higher than the President’s request, and will put $7.3 billion into the paychecks of our men and women in uniform over the next five years. The bill also will protect service members and retirees from TRICARE fee increases.
PASSED LEGISLATION MANDATING HARSHER PENALTIES FOR THOSE GUILTY OF HATE CRIMES – In 2006, law enforcement reported 7,722 hate crimes – up almost 8 percent from the 7,163 incidents reported in 2005. Many of those crimes were motivated by racial and ethnic bias.
- On May 3rd, the House passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1592) authorizing the Department of Justice to provide state and local law enforcement agencies technical, forensic, prosecutorial and other forms of assistance in the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes.
- On June 20th, the House overwhelmingly passed the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act (H.R. 923) establishing an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Investigative Office in the Civil Rights Unit of the FBI to investigate violations of criminal civil rights statutes in which the act occurred before January 1, 1970 and resulted in death. The legislation was named in honor of Emmett Till, a teenager who was brutally murdered and mutilated while on a summer vacation in Money, Mississippi in 1955.
PASSED LEGISLATION STRENGTHENING VOTER PROTECTION AND PREVENTING INTIMIDATION AT THE POLLING PLACE – All American voters have a right to participate in their constitutional right to political participation free of fear.
- On June 25th, the House passed the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act (H.R. 1281). This bill protects every American citizen’s right to vote by making voter deception a crime.
- H.R. 1281 is designed to prevent a repeat of the 2006 election when voters in minority communities were intentionally misled about voting dates and some naturalized citizens were threatened with arrest if they turned out to vote. The bill clearly defines and criminalizes voter deception, increases penalties for voter intimidation, and requires the Department of Justice to prevent and correct malicious misinformation campaigns designed to prevent citizens from voting or to mislead them on their way to the polls.
PASSED VITAL FARM AND NUTRITION LEGISLATION:
- On July 27th, the House passed H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007, a landmark Farm bill, which will reform America’s farm policy, invest in energy independence, support conservation, and strengthen nutrition assistance. It takes America in a New Direction that stands with our farmers and ranchers and recognizes their vital role of providing food, fiber, and fuel for America and the world.
- The bill increases funding for minority outreach for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers to $75 million and changes the program to provide more outreach, coordination and technical assistance to the AAPI community.
- The bill also creates a Minority Farmer and Rancher Advisory Committee at USDA – benefiting thousands of minority-owned farms across the United States.
- The bill also guarantees an historic $1.5 billion in funding for fruit and vegetable programs, which have not received traditional Farm Bill benefits for nutrition, research, pest management and trade promotion programs. This helps AAPI farmers, who tend to be specialty crop farmers.
- In addition, the bill includes grants for a revision to the application and eligibility determination process for food stamps -- thereby improving access to food stamps, which help millions of American families every year.
INCREASED FUNDING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING – The House has passed a large initiative focused on expanding affordable housing – all at no expense to the U.S. taxpayer:
- On October 10th, the House passed the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act (H.R. 2895), which provides the largest expansion in federal housing programs in decades, with a goal of producing, rehabilitating and preserving 1.5 million affordable housing units over the next 10 years – with no cost to the U.S. taxpayer, instead turning to such funding sources as fees from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- On July 12th, the House passed the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (H.R. 1851) to provide housing for an additional 100,000 families over the next five years, in addition to the close to two million households already benefiting from Section 8.
- The Section 8 bill improves the efficiency of Section 8, encourages self-sufficiency for low-income families, promotes homeownership and ensures that vouchers can be used to create affordable housing developments for seniors, the disabled, and homeless people.
PASSED LEGISLATION HELPING GULF COAST COMMUNITIES RAVAGED BY HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA – There is a significant Asian American (particularly Vietnamese American) population in the Gulf Coast region:
- The House passed the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act (H.R. 1227) on March 21st, which is designed to speed up the rebuilding of homes and affordable rental units in the Gulf Coast region, including by freeing up $1.2 billion for the Louisiana Road Home program and helping to preserve the supply of affordable rental housing.
- On April 18th, the House passed the RECOVER Act (H.R. 1361) which includes numerous provisions to overhaul the Small Business Administration's disaster assistance program in response to SBA's disastrous performance after the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes and increases the individual disaster loan limit from $1.5 million to $3 million.
- With a bipartisan vote of 313-104, the House passed the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act (H.R. 1427) on May 22nd. The bill creates a non-taxpayer financed Affordable Housing Fund over the next five years – estimated to be about $500 million a year. In the first year, grants from the fund would go exclusively to the Katrina-stricken areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. Then, in the next four years, grants would be allocated by formula to states.
- The House and Senate passed the Conference Report on the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (H.R. 1495) authorizing approximately $1.9 billion for Corps of Engineers projects to restore the Louisiana Coastal Area and protect the residents of the Gulf Coast from future hurricanes, as well as funding to enhance flood protection levees surrounding New Orleans to achieve a 100-year level of protection. The President vetoed the bill on November 2. Fortunately, the House and Senate successfully overrode the President’s veto and the legislation became law on November 9.
- On Wednesday, November 7, 2007, House and Senate Leadership, along with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), hosted the first Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Education Forum. The forum drew participants from all around the country, including Asian American elected school board members, educators, academics, and community advocates. Participants emphasized the diversity within the AAPI community, which ranges from high-achieving students to some of the lowest achieving students in the nation. Factors such as English proficiency and socio-economic status account for many differences. To address these disparities, participants voiced the need for the federal government to disaggregate data among the various AAPI ethnic groups, ensure adequate services for English Language Learners (ELLs), and encourage parent involvement by engaging AAPI community- based organizations.
- The Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2007 – Rep. Hilda Solis and 87 other Members of the House introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2007 in July, to help eliminate the persistent health disparities that leave millions of Americans in poor health and more likely to die prematurely during their most productive life years. Solis, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Health and the Environment, and a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was joined by Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Health Task Force, and Donna M. Christensen, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, along with the Chairs of the House minority caucuses. The legislation addresses health work force diversity; culturally and linguistically appropriate health care; access to health care; and data collection and analysis.
- The 5th Annual Tri-Caucus Health Summit, hosted by Reps. Hilda Solis, Donna Christensen, Madeleine Bordallo, Joe Baca, Carolyn Kilpatrick and Michael Honda took place on July 20-21 in San Diego. The Summit brought together community and health advocates to raise awareness about health challenges facing minority communities and to learn more about the innovative work being done to address them. Some of the topics that were discussed during the Summit included: State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), foster care, quality of care, chronic diseases, health care access, health professions, health information technology, and HIV/AIDS.
- On July 30, 2007, the House passed H. Res. 121, a resolution calling on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge and apologize for its Imperial Armed Forces’ coercion of young women into sexual slavery, known as ‘comfort women,’ during its occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands during the World War II era.
- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), House Democrats and members of the Senate Leadership delivered remarks at the second annual meeting of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community leaders on May 16, 2007. “2007 Democratic Leadership's Asian American and Pacific Islander Town Hall: A New Direction” drew more than 150 leaders from across the country.
- At the request of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the House Interior & Environment Appropriations bill includes $750,000 for restoration and rehabilitation of the Angel Island Immigration Station. The Angel Island Immigration Station, designated as one of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places, served as a processing center for immigrants coming across the Pacific. More than one million immigrants, including immigrants from China, Korea, the Philippines, and Central and South America were processed at the station before it was shut down in 1940. The facility was used by the U.S. Army during World War II, then abandoned, and became part of the California State Park system in 1963.