[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 76 (Friday, May 6, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SUPPORTING H.R. 3525, THE COMMISSION TO STUDY THE POTENTIAL CREATION OF 
  A NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 6, 2022

  Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3525, the 
Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of 
Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act.
  I am proud to represent a district that is home to hundreds of 
thousands of Asian Pacific Americans with the largest concentration of 
Vietnamese-Americans in the country. For years, I've seen firsthand how 
our Asian Pacific American community embodies the American experience. 
That is why, as chairperson of the Committee on House Administration, I 
convened hearing in 2020 to examine a previous version of this bill. It 
is also why, during this Congress, I have worked to ensure this bill 
made it to the House Floor for a vote.
  During our 2020 hearing, witnesses testified to the troubling lack of 
knowledge of Asian Pacific American history and culture among American 
students and associated that lack of knowledge with a shortage of 
exposure, rather than with a shortage of Asian Pacific American 
contributions to the Nation. For example, witnesses noted--among many 
other startling datapoints--only 3 percent of sites in the National 
Register of Historic Places are associated with Asian Pacific American 
history, and studies of U.S. history textbooks show a shocking lack of 
content on Asian Pacific Americans. This is disconcerting, as Asian 
Pacific Americans have been in the United States since the early 19th 
century and, today, are the fastest growing demographic in the country. 
Asian-Americans built the Transcontinental Railroad and much of our 
Nation's agricultural infrastructure, fought in the Civil War, helped 
lead the fight for farmworkers' rights and made key breakthroughs in 
atomic science and more.
  Unfortunately, notwithstanding all the ways in which Asian Pacific 
Americans have strengthened the United States, the community has 
repeatedly been subject to cruelty. From the Chinese Exclusion Act and 
Japanese internment to the spike of racism and violence we have all 
witnessed over the past several years, America must do better by the 
Asian Pacific American community. We must do everything we can to honor 
the history and culture of Asian-Americans. I can think of few better 
ways to do that than a museum dedicated to their story. By establishing 
a commission to study the potential creation of an Asian Pacific 
American museum, we will be taking a meaningful step toward achieving 
that goal.
  I strongly support H.R. 3525 and encourage my colleagues to do so as 
well.

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