May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the month of May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. I am proud to say that we have many visitors--in fact, hundreds of visitors--who are here at the Capitol, many celebrating this month with us. Among those who are visiting are some of my friends and some of my colleagues, and some persons who are from other places than my congressional district, but they are still friends of mine.

Among them is Dawn Lin. She worked in our congressional office for sometime, and she is a visitor here today. She is the mother of the Confucius resolution that I brought before Congress and passed.

Another is the father of the International District in Houston, Texas, Mr. Wei Le. He is a dear friend, and I am honored that he is here today.

Another is Kenneth Li, known as the mayor of Chinatown in Houston, Texas, affectionately so.

We also have Chris Kang, Casey Kang, Dionne Cuello, Vickie Silvano, Ray Huang, and Lily Lee, all friends and visiting today.

I am honored today, Mr. Speaker, to say a few words about Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, because the truth is America the beautiful is a more beautiful America because of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

One such beautiful American was Wong Kim Ark. Wong Kim Ark was born in the United States, and in 1894, he decided that he would travel to China. Upon returning from China in 1895, he was denied entrance into the United States.

Wong Kim Ark was denied entrance into the United States because of the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act was one that was passed to prevent Chinese Americans from having ingress and egress into this country if you were not a citizen, of course.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution became the subject of his reentry into the country because when they declared him ineligible to return to the country, it was because they were saying he was not a citizen, notwithstanding the fact that he was born in California. But if you read closely the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, you will find that it reads: ``All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof''--that is some key language, ``and subject to the jurisdiction thereof''--``are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.''

There were some persons who thought that the term ``and subject to the jurisdiction thereof'' meant that since their parents were the subjects of the Emperor of China, he could not be a citizen of the United States of America. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States of America, and it was all because of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

The Supreme Court did the judicious thing. They ruled in his favor that he was a citizen of the United States of America. While that might seem such a small thing today, it is really a significant piece of world history in terms of how persons born in this country become citizens, because had they ruled otherwise, there are a good many people who could be born in this country but not be citizens of the United States of America. He was the test case that went before the Supreme Court.

While many persons conclude that the 14th Amendment has its roots in those who were freed from slavery in the United States of America to accord them citizenship--and I concur with this, by the way--but I also would add this: while it was given birth to because of the freed slaves, it was given clarity because of Mr. Ark who was denied citizenship for a brief moment, but finally, the Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark was a citizen of the United States of America.
As I close today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to simply say there are many contributions that Asian American and Pacific Islanders have made to this great Nation to make America a more beautiful America.

I think we should not limit our thoughts to things such as dance, which is wonderful; the great food, which is great; to the beautiful clothing, which is a great thing as well. I think we have to go beyond these things and remember the transcontinental railroad that was constructed by the labor of tens of thousands of persons of Chinese ancestry.

I think we have to go beyond this country if we are going to take a global look at the great history. I think, Mr. Speaker, that America the beautiful is a more beautiful America because they are here.

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