Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL-13^th) today joined U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-32) at a press conference celebrating last night’s passage of H. Res. 683, a resolution they sponsored to express regret on behalf of the House of Representatives for passage of a series of Chinese Exclusion Laws between 1882 and 1904 that targeted Chinese-American settlers.  She delivered the following remarks:

“Thank you all for being here.  I’d especially like to thank my good friend, Judy Chu, for all her hard work on this resolution.  It is an honor to be part of this historic effort recognizing the injustice of the Chinese Exclusion Laws.

“As Americans, we learn in grade school about the fight for emancipation from slavery during the Civil War.  And we learn about Japanese internments during World War Two. 

“These are important lessons that we accept with humility, because they remind us of our duty to protect the freedoms that past generations sacrificed so much for. 

“Last night, the House took a major step toward recognizing one of the great – yet often overlooked -- injustices in our shared history, and accepting the lesson it has to teach us.   Passing this resolution does not erase the past, but illuminates it, and reaffirms our shared commitment to equality.

“One-hundred and thirty years ago, just thirteen years after the last spike was driven into the first transcontinental railroad, the Congress of the United States strayed from the path laid by our founders and implemented the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.  

“This ten-year ban on Chinese immigration and naturalization targeted Chinese immigrants for physical and political exclusion.  Congress then expanded and hardened these laws, making it impossible for legal Chinese workers to reenter America, gain their citizenship, and often reunite with their families. 

“It wasn’t until the U.S.-Chinese alliance of World War Two that Congress repealed these laws, and restored the rights of Chinese-Americans.

“But for 60 years, Chinese immigrants were the only people in America who were legally barred from immigration rights based only on their ethnicity.  Had similar provisions been in place for my own grandparents, who came from Sweden, I can’t imagine what kind of treatment they would have encountered on reaching our shores.

“This week, thanks to the hard work of people like Linda Yang, the Director of the Xilin [SI-LIN] Asian Community Center in Naperville, Illinois, the House has finally expressed its regret to the last remaining victims of these unjust laws.  Together with Senate adoption of Senator Scott Brown’s resolution last October, this closes a sad chapter for Congress.

“With that, let me just conclude by saying thank you to everyone who called their member of Congress, and helped fuel our work that culminated in last night’s vote.  It was not an easy path in a divided Congress.  But your support -- and the bipartisan work of leaders like Judy Chu -- helped demonstrate to House and Senate leaders that this resolution had deep and powerful meaning, worthy of swift passage. 

“Thank you.”

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