Teaching Asian Pacific American History Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3188 To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of peoples of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander descent in the settling and founding of America, the social, economic, and political environments that led to the development of discriminatory laws targeting Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and their relation to current events, and the impact and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the development and enhancement of American life, United States history, literature, the economy, politics, body of laws, and culture, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2023 Ms. MENG (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASE, Ms. CHU, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. JACK- SON LEE, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New Jer- sey, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. STRICK- LAND, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TOKUDA, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. OMAR, and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of peoples of Asian, Native Ha- VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3188 IH waiian, and Pacific Islander descent in the settling and founding of America, the social, economic, and political environments that led to the development of discrimina- tory laws targeting Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pa- cific Islanders and their relation to current events, and the impact and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the development and enhancement of American life, United States history, literature, the economy, politics, body of laws, and cul- ture, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teaching Asian Pacific 4 American History Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United States has benefitted from the 8 integral role Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 9 have played in our Nation’s history and contribu- 10 tions to the world. 11 (2) The Pacific Island Territories of Guam, 12 American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 13 Northern Mariana Islands and all of the Pacific Is- 14 lands, including Melanesia, Micronesia, and Poly- 15 nesia have unique histories that are often overlooked 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3188 IH in American history despite their immense contribu- 1 tions to our Nation. 2 (3) The traditional American history curriculum 3 for kindergarten through grade 12 continues to be 4 taught from a Eurocentric point of view and ex- 5 cludes histories of racist immigration laws relevant 6 to policies today. 7 (4) Social studies textbooks for kindergarten 8 through grade 12 poorly represent Asian Americans 9 and Pacific Islanders, overlook the diversity within 10 those communities, and print images of Asian Amer- 11 icans and Pacific Islanders in stereotypical roles. 12 (5) The Federal Government, through support 13 for educational activities of national museums estab- 14 lished under Federal law, can assist teachers in ef- 15 forts to incorporate historically accurate instruction 16 on the comprehensive history of Asian Americans 17 and Pacific Islanders and assist students in their ex- 18 ploration of Asian Pacific American history as an in- 19 tegral part of American history. 20 (6) The history of America’s system of immi- 21 gration is rife with racism, embedded with goals of 22 hiring workers to work for cheaper wages and labor 23 in heinous working conditions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3188 IH (7) Congress has continuously passed anti- 1 Asian laws as the result of the scapegoating of Asian 2 immigrant laborers for economic downturns in the 3 United States. 4 (8) The history of South Asian Americans in 5 the United States dates back to the late 1700s. 6 (9) The history of Native Hawaiians and Pa- 7 cific Islanders in what is now considered to be the 8 United States predates the founding of our Nation. 9 (10) In 1993, Congress passed a joint resolu- 10 tion that was signed into law formally apologizing 11 for the role of the United States in the illegal over- 12 throw of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which resulted in 13 the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the 14 Native Hawaiian people. 15 (11) Twelve thousand Chinese laborers worked 16 in atrocious conditions to build the Transcontinental 17 Railroad, many dying from harsh weather conditions 18 and the dangers of handling explosives. 19 (12) The Page Act of 1875, the first restrictive 20 immigration law in the United States, sought to pre- 21 vent the entry of Asian women perceived as immoral 22 or suspected of prostitution. 23 (13) After the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 24 banned Chinese immigrants from immigrating to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3188 IH United States, Japanese immigrants were hired. 1 After the Japanese were banned from immigrating 2 due to the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907, which 3 halted immigration from Japan, Filipino immigrants 4 were hired under 3-year contracts. 5 (14) Filipino farm workers helped found the 6 farm worker labor movement in the United States. 7 (15) The Immigration Act of 1917 restricted 8 immigration to the United States by barring immi- 9 gration from the Asia-Pacific zone. 10 (16) The Immigration Act of 1924 set a na- 11 tional origin quota to deter immigration. 12 (17) President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Execu- 13 tive Order 9066 authorized the incarceration of 14 more than 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, 15 two-thirds of whom were American citizens, based 16 solely on race. 17 (18) Beginning in 1954, the United States dis- 18 placed more than 3,000,000 refugees from Cam- 19 bodia, Laos, and Vietnam due to covert and overt 20 United States military operations in Southeast Asia. 21 (19) The Immigration Act of 1965 made family 22 unification and skills-based migration the bedrock 23 principle of immigration to the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3188 IH (20) The nuclear testing conducted by the 1 United States on the Bikini and Enewetak Atoll of 2 the Marshall Islands has made parts of the island 3 nation uninhabitable and caused forced migration 4 and health complications that still impact the com- 5 munity today. 6 (21) The United States ratified a Compact of 7 Free Association with the Federated States of Mi- 8 cronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 9 Republic of Palau enabling citizens of these Pacific 10 Island nations to legally migrate to the United 11 States visa-free while the United States retains cer- 12 tain strategic military rights over their territorial 13 waters. 14 (22) In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the 15 Refugee Act of 1980 helped more than 500,000 16 Southeast Asians gain permanent resident status in 17 the United States within the first decade of its pas- 18 sage. 19 (23) The Pacific Islander community represents 20 the largest concentration of any ethnic group en- 21 listed in the United States military, as well as rep- 22 resenting the highest numbers of casualties in recent 23 wars. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3188 IH (24) The ‘‘model minority’’ myth perpetuates 1 the stigma of Asian Americans as perpetual for- 2 eigners, and such stereotypes are used to pit minor- 3 ity groups against one another. 4 (25) The pattern of hate crimes and hate inci- 5 dents directed at Asians and Asian Americans has 6 repeated itself throughout history. 7 (26) Asian American and African American his- 8 tories of fighting against oppression and racism are 9 intertwined, from the Black Power Movement of the 10 1960s that birthed the Asian American Movement to 11 civil rights protests in present day. 12 (27) Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and 13 their allies continue to fight discrimination, racial 14 prejudice, hate crimes, scapegoating, structural rac- 15 ism, economic inequities, and benign and overt omis- 16 sion of the integral role they played in the develop- 17 ment of this Nation. 18 SEC. 3. AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS EDUCATION. 19 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Section 2231(a) of the 20 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 21 U.S.C. 6661(a)) is amended— 22 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 23 inserting ‘‘, which shall include Asian Pacific Amer- 24 ican history,’’ after ‘‘American history’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3188 IH (2) in paragraph (2)— 1 (A) by inserting ‘‘which shall include Asian 2 Pacific American history,’’ after ‘‘American his- 3 tory,’’; and 4 (B) by inserting ‘‘, which shall include 5 Asian Pacific American history’’ after ‘‘tradi- 6 tional American history’’. 7 (b) PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL ACADEMIES 8 FOR AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS.—Section 2232 of 9 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 10 U.S.C. 6662) is amended— 11 (1) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘, which 12 shall include Asian Pacific American history,’’ after 13 ‘‘American history’’; 14 (2) in subsection (e)— 15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 16 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 17 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘, which shall in- 18 clude Asian Pacific American history,’’ 19 after ‘‘American history’’; 20 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 21 (I) by inserting ‘‘, which shall in- 22 clude Asian Pacific American his- 23 tory,’’ after ‘‘teachers of American 24 history’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3188 IH (II) by inserting ‘‘, which shall 1 include Asian Pacific American his- 2 tory,’’ after ‘‘subjects of American 3 history’’; and 4 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 5 ‘‘, which shall include Asian Pacific Amer- 6 ican history,’’ after ‘‘American history’’; 7 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, which 8 shall include Asian Pacific American history,’’ 9 after ‘‘American history’’; and 10 (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, and 11 with the Smithsonian Institution’s Asian Pacific 12 American Center to provide programs and re- 13 sources for educators and students’’ after ‘‘Na- 14 tional Parks’’; and 15 (3) in paragraph (1) of subsection (f)— 16 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 17 (A), by inserting ‘‘including Asian Pacific 18 American history’’ after ‘‘American history’’; 19 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 20 which shall include Asian Pacific American his- 21 tory,’’ after ‘‘American history’’; and 22 (C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 23 which shall include Asian Pacific American his- 24 tory,’’ after ‘‘American history’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3188 IH (c) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 2233 of the Ele- 1 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2 6663) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘which shall 4 include Asian Pacific American history,’’ after 5 ‘‘American history,’’; and 6 (2) in subsection (b)— 7 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 8 by inserting ‘‘which shall include Asian Pacific 9 American history,’’ after ‘‘American history,’’; 10 and 11 (B) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting 12 ‘‘which shall include Asian Pacific American 13 history,’’ after ‘‘American history,’’. 14 (d) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL 15 PROGRESS.—Section 303(b)(2)(D) of the National As- 16 sessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 17 U.S.C. 9622(b)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(which 18 shall include Asian Pacific American history)’’ after ‘‘his- 19 tory’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 May 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3188.IH H3188 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB