Korean American Day 2020

Floor Speech

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Ms. MENG. Madam Speaker, as the representative of Queens, where so many Korean Americans call home, I wish everyone a Happy Korean American Day. New York State has the second largest number of Korean Americans in the country. Every day in Queens, I see the vibrant influence of Korean Americans in my congressional district. Over 117 years ago, Koreans arrived on our U.S. shores. Since then, Korean Americans have enriched every facet of American history, culture, and cuisine. Whether in the entertainment industry or academia; whether in medicine or public service--Korean Americans have made and continue to make immeasurable contributions to this nation. In fact, over 70 years ago, a Korean American became the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal, and later became the first American to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in platform diving. Since the 116th Congress, we have the first Korean American Democratic Member of Congress. We also now have the first Korean American NASA astronaut. And in January 2019, I was proud that Jin Park, the first Dreamer Rhodes Scholar and one of my constituents, joined me as my guest at the State of the Union Address. Fighting for issues that matter to Korean Americans is a personal one. After all, half of my family are Korean American; my two boys are half-Korean American. Even as we celebrate the admirable history, contributions, and of course the incredible foods of Korean Americans, we cannot ignore the critical issues like human rights, immigration, health care, and education, which impact Korean Americans. On human rights, I introduced the H.R. 1771, the Divided Families Reunification Act, which would require the U.S. Secretary of State and the U.S. Special Envoy on North Korea Human Rights Issues to prioritize helping Korean American families reunite with family members in North Korea. The Korean War was a heart wrenching event that not only split the peninsula in two, it tore families apart. I am thrilled this bill passed out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in October 2019, and it is now awaiting consideration before the full House of Representatives. On immigration, Koreans make up the highest number of Dreamers from non-Latin American countries. I am fighting for a path to citizenship for those individuals, including Korean Dreamers, who have known this country as their only home. In June 2019, I was proud to cosponsor and vote for the House passage of H.R. 6--the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, which would finally provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers like Jin Park. I am also proud to cosponsor the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2019, which would close the loophole in the 2000 Child Citizenship Act. Today, there are 35,000 adult international adoptees who are in the U.S. without citizenship and are at risk of deportation. This includes thousands of Korean adoptees who are undocumented in New York. On health, while Asian Americans only make up 6 percent of the U.S. population, our community makes up more than 50 percent of hepatitis B virus cases in the nation. This is a tragedy. That is why, as Co-Chair of the Congressional Hepatitis Caucus, I secured almost $40 million in federal funds for the CDC's Division of Viral Hepatitis to eliminate this deadly disease. On education, over 40 percent of Asian Americans are in community colleges. That is why I introduced the Community College Student Success Act which would improve graduation rates at under-resourced public community colleges with high percentages of low-income and minority students. And in the most recent federal funding bill that was signed into law, I secured nearly $4.5 million grant funding for institutions that have a significant number of Asian American students. After all, everyone deserves their best chance at a quality education, no matter their background. Madam Speaker, on these and so many other important issues, it is important to recognize and continue the fight. I am excited to celebrate Korean American Day with all the Korean Americans in Queens, and across our nation.

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