7/21/17 press release: OCA Applauds Bipartisan Introduction of Dream Act
Thu Nguyen | Communications Associate
Washington, D.C. – OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates applauds U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) for the introduction of The Dream Act of 2017.
The bipartisan bill would allow young immigrant students to earn lawful permanent residence – and eventually American citizenship – if they:
Are longtime residents who came to the U.S. as children;
Pursue higher education, work lawfully for three years, or serve in the military;
Pass security and law enforcement background checks and pay a reasonable application fee;
Demonstrate proficiency in the English language and a knowledge of United States.*
“We applaud Senator Graham and Senator Durbin for working together to introduce a necessary, bipartisan pathway to citizenship for DREAMers. One out of seven Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) immigrants are undocumented. About 130,000 AAPIs are eligible for DACA, but many did not apply for fear of outing themselves as undocumented to their communities. The Dream Act will help alleviate these fears and allow them access to important rights and resources,” said Vicki Shu, OCA National Vice President of Public Affairs. “However, until this bill is passed, it is crucial that we support and protect the DACA program. OCA calls on Congress to pass the Dream Act and protect the DACA program.”
3/24/16 NY Post: “Assemblyman warns of riots if ex-NYPD cop gets no-jail sentence in fatal shooting”
By Emily Saul
Assemblyman Charles Barron on Thursday warned of riots, saying “violence is inevitable” if former NYPD officer Peter Liang gets the no-jail sentence recommended by Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson.
http://nypost.com/2016/03/24/assemblyman-warns-of-riots-if-ex-nypd-cop-gets-no-jail-sentence-in-fatal-shooting/?from=timeline&isappinstalled=0
2/29/16 NBC10: “NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s Nominee Could Be First Asian-American to Serve on NJ Supreme Court”
By Morgan Zalot
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Monday nominated Superior Court Judge David Bauman for the state Supreme Court.
If his nomination is approved, Bauman will be the first Asian-American to serve as a judge in New Jersey’s highest court.
Bauman, 59, currently presides in Superior Court in Monmouth County.
Former Gov. John Corzine first nominated Bauman to the state Superior Court in 2008.
Bauman’s credentials include service in the civil, criminal, family and general equity divisions of the state courts. He served four years in the United States Marine Corps and 12 years as a reservist. He is a 1986 graduate of Boston College Law School and a 1981 graduate of Columbia University.
Christie said his nomination of Bauman, a Republican, “preserves the tradition of partisan balance on the court,” and would bring its makeup to four Republicans, two Democrats and one independent. The tradition in New Jersey, Christie said, is that the governor does not have more than four members of his own party serving on the court.
The governor added that he hoped his choice of a judge who was unanimously approved for his Superior Court seat as recently as May would help to fill a six-year vacancy on the state Supreme Court, saying the state Senate is “playing politics” if it doesn’t approve Bauman’s nomination.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/NJ-Gov-Chris-Christies-Nominee-Could-Be-First-Asian-American-to-Serve-on-NJ-Supreme-Court-370542101.html
July 2015: Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware). Senator Carper’s staff made repeated inquires with the Department of Justice regarding the arrest of Sherry Chen and subsequent dismissal of espionage charges.
On June 8, 2015, U.S. Representatives Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) publicly released their letter to the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice concerning the Administrative Complaint filed by over 60 Asian-American groups against Harvard for its discrimination against Asian American applicants.
http://royce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397714
In 1989, Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) introduced HR 147, which was designed to investigate undergraduate admissions processes that discriminated against Asian American applicants.
2015: Sen. Bob Huff (R), Minority Leader, California State Senate
Supported the STOP SCA 5 (Senate Constitutional Amendment 5) movement, aiming to stop Democratic initiative to return “race-preference” college admissions to California
Governor Gary Herbert (R-Utah) Appointments of Asian Americans:
December 2013: appointed Filipino-American lawyer Sean Reyes as attorney general. First Asian-American to hold a statewide post in Utah.
Governor Nathan Deal (R-Georgia) Appointments of Asian Americans:
1/16/13: appointed Fayette County State Court Judge Carla Wong McMillian to the
Georgia Court of Appeals. First Asian-American to serve on a Georgia appellate court.
Governor Chris Christie (R – New Jersey) Appointments of Asian Americans:
12/9/12: nominated NJ Superior Court Judge David Bauman to the NJ Supreme Court
1/23/12: nominated Phillip Kwon to New Jersey Supreme Court
Governor Jerry Brown (D – California) Appointments of Asian Americans:
1/28/14: appointed Ferdinand (Dino) Inumerable as Ventura County Superior Court judge
8/31/11: Goodwin H. Liu confirmed as California Supreme Court justice
Governor Deval Patrick’s (D – Massachusetts) Appointments of Asian Americans:
9/24/09: Paul M. Yee, Jr., to the Quincy, Mass. District Court.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R – California) Appointments of Asian Americans:
7/21/10 nominated Tani Cantil Sakauye as Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court
1/15/10: Daniel Nishigaya to the Santa Clara County Superior Court.
1/22/09: Howard L. Halm (D) to Los Angeles County Superior Court
1/22/09: Bruce E. Chan (D) to San Francisco Superior Court
1/26/08: Lucy Koh (D) to Santa Clara County Superior Court
11/25/07: John Chung (R): special assistant inspector general, Office of the Inspector General
1/17/07: Stephanie Shimazu (D) to Gambling Control Commission
9/29/06: Helena R. Gweon to Sacramento Superior Court.
8/28/06 San Jose Mercury News: Since taking office in November 2003, Governor
Schwarzenegger has appointed 178 judges: 7 percent were Asian-Americans.
5.3 percent of the state bar membership is Asian-American.
3/14/06: Genevieve Shiroma (D) to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board.
1/12/06: Rachelle Chong (D) as a commissioner on the California Public Utilities Commission
1/3/06: Peichin Cheng (R) to the Acupuncture Board.
1/3/06: Dr. Kenny G. Cherng (R) to the Acupuncture Board
1/3/06: Bruce Saito (D) to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
1/3/06: Dr. Steven Tan (D) to the Acupuncture Board
9/14/05: Leslie Tang Schilling to the University of California Board of Regents
7/05?: Garrett Wong as judge of San Francisco County Superior Court
7/22/05: Mark Woo Sam as deputy director for the Department of Industrial Relations
7/14/05: Elizabeth Lee (D) as judge of the San Mateo County Superior Court.
5/11/05: Stan Moy To San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
4/27/05: Mr Sanjay T Kumar as judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court
4/14/05: Laura J. Masunaga to a judgeship in the Siskiyou County Superior Court.
4/14/05: Sanjay Kumar to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
2/25/05: Linda Ng to Fair Employment & Housing Commission
2/24/05: Sophie Wong to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board.
11/8/04: Benny Yee to Commission On Aging
11/6/04: Judge Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye to Justice of the Third District Court
of Appeal. Cantil-Sakauye, 45, of Sacramento, has served as judge of the
Sacramento Superior Court since 1997 and for the Sacramento Municipal
Court from 1990 to 1997. Her experience also includes service as deputy
legislative secretary and deputy legal affairs secretary for Governor George
Deukmejian. Cantil-Sakauye earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the
University of California, Davis School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree
from the University of California, Davis. Cantil-Sakauye is an active member of
the California legal community serving as a member of the Asian Bar
Association, the California Bar Association and the Filipino Bar Association.
9/1/04: Andrew Chang to the Dept. of General Services as Assistant Public
Affairs Officer
8/20/04: Hedy Chiang, Morgan Hill City Council Member to the Medical Board
of California Division of Licensing.
8/18/04: Chief Heather Fong to the Criminal Index and Identification System
Advisory Committee.
8/18/04: Supervisor Fiona Ma to the California Earthquake Insurance Authority
and Advisory Panel.
8/13/04: Henry Gong, a physician specializing in environmental and respiratory
health, to the California Air Resources Board. The appointment requires
Senate confirmation.
7/29/04: Gary Kuwabara as Chief Deputy Director for the Dept. of Rehabilitation.
7/21/04: Floyd Shimomoura Executive Director of the California State State
Personnel Board.
7/3/04: Alexander Kim as Deputy Director and Asian American Community Liaison
5/4/04: Lance Izumi, senior fellow in California studies and director of education
studies at the Pacific Research Institute, to the California Community
Colleges Board of Governors, which guides the state’s 109 two-year colleges.
The appointment requires Senate approval
4/7/04: Leslie Wang to CA Community College Board of Governors
3/13/04 Hong Liang Lu, chairman and CEO of telecommunications company
UTStarcom in Alameda, to the California Commission for Jobs
and Economic Growth.
1/21/04: Kimberly Yee to Cabinet Affairs Team
1/8/04: Stephanie Shimazu to his legal affairs team.
“Paul, Tami, Stephanie and David are fantastic additions to my staff,” said Governor
Schwarzenegger. “The variety of experience and depth of legal expertise each of them
brings is an asset to my administration.” Shimazu previously served as staff counsel
for the California Department of Social Services from 2001 to 2003. Prior to joining
the Department of Social Services, she served for three years as deputy legislative
counsel in the California Legislative Counsel’s Office. From 1997 to 1998 Shimazu was
staff counsel for the California Department of Corrections and prior to that she served
as a deputy city attorney in Sacramento. She will primarily cover issues pertaining to
social services and health care. Shimazu, 34, is a Democrat from Sacramento.
She is a graduate of the University of California, Davis and of the University of San
Francisco School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation.
11/19/03: Darrel Ng as an assistant deputy press secretary.
11/5/03 A.G. Kawamura, past chairman of the Western Growers Association who
oversees a 600-acre farm in Irvine, as Agriculture Secretary. The 47-year-old Kawamura
had most recently served as chair of an advisory committee to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture on farm exports. He has also a past president of the Orange County Farm
Bureau and a past member of the California Strawberry Commission.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture acts as an advocate for the state’s
farmers, it has a budget of $270 million and 1,800 employees.
Governor Rick Perry’s (R – Texas) Appointments of Asian Americans:
10/20/06: David Wellington Chew of El Paso as Chief Justice of the 8th Court of Appeals serving 17 counties in the west Texas area. Chew will serve until the next general election. Chew has served as a justice on the 8th Court of Appeals since 1995.
9/28/05: Livia Liu, a chief felony court prosecutor and first-generation Chinese-American, was named judge of Criminal District Court 7 in Dallas County.
7/27/12 Murphysboro American: “Governor Quinn Signs Law to Increase Opportunity for Asian-Americans,”
Murphysboro, Il. : As part of his ongoing efforts to promote diversity in state government, Governor
Pat Quinn today signed a new law creating the Asian-American Employment Plan Advisory Council.
The council will focus on ways to encourage and assist Asian-Americans seeking employment in state
government. The governor was joined by numerous legislators, community leaders and representatives
from the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community and the Asian American Policy Network.
http://www.murphysboroamerican.com/newsnow/x417560924/Governor-Quinn-Signs-Law-to-Increase-Opportunity-for-Asian-Americans
9/24/10 http://www.asianjournal.com: “Sen. Durbin reintroduces DREAM Act as
stand-alone bill after failing to win votes in US Senate,”
by Joseph Pimentel
Los Angeles � Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill) reintroduced the DREAM Act as
a stand-alone bill days after Republicans voted against the measure as part of
a defense authorization bill in the US Senate.
The DREAM Act, an acronym for Development, Relief, and Education for
Alien Minors Act, would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented youth
who came to the US as children (under the age of 16). Under the act,
undocumented students can apply for a conditional legal status for a six-year
period provided they graduate from a two-year college, complete two years
of a four-year university, or serve in the military for two years.
At the end of the six-year period, they can become permanent legal
residents if they have a clean criminal record. The Migration Policy Institute
estimates the act would benefit nearly 825,000 students.
5/20/09 press release: OCA Supports the Reuniting Families Act
Washington, DC � OCA, a national organization dedicated to
advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific
Americans (APAs), supports Senators Robert Menendez (NJ), Ted
Kennedy (MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), and Charles Schumer (NY) as
they introduce the Reuniting Families Act today in the Senate.
This bill would improve America �s outdated family-based immigration
system, which is necessary to keeping American families together.
Millions of close family members of U.S. citizens and green card holders
are caught in the visa backlog, and for some APA families the wait is
longer than 20 years. This bill would promote stability in American
communities and foster the economic growth that immigrant families
have provided throughout our history.
Specifically, this bill would take unused and unclaimed visas from
1992 to 2007 and place them back into the pool of current visas for
families and employers to utilize; take unused visas in future fiscal years
and �roll them over� to the next year; and increase the per country limits
of family and employment-based visas from 7 percent to 10 percent.
Although APAs comprise only 5 percent of the U.S. population, they
sponsor more than a third of all family-based immigrants. Nearly half of
the family members still waiting in the visa backlogs are relatives of APAs.
5/1/09: Hate Crimes Bill Passes in House of Representatives
On April 29, 2009, the U.S House of Representatives passed H.R. 1913,
the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 by a vote
of 249 – 175.
Current law limits federal involvement in hate crimes cases to those
involving crimes motivated by race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin.
The LLEHCPA extends this law to include crimes that are motivated by a
victim�s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or
disability. It will give federal government jurisdiction to prosecute hate crimes
in states where current law is inadequate and also provide federal authorities
greater access to investigate hate crimes. The Act also authorizes $5 million
in grants for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 to assist state and local governments
in training programs as well as identifying, investigating, prosecuting and
preventing hate crimes.
9/19/08: Senator Menendez and Representative Honda To Protect Family
Reunification in the Immigration Process. Reuniting Families Act would
utilize thousands of unused visas, among other provisions
Washington � U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Mike
Honda (D-CA) today introduced the Reuniting Families Act in the Senate
and House of Representatives to ensure that the immigration system
emphasizes family reunification in its distribution of entry visas. The bill is
endorsed by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC),
which Rep. Honda chairs.
Four million potential immigrants are currently stuck in the entry backlog,
many of whom are family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent
residents and are ready to help play vital roles in the U.S. economy and in
American communities. Among other provisions, the legislation would
direct thousands of unused visas from previous years to close family
members of U.S. citizens and legal residents, reclassify spouses and
children of legal residents as immediate family and would raise the
per-country cap for visas from seven percent to ten percent.
5/28/08 AsianWeek.com: “FilVets House Vote Postponed,”
By: Rodel Rodis
Filipino World War II veterans this past week hoped the House version of
S.1315 – which incorporated the Filipino veterans� equity bill approved by the
US Senate – would come for a floor vote in the House on May 21.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi�s plan, they were told, was to present the
House version of S.1315 for a floor vote under a Suspension of the Rules
call which requires 290 House votes (two-thirds of 435 members) to get
the bill considered without killer amendments that would only delay if not
defeat the bill. This would also ensure that the bill would be veto-proof.
The veterans heard the news from Pelosi�s office that there would be no vote
on the veterans� bill that day.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Ben Gilman, the former Republican chair of
the House International Relations Committee and currently a Philippine
government lobbyist for the bill, had assured Pelosi that there were 74 House
Republicans who would vote for the bill. The American Coalition for Filipino
Veterans confirmed earlier the solid commitment of 27 Republicans.
S. 1315 would provide the 14,000 Filvets in the Philippines with $300 a month
pension while the 6,000 Filvets in the US would be entitled to $900 a month.
The Veterans Federation of the Philippines, which represents the 14,000 vets
in the Philippines, fully backs S.1315, which would provide $375 a month pension
to Philippine based veterans who have dependents, $300 a month to those
without dependents and $200 a month to their widows.
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) was the principal sponsor of the Filipino
Veterans Equity Bill in the Senate.
Akaka�s advocacy for the Filvets stand alone bill was met with vociferous
opposition from Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Sen. Richard Burr (R-North Carolina)
and Sen. David Vitter (R-Alabama). They opposed offering benefits to non-US
citizen veterans who, Craig said, �are taking money away from our veterans.
That is the �Robin Hood in reverse� effect. At least Robin Hood, when he took
money, left it in Nottingham. He spread it out amongst his own. Here we are taking
money from our own and sending it all the way to the Philippines.�
8/21/07 San Francisco Chronicle: Schwarzenegger appointing more women,
minorities as judges,
Asian Pacific Islanders made up 6 percent of of Schwarzenegger’s judicial
appointments through the end of 2006, which is higher than that group’s 5.3
percent State Bar membership. Latinos made up about 8 percent of
judicial appointments, which is higher than the 3.8 percent of the state’s
attorneys who are Latino. The 5 percent of judgeships that have gone to
black attorneys is a higher total than the 1.7 percent of State Bar members
who are African American.
Under state law, only an attorney who has been in good standing with the
State Bar for at least 10 years can be a judge.
California ‘s attorneys are largely white today, and there were even fewer
minorities practicing law in the state 10 years ago. According to a 1997 State
Bar report, about 92 percent of California attorneys at the time were white,
as were 89 percent of the state’s judges.
12/17/07 Joe Crowley (D-NY) and Don Manzullo (R-IL) sponsored resolution to award
Congressional Gold medal to Burma ‘s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Aung San Suu Kyi. Approved by U.S. House 400-0
10/22/07 Associated Press: “Bush administration ‘strongly opposes’ Hawaiian recognition bill,”
Honolulu: The Bush administration “strongly opposes” a House of Representatives
bill that would grant federal recognition to Native Hawaiians, calling the measure discriminatory
and divisive.
“The administration strongly opposes any bill that would formally divide sovereign United States
power along suspect lines of race and ethnicity,” the White House said in a statement.
The bill, which has failed in several previous attempts to get it through Congress, is designed
to secure for Native Hawaiians the same self-governance rights held by American Indians and
Alaska Natives. It provides a broad framework for creating a Hawaiian government responsible
for managing about 2 million acres (810,000 hectares) of former Hawaiian lands and $15 million
(10.6 million) per year in ceded land revenue.
If passed and eventually presented to President George W. Bush, his senior advisers would
recommend a veto, the White House said.
“The president has eschewed such divisive legislation as a matter of policy, noting that ‘we
must … honor the great American tradition of the melting pot, which has made us one nation out
of many peoples,'” the statement said.
The White House cited a recommendation by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which
urged that Congress reject the bill because it would discriminate on the basis of race and
“further subdivide the American people into discrete subgroups accorded varying degrees of privilege.”
The House version was introduced by Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, and co-sponsored
by five other representatives: Democrats Raul Grijalva, of Arizona, Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono and
Virginia’s James Moran, along with Republicans Tom Cole of Oklahoma and Donald Young of
Alaska. Delegates Madeleine Bordallo, a Democrat representing Guam, and Eni Faleomavaega,
a Democrat representing American Samoa, are also signed on as co-sponsor.
Abercrombie and Hirono, in a joint statement, stressed that the Native Hawaiian Government
Reorganization Act does not create a program or entitlement, require an appropriation, nor turn
over assets of the U.S. government. It also does not give anyone title to anything they do not
already own, the Hawaii Democrats said.
They said it simply provides a method for Hawaii to divest itself of requirements for administering
land and dollar assets to a native entity, which will take full responsibility. The House members said
Native Hawaiians would be able to decide for themselves the organization of the government entity
to represent their interests in a relationship with the U.S. government.
“The relationship parallels that of Native Americans tribes and Alaskan Natives,” they said.
The White House argued Native Hawaiians cannot be compared with other indigenous peoples,
given the “substantial historical and cultural differences.”
“The administration believes that tribal recognition is inappropriate and unwise for Native
Hawaiians and would raise serious constitutional concerns,” the White House said.
Last year, the measure was held up in the Senate on a procedural vote amid concerns from
Republicans that it could lead to race-based privileges in a state known for its diversity. The Bush
administration also questioned some provisions of the bill, despite strong support from Hawaii’s
Republican governor, Linda Lingle.
There are about 400,000 people of Native Hawaiian ancestry nationwide, and 260,000 of them
live in Hawaii. No one would be required to join a Hawaiian government if the Akaka bill is approved.
10/25/07 Dallas Morning News: DREAM Act, affecting children of illegal immigrants,
fails Senate test vote: Senate defeats decision over immigration amnesty concerns,
by Dave Michaels
Washington The DREAM Act failed in the Senate on Wednesday, dashing the latest
and best chance Congress had to pass immigration legislation.
The bill would have paved a path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants if they
attended college or entered the military.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, was ready with an amendment that might have
made the measure more palatable to some Republicans, but the bill did not get that far.
Sen. Dick Durbin is the bill’s sponsor.
The White House indicated it opposed the bill but had not threatened to veto it.
The DREAM act’s opponents including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, said that
addressing only a “sympathetic” slice of the immigration problem would have been a
mistake. That would have taken away leverage to negotiate a comprehensive bill that
includes provisions for high-tech workers, agricultural laborers, border security and
enforcement.
“There isn’t any single aspect of the immigration issue that is big enough and broad
enough to appeal to the kind of political constituency that you need to get it passed,”
Mr. Cornyn said. “You take out one of the most sympathetic and most attractive parts
of the bill, and it makes it much harder to deal with the rest of it.”
The bill would have granted conditional legal status to illegal immigrants younger than
30 who completed two years of higher education or served in the military. To be considered
for legal status, they would have needed to have lived in the U.S. for five years and have
entered before age 16.
After completing the educational or military requirement, they could have applied for
citizenship.
The legislation would have affected more than 1 million young people, according to
the Migration Policy Institute.
Ms. Hutchison’s amendment would have altered Mr. Durbin’s bill by substituting a
five-year student visa and renewable work visas instead of a path to citizenship.
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress – 1st Sessionas compiled through Senate LIS by the
Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary
| Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to Consider S. 2205 ) | |||
| Vote Number: | 394 | Vote Date: | October 24, 2007, 12:27 PM |
| Required For Majority: | 3/5 | Vote Result: | Cloture Motion Rejected |
| Measure Number: | S. 2205 | ||
| Measure Title: | A bill to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes. | ||
| Vote Counts: | YEAs | 52 |
| NAYs | 44 | |
| Not Voting | 4 |
Grouped By Vote Position
| YEAs —52 | ||
| Akaka (D-HI) Bayh (D-IN) Bennett (R-UT) Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Brown (D-OH) Brownback (R-KS) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Clinton (D-NY) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Craig (R-ID) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) |
Hagel (R-NE) Harkin (D-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lott (R-MS) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) Menendez (D-NJ) |
Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Obama (D-IL) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Salazar (D-CO) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Snowe (R-ME) Stabenow (D-MI) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR) |
| NAYs —44 | ||
| Alexander (R-TN) Allard (R-CO) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Bond (R-MO) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Byrd (D-WV) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Conrad (D-ND) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) |
DeMint (R-SC) Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM) Dorgan (D-ND) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) McCaskill (D-MO) McConnell (R-KY) |
Murkowski (R-AK) Pryor (D-AR) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Smith (R-OR) Specter (R-PA) Stevens (R-AK) Sununu (R-NH) Tester (D-MT) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (R-VA) |
| Not Voting – 4 | ||
| Boxer (D-CA) Dodd (D-CT) |
Kennedy (D-MA) McCain (R-AZ) |
|
10/24/2007 Hawaii Reporter: Akaka Bill Passes the U.S. House,
By Dave Helfert
The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act (the Akaka bill) was co-sponsored
by Representative Neil Abercrombie.
This bill has long been the highest priority for Hawaii’s Congressional delegation, said
Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono, a co-sponsor.
Sen. Daniel J. Akaka said: Today’s House action provides great momentum in our effort to
extend federal recognition to Hawaii s indigenous peoples. I was thrilled to see bipartisan
support for this long-needed legislation that underscores our ongoing efforts toward
reconciliation across our islands. I commend Representative Abercrombie for his years of
relentless work sharing the history of Hawaii with his colleagues and stressing the importance
of this bill for Hawaii s future, and Congresswoman Hirono for playing a key role in the bills
passage today.
U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye said: I am extremely pleased that the House has passed the
Native Hawaiian recognition bill. House passage gives added momentum to this important
measure.
Haunani Apoliona, chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs,
said, We thank Congressman Neil Abercrombie and Congresswoman Mazie Hirono for
their persuasive debate on the floor, and for fighting off attempts to falsely label this
legislation as race based and unconstitutional.
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 1000
(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)
H R 505 YEA-AND-NAY 24-Oct-2007 3:04 PM
QUESTION: On Passage
BILL TITLE: Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act
| Yeas | Nays | PRES | NV | |
| Democratic | 222 | 1 | 9 | |
| Republican | 39 | 152 | 9 | |
| Independent | ||||
| TOTALS | 261 | 153 | 18 |
—- YEAS 261 —
| Abercrombie Ackerman Allen Altmire Andrews Arcuri Baca Baird Baldwin Barrow Bean Becerra Berkley Berman Berry Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Bishop (UT) Blumenauer Bono Boren Boswell Boucher Boyd (FL) Boyda (KS) Brady (PA) Braley (IA) Brown, Corrine Brown-Waite, Ginny Butterfield Calvert Cannon Capps Capuano Cardoza Carnahan Carney Castor Chandler Clarke Clay Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Cole (OK) Conyers Cooper Costa Costello Courtney Cramer Crowley Cuellar Cummings Davis (AL) Davis (IL) Davis, Lincoln Davis, Tom DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Dingell Doggett Donnelly Doyle Edwards Ellison Ellsworth Emanuel Engel English (PA) Eshoo Etheridge Fallin Farr Fattah Filner Frank (MA) Giffords Gilchrest Gillibrand Gonzalez Gordon Green, Al Green, Gene Grijalva |
Gutierrez Hall (NY) Hall (TX) Hare Harman Hastings (FL) Herseth Sandlin Higgins Hill Hinchey Hinojosa Hirono Hobson Hodes Holden Holt Honda Hooley Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jefferson Johnson (GA) Johnson (IL) Jones (OH) Kagen Kanjorski Kaptur Kennedy Kildee Kilpatrick Kind Klein (FL) Knollenberg Kucinich LaHood Lampson Langevin Lantos Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) LaTourette Lee Levin Lewis (GA) Lipinski LoBiondo Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Lucas Lynch Mahoney (FL) Maloney (NY) Markey Marshall Matheson Matsui McCarthy (NY) McCollum (MN) McDermott McGovern McHugh McIntyre McNerney McNulty Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Melancon Michaud Miller (MI) Miller (NC) Miller, George Mitchell Mollohan Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (VA) Murphy (CT) Murphy, Patrick Murphy, Tim Murtha Nadler Napolitano Neal (MA) |
Oberstar Obey Olver Ortiz Pallone Pascrell Pastor Payne Pearce Perlmutter Peterson (MN) Peterson (PA) Pomeroy Porter Price (NC) Rahall Rangel Regula Rehberg Reichert Renzi Reynolds Richardson Rodriguez Ross Rothman Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Ryan (OH) Salazar Snchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Saxton Schakowsky Schiff Schwartz Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sestak Shays Sherman Shuler Simpson Sires Skelton Slaughter Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Souder Space Spratt Stark Stupak Sutton Tanner Tauscher Taylor Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Tierney Towns Tsongas Turner Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Van Hollen Velzquez Visclosky Walden (OR) Walz (MN) Wasserman Schultz Watson Watt Waxman Weiner Welch (VT) Weller Wexler Wilson (NM) Woolsey Wu Yarmuth Young (FL) |
—- NAYS 153 —
| Aderholt Akin Alexander Bachmann Bachus Baker Barrett (SC) Bartlett (MD) Barton (TX) Biggert Bilirakis Blackburn Blunt Boehner Bonner Boozman Boustany Brady (TX) Broun (GA) Brown (SC) Buchanan Burgess Burton (IN) Camp (MI) Campbell (CA) Cantor Capito Carter Castle Chabot Coble Conaway Crenshaw Cubin Culberson Davis (KY) Davis, David Deal (GA) Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Doolittle Drake Dreier Duncan Ehlers Emerson Everett Ferguson Flake Forbes |
Fortenberry Fossella Foxx Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gerlach Gingrey Gohmert Goode Goodlatte Granger Graves Hastert Hastings (WA) Hayes Heller Hensarling Herger Hoekstra Hulshof Inglis (SC) Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Jordan Keller King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kirk Kline (MN) Kuhl (NY) Lamborn Latham Lewis (KY) Linder Lungren, Daniel E. Mack Manzullo Marchant McCarthy (CA) McCaul (TX) McCotter McCrery McHenry McKeon McMorris Rodgers Mica Miller (FL) Miller, Gary |
Moran (KS) Musgrave Myrick Neugebauer Nunes Paul Pence Petri Pickering Pitts Platts Poe Price (GA) Pryce (OH) Putnam Radanovich Ramstad Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Roskam Royce Ryan (WI) Sali Schmidt Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shimkus Shuster Smith (NE) Smith (TX) Stearns Sullivan Tancredo Terry Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Upton Walberg Walsh (NY) Wamp Waters Weldon (FL) Westmoreland Whitfield Wicker Wilson (SC) Wolf |
—- NOT VOTING 18 —
| Bilbray Buyer Carson Davis (CA) Dicks Feeney |
Hunter Issa Jindal Johnson, E. B. Lewis (CA) Reyes |
Ros-Lehtinen Rush Shea-Porter Wilson (OH) Wynn Young (AK) |
6/28/07 Los Angeles Times: Immigration bill dead in Senate: Defeat for bipartisan group
that worked months on reform measure backed by the president,
by Nicole Gaouette
Washington — Lawmakers killed the Senate immigration reform bill today, voting
46 to 53 to move to a final vote on the controversial measure, 14 short of the 60 required.
The defeat is a setback for the bipartisan team of lawmakers who worked for months to
craft a bill they hoped would draw enough support from both parties to pass. It represents
a blow to President Bush, who threw his full support behind broad immigration reform and
whose Cabinet played a key role in shaping the legislation.
And it represented a victory for grassroots conservatives who, spurred by right-wing
radio talk show hosts, overwhelmed Congress with phone calls and e-mails assailing
the legislation.
The legislation’s demise makes the fate of immigration reform in the near term uncertain.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) made it clear to Senate leaders and
the White House that she would not bring up immigration legislation unless the Senate
passed it first.
This morning, the senators behind the bill took to the floor to make impassioned pleas
urging their fellow lawmakers to support the measure, even as the several Senate phone
systems crashed from the volume of calls from people for and against it.
“Even if you disagree with this bill, don’t end this debate,” said Sen. Richard Durbin
(D-Ill.), who urged his colleagues to reject “these voices of exclusion” opposing the
measure and not “say we are surrendering to these negative voices across America.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a key member of the team that worked to produce the
bill, said that in the aftermath of its failure, more illegal immigrants would continue to cross
the border, and she rapped conservative critics for their focus on the provision that would
allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a staunch opponent of the bill, cited a study by the
Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan arm of Congress, which said the bill would
reduce illegal immigration by only 13%.
Though critics have argued that the Bush administration could deal with illegal immigration
by enforcing existing law, the bill’s backers and administration officials such as Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff have pointed out that there is no existing mandatory
system to ensure that illegal immigrants are not hired at work sites. The bill would create one.
“At the end of the day, it’s the most important measure that we could have,” said Sen.
Mel Martinez (R-Fla.).
After the vote, Bush called it a “disappointment” that Congress had failed to act on the bill.
“Congress really needs to prove to the American people that it can come together on hard
issues,” he said.
Sponsors vowed to return to the issue at some point.
“We will live to see another day,” said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) “We will be back,”
Kennedy said. “This issue isn’t going to go away, and we will succeed.”
Added Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.): “We’re going to have to redouble our efforts.”
Kyl came under enormous pressure from conservative constituents who railed against the
measure’s path toward citizenship for illegal immigrants.
“I’ve learned one main lesson,” he said. “A lot of Americans have lost faith in their
government they don’t think we can control our borders, win a war, issue passports.”
Another sponsor who took political heat at home was Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.),
who is up for reelection this year and whose office was besieged with calls from angry
constituents.
“The reason I want to be the senator from South Carolina is to bring out the best in my
state and my country and do the hard things,” said Graham, who predicted that now that
Congress had failed to pass an immigration bill, cities and states would enact their own
measures on employment and benefits.
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said the issue had “created real divisions within the party,”
and he predicted they “can and will be healed if we respond to the very clear message
from the American people and attack security at the border and the workplace first.”
Watching the debate on the Senate floor was Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), who
chairs the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration. Afterward she issued a
statement faulting the Senate for “its inability to move forward” and saying the House
would now “take stock of the situation to determine whether anything can be done.”
House Republicans have said the bill is “dead on arrival” in that chamber.
The bill concentrated on security provisions that would have added thousands of
agents at the border, along with physical and virtual barriers, cameras and radar. It would
have created a work site system to verify that all workers have legal status.
Once those systems were up and running, the bill’s other provisions would kick in.
A temporary-worker program would bring in 200,00 immigrants a year, and eligible
illegal immigrants who had been on a probationary legal status until that point would
get the bill’s “Z Visa.”
Opposition to the bill centered around Republican objections to the Z Visa program.
“A big amnesty with inadequate enforcement will cause the problem to grow, not
diminish,” said Vitter, who alongside Sessions led the procedural objections to the bill.
Vitter said the vote would reveal whether the Senate as a body was “arrogant” and
“out of touch.”
But the bill also drew Democratic opposition from lawmakers worried about the
potential impact on low-wage American workers and concerned about border security,
particularly from freshman Democrats, such as Sens. Claire McCaskill of Misourri,
Jon Tester of Montana and Jim Webb of Virginia , who won their seats from Republicans.
Graham, who has been a favorite target of the bill’s opponents for his part in writing it,
warned his GOP colleagues that today’s vote would be their only chance to get what they
wanted out of an immigration bill. Saying Democrats would not go away and would
never allow a bill that only includes a fence, Graham told Republicans to “remember this
day if you vote no. You will never have this day again. This is as good as it is going to get.”
6/18/07 Legislative Update: The Filipino Veterans Equity Act is currently in the House
and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees. There are 73 cosponsors in the House and
14 in the Senate.
6/8/07 Press Release from Senator Barbara Boxer: Senators Boxer and Feinstein Work
to Preserve Tule Lake Segregation Center
I am pleased to let you know that I have joined Senator Dianne Feinstein in introduced
the Tule Lake Segregation Center Special Resource Study Act, S.1467, asking the
Department of the Interior to study the feasibility of designating the Tule Lake Segregation
Center a World War II-era Japanese American internment camp located in Northern
California as a National Historic Site.
During World War II, the federal government ordered the evacuation and internment
of over 120,000 Japanese-Americans in ten different internment camps across the
country. At its peak, about 19,000 were held at Tule Lake , the largest and one of the
most infamous of the camps. It was the site of frequent demonstrations and strikes by
internees demanding their rights under the U.S. Constitution. It also became a
“segregation camp,” used for those who had refused to take a loyalty oath or who had
caused disturbances. Tule Lake was one of the last camps to be closed, staying open
until March 20, 1946.
Tule Lake is also one of the best preserved of the internment camps. It has several
significant historic features remaining, including the camp stockade that imprisoned
internees. By preserving it in our National Park System, we will be able to better protect
these priceless features as a reminder of what happens when we disregard our values
and forget what it means to be American. I am so proud to be joining Senator Feinstein
in this effort to make sure that the lessons of history are never forgotten.
A companion bill has being introduced in the House by Representatives John
Doolittle (R-CA) and Doris Matsui (D-CA) and has been endorsed by the Modoc
County Board of Supervisors.
6/7/07 Wall Street Journal: Benefits of Issuing Visas on Merit Are Questioned:
As Immigration Bill Faces Senate Test, Family Pluses Cited,
by June Kronholz and Sarah Lueck
The debate over family immigration came to a head last night, as the Senate rejected
an effort by Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) to grant permanent residency to some
800,000 people who have applied for legal status based on family ties. Though the
proposal fell on a procedural move requiring 60 votes, the 53 votes it received show
a strong interest, particularly among Democrats, for giving greater weight to family
connections.
The Senate debate stretched late into the night, and other family-related
amendments were expected to be considered. One amendment, proposed by
Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) would eliminate the merit-based system after five
years and was viewed by Republicans as anathema to the bipartisan immigration
deal. The Senate also was set to vote on whether to make English the official U.S.
language.
6/6/07 Associated Press: Immigration deal survives Senate hurdles
by Charles Babington
Washington – A proposed immigration overhaul narrowly survived strong Senate
challenges Wednesday, boosting its backers’ hopes that the fiercely debated
legislation might soon win passage and advance to the House.
Senators first turned back a Republican bid to reduce the number of illegal
immigrants who could gain lawful status. Hours later, they rejected a Democrat’s
effort to postpone the bill’s shift to an emphasis on education and skills among
visa applicants as opposed to family connections.
Both amendments were seen as potentially fatal blows to the fragile coalition
backing the bill, which remains under attack from the right and left. The bill
which would tighten borders and give many of the country’s estimated 12 million
illegal immigrants a pathway to legal status is a priority for President Bush
The long day and night of votes contained some setbacks for the coalition’s
leaders, however. They failed to defeat a Republican proposal to give law
enforcement agents access to rejected visa applications, which could lead to
the arrest and deportation of some illegal immigrants who otherwise might
escape detection.
On balance, however, the coalition’s “grand bargainers” felt they had
withstood their toughest challenges. “This means people want a bill very badly,”
said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. The Senate voted 51-46 to reject a proposal
by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to bar criminals including those ordered by
judges to be deported from gaining legal status. Democrats siphoned support
from Cornyn’s proposal by winning adoption of a rival version that would bar a
more limited set of criminals, including certain gang members and sex offenders,
from gaining legalization. The Senate backed that amendment 66-32.
The Senate also rejected a proposal by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., that
bill supporters called a “killer amendment.” It would have delayed the bill’s shift
in favor of attracting foreign workers with needed skills as opposed to keeping
families together. Menendez won 53 votes, seven short of the 60 needed under
a Senate procedural rule invoked by his opponents.
Menendez’s proposal would have allowed more than 800,000 people who
had applied for permanent legal status by the beginning of 2007 to obtain green
cards based purely on their family connections a preference the bill ends for
most relatives who got in line after May 2005.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a chief advocate of the bill, said most of the visa applicants
Menendez wanted to help are so far back in line that it would be decades before
the Homeland Security Department could process them. The Senate adopted
Kyl’s alternative, which would retain the family preference status for applicants
who might win approval by 2026 under the department’s projections.
Menendez, whose parents were Cuban immigrants, called the Kyl amendment
“a fig leaf” that would make no meaningful change to the bill.
Cornyn had painted his criminals amendment as a “defining issue” for any
presidential candidate a sign of the degree to which the contentious debate is
bleeding over into the GOP campaign fray.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., alone among his party’s presidential aspirants in
backing the immigration measure, opposed Cornyn’s bid and backed the
Democratic alternative offered by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
McCain was joined in opposing the amendment by the Senate’s four Democratic
presidential hopefuls, Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware , Hillary Rodham Clinton of
New York , Chris Dodd of Connecticut , and Barack Obama of Illinois .
After his defeat, Cornyn said those who voted against the proposal “failed to
take an opportunity to help restore public confidence that we’re actually serious
about passing an immigration law that could actually work.”
Cornyn prevailed on another matter opposed by the grand bargainers, however.
His amendment, adopted 57 to 39, would make it easier to locate and deport
illegal immigrants whose visa applications are rejected.
The bill would have barred law enforcement agencies from seeing applications
for so-called Z visas, which can lead to citizenship if granted. Cornyn said legal
authorities should know if applicants have criminal records that would warrant
their deportation.
Opponents said eligible applicants might be afraid to file applications if they
believe they are connected to deportation actions. Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
D-Calif., said in an interview that Cornyn’s amendment was “not a deal-killer”
but would have to be changed in House-Senate negotiations.
Other amendments defeated Wednesday included a Democratic effort to alter
the temporary guest worker program that would be created by the bill.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico wanted to allow workers to come for six
consecutive years. The Senate voted 57-41 to reject the amendment, retaining
the bill’s call for most guest workers to go home for a year between each of
three two-year stints.
The Senate also rejected an amendment by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to
change the Z visa program whereby illegal immigrants could gain lawful status.
DeMint proposed requiring them to buy high-deductible health plans to be
eligible for visas.
6/5/07 Associated Press: Immigration deal under threat in Senate,
by Julie Hirschfeld Davis
Washington – A broad bipartisan immigration deal was threatened Tuesday
as the Senate prepared to vote on a Republican proposal to make it harder for
millions of illegal immigrants to qualify for green cards.
The proposal by Sen. Wayne Allard (news, bio, voting record), R-Colo., would
eliminate extra points that illegal immigrants could get toward lawful status for work
done while they were in the U.S. illegally, owning a home, or having health insurance.
The proposed merit-based system would award the most credit for employment
criteria such as education and skill level.
The Senate also planned to consider a bipartisan bid to require employers to
recruit U.S. workers before giving a foreign laborer a job under the measure’s
controversial new temporary worker program.
Showdowns were expected on Democratic efforts to allow more family-based
immigration under the bill and more Republican proposals to make the path to
legalization for illegal immigrants more burdensome.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., an architect of the bill, said he would
oppose the family changes despite his sympathy for the efforts.
“I’m going to stay with the agreement,” Kennedy said of the so-called “grand
bargain” he struck with conservative Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record),
R-Ariz., and other Republicans and Democrats from across the political spectrum.
That leaves in doubt the fate of a proposal by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.,
to allow more than 800,000 people who had applied for permanent legal status
by the beginning of the year to get green cards based purely on their family
connections a preference the bill ends for most relatives who got in line
after May 2005.
A close vote was also expected on a bid by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to
bar illegal immigrants who have defied deportation orders from gaining legal
status. That could cut down substantially on the number of unlawful immigrants
who would be able to take advantage of the measure’s path to legalization.
The bill, a top domestic priority for President Bush that poses a perplexing
political dilemma for Republicans and Democrats, is widely regarded as the best
chance for Congress to take action on immigration possibly for years to come.
“There are a number of threats and opportunities before us,” said Frank
Sharry of the National Immigration Forum, part of a coalition of liberal groups
pushing hard for passage despite some grave concerns with the measure.
Kennedy said lawmakers who listened to their constituents over a Memorial
Day break last week heard that, “the American people want action on immigration
reform.”
“We know that we are facing some challenges,” Kennedy said, referring to a
host of amendments that could scuttle the deal.
“Those of us, the dozen or so, who have put this bill together are finding it very,
very hot to handle,” said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. Specter said he’d like to
support some of the changes being put forth this week, “but if we’re to keep this
bill intact to the extent of being able to pass it, there are going to be a lot of very
tough votes.”
In addition to Menendez’s proposal, several Democratic presidential hopefuls
have proposed family-related changes.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is proposing allowing more spouses and
minor children of legal permanent residents to immigrate to the U.S. , by exempting
them from visa caps.
The Senate also is considering a bid by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to
more than double, to 90,000 a year, the number of green cards available for
parents of U.S. citizens.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., plans an attempt to phase out the point system that
gives little credit for family ties to a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident.
5/2/2007 Hawaii Reporter: Hirono Applauds House Committee Approval of Akaka Bill,
By Yvonne Lau
Washington , D.C. — Calling the Hawaiian federal recognition bill constitutional and
the right thing to do, Congresswoman Mazie Hirono today applauded the decision by
a key House committee to move the measure to the House floor for a vote.
Congressman Neil Abercrombie and Hirono are co-sponsors of the measure, known
as the Akaka bill, in the House. Named after Senator Daniel Akaka, an identical measure
is set for a hearing tomorrow before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Abercrombie is a member of the House Natural Resources committee, which passed
the bill out with a voice vote without any amendments.
The bill sets up a process for Native Hawaiians to organize a governmental entity of
their own choosing.
It will give Native Hawaiians federal recognition, similar to recognition Congress has
granted to American Indians and Alaska Natives and protect programs benefiting Native
Hawaiians from certain lawsuits.
Hirono said the bill is long overdue, and urged fellow House members to reject
unfounded criticism that it will impact non-Hawaiians.
There will be no loss of any personal, civil, legal, constitutional or property rights of any
non-Hawaiian or Native Hawaiian alike, Hirono said. She also pointed out that Native
Hawaiians are the only significant indigenous group not yet recognized by Congress.
In written testimony to the Committee, Hirono stated: Native Hawaiians have suffered too
long and been deprived of rights allowed other Native Americans due to misinformation
and misunderstanding by those who oppose this legislation. I urge this committee to
favorably report out this bill which takes the first step in recognizing the inherent right of
self determination of the Native Hawaiian people.
It is not only legal and constitutional; it is the right thing to do.
Yvonne Lau is a spokesperson for Congressmember Hirono in Washington DC .
4/3/07 Filipino Veterans Equity Act Included in House Budget Resolution for the First Time
Washington, DC- The National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE)
applauded the United States House of Representatives for passing a resolution that
included a marker for the Filipino Veterans Equity Act (HR 760). It ensures that the
Equity Act will be part of the ongoing budgetary process and that funds are specifically
set aside for our veterans in the House version of the bill. The Senate version, S 57,
is currently in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, with hearings scheduled for
April 11. HR 760 would amend current law to consider Filipino World War II veterans
as U.S. veterans for purposes of eligibility for programs administered by the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs.
3/31/2007 Associated Press: ” The bill was first brought to the House floor last week. Although it garnered
a majority of votes (234-188), it did not achieve the two-thirds needed for
passage of noncontroversial bills that are brought up under suspension of the
House rules. Abercrombie and Hirono were successful in having the House
leadership bring the bill back to the floor this week and in arguing to the
House Rules Committee that no amendments be allowed.
Congressman Abercrombie pointed out that 39 of the 162 Republicans
who voted against reauthorizing the housing program in 2007 had actually
cosponsored its creation in 2000.
During debate on the bill last night, Congresswoman Hirono refuted claims
that the bill was unconstitutional or that it had anything to do with the Rice v.
Cayetano decision, as some opponents had claimed. “I am pleased with the
strong support we were able to get on this vote,” said Hirono. “It is clear to me,
however, that many members don’t understand the history of interactions of
Native Hawaiians and the federal government. We will continue to work to try
to educate these members. It is also clear to me that we have members who
do not support self-determination for Native Hawaiians and no amount of
education will change their minds.”
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration by that chamber.
3/22/07 press release: Asian American Justice Center Encouraged by New Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, the STRIVE Act of 2007
Washington, March 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), a leading national civil and human rights organization, is encouraged by today’s bipartisan introduction of the STRIVE (Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy) Act of 2007 by Representatives Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
This comprehensive immigration reform bill contains provisions that provide regularized legal channels for new immigrants to help strengthen the American economy, reforms the employment and family-based immigration system, and adjusts the status of eligible undocumented immigrants.
“We applaud Congressmen Gutierrez and Flake for working together to create a truly comprehensive piece of legislation.
While we will be working to address some of our concerns about certain provisions in the bill, it is a strong start toward the passage of comprehensive immigration reform legislation in 2007,” said Karen Narasaki, President and Executive Director of the AAJC. “It is imperative that Congress passes legislation this year to fix our broken system with workable solutions that live up to our nation’s values.”
Based on an initial examination of the proposed legislation, there are several measures that will especially benefit the 13.9 million-strong Asian American community:
First, it includes provisions that would eliminate the backlog for family- based immigrants in approximately six years. The backlog for some Asian American families is currently more than 20 years. In addition, this bill would finally help reunite the sons and daughters of the Filipino World War II veterans with their aging parents after years of separation and waiting.
Second, it would provide an earned legalization program. There are an estimated 1.5 million undocumented Asian immigrants that it could potentially help. However, among many organizations, there is concern that the provision requiring an exit and re-entry will be unworkable.
Third, it provides for a more realistic flow of workers in both the high- and low-skilled categories. It also builds in strong labor and civil rights protections and allows workers who want to stay and are needed for our economy to become legal permanent residents Asian immigrants are substantial users of the employment-based immigration system.
Fourth, through the inclusion of the Dream Act, this bill provides a path to legal permanent residence for undocumented immigrant students who currently are unable to attend college, no matter how long the U.S. has been their home. The Dream Act has been strongly supported by the Korean American community.
“While the bill does have the right architecture and rejects the most excessive so-called enforcement provisions that were contained in last year’s House bill, we believe this debate is an opportunity to address the policies that place too much unchecked power in the hands of agency officials,” said Narasaki. “We want to make sure that any reform of the immigration laws fully incorporates the American tradition of respecting and protecting the rights of individuals to fair proceedings, government accountability, and due process.”
Although the House of Representatives passed the anti-immigrant H.R. 4437 in 2005 and the Senate passed a more comprehensive but deeply flawed S. 2611 last year, neither bill became law. The STRIVE Act launches a renewed effort to achieve immigration reform that is truly comprehensive, effective and fair.
“We would like to see improvements to current law regarding detention and deportation. Currently, in many cases, people are deported without full consideration of an individual’s circumstances.
Current laws against immigrants go too far and deny basic due process to millions of people who live in the U.S. ,” said George C. Wu, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Partners Community Law Fellow at the AAJC.
“Denying due process to people in America is unconstitutional, unnecessary, and demeans all of us who are proud to live in America .”
Asian Americans can join thousands of other concerned Americans in contacting their Congressional Representatives and Senators on March 28 and 29, by calling 1(800) 417-7666.
The Asian American Justice Center (http://www.advancingequality.org), formerly known as NAPALC, is a national organization dedicated to defending and advancing the civil and human rights of Asian Americans. It works closely with three affiliates – the Asian American Institute in Chicago (http://www.aaichicago.org), the Asian Law Caucus (http://www.asianlawcaucus.org) in San Francisco, and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (http://www.apalc.org) in Los Angeles – and nearly 100 community partners in 49 cities, 23 states and Washington, D.C.
3/7/07 Rep. Honda to Introduce Bill Supporting Korean Victims of Immigration Fraud
Washington, DC This Thursday, March 8, 2007, Representative Michael M. Honda
(CA 15) will introduce legislation that would provide relief to a group of Korean victims
of immigration fraud. Over a twelve year period, an INS supervisor accepted $500,000
in bribes from immigration brokers in exchange for green cards that he later illegally
authorized. The supervisor and four immigration consultants were convicted of
participating in this green-card scam, which affected 275 unknowing Korean
immigrants, many of whom are accomplished professionals. Many of these legal
immigrants now face imminent deportation due to fraud on the part of a government
officer. Rep. Honda’s legislation would restore the status of the victims as if the fraud
had not occurred.
2/15/07 National Alliance Mobilizes Around Congressional Hearings to Pass
the Filipino Veterans Equity Act
Washington, DCThe newly formed National Alliance for Filipino Veterans
Equity (“the National Alliance”) announced its support for Congressional Hearings
for HR 760, the Filipino Veterans Equity Act. The bill was introduced on January 31,
and would provide U.S. Veterans status for Filipinos who fought in World War II for
purposes of benefits. Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) announced February 15
hearings for the bill as Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
“The Alliance has brought together a broad base of support from the community
to support passage of the Filipino Veterans Equity Act,” said Jon Melegrito, Co-Chair
of the Alliance . “We are pleased that Congressman Filner has continued to be a
champion for this bill and has called for hearings. We are thankful to all of the
members in Congress who have supported this important issue, notably Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Mike Honda, who heads the Congressional Asian Pacific
American Caucus, and Sen. Daniel Inouye who have consistently introduced an
equity bill in the Senate. We applaud their leadership in keeping the Filipino
veterans cause alive.”
“This month marks the 61st anniversary of passage of the 1946 Rescission Act,
which took away the veterans status that was originally promised to Filipino veterans
when President Roosevelt conscripted them to help in the Pacific theater during
World War II,” said Lilian Galedo, the other National Alliance Co-Chair. “With many
of this bill’s champions in Congress now holding key positions to help move this bill,
the time is right to restore justice for our veterans and reaffirm America’s commitment
to all those who bravely served the U.S. in times of war.”
The National Alliance represents over 20 local, national and international
organizations committed to securing full equity for Filipino World War II Veterans. All
the groups have been part of a 60-year campaign to restore to Filipino WWII veterans
their rightful claim to U.S. veterans status and recognition for their bravery in defending
the United States during WWII. The National Alliance’s sole purpose is to pass the
long overdue Filipino Veterans Equity Act.
2/8/07: Filipino Veterans Equity Bill. Rep. Bob Filner, Chair, Veterans Committee
Chair, sponsor of the Filipino Equity Bill, will have a hearing of the Bill in the US
Congress on February 15, 2007. Co-sponsors includes Rep. Robert C. Scott,
a Filipino American Democrat from Virginia , Hampton Roads Area, Mike Honda,
(D-California), and Rep. Mazie Hirono, (D-Hawaii).
1/25/07 St. Louis Chinese American News: Rep. Wu Introduces Legislation To Support
Asian American and Pacific Islander Students,
Legislation provides grants to higher education institutions serving low-income and
underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander student populations
Washington , DC – Today Congressman David Wu introduced the Asian American
and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions bill that would provide grants to institutions of
higher education for their efforts to improve and expand services targeting Asian
American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students. Specifically, Congressman Wu’s
legislation will help institutions identify and assist low-income and underserved AAPI
students. Similar programs currently only serve other minority populations.
“The Asian American and Pacific Islander community has and will always be an
integral and vibrant part of American society,” stated Congressman Wu. “I am pleased
to introduce legislation that will help foster further contributions by those members of
the AAPI population that our educational system has neglected.”
Current law allows the U.S. Department of Education to provide similar financial
assistance to institutions which serve African American, Hispanic, Native American,
Alaskan Native and Hawaiian Native students. Higher education institutions serving
large numbers of AAPI students have not had access to this financial aid in part
because of socioeconomic assumptions that categorize a complex youth population
of over three million as a homogenous, academically successful unit that is not in
need of academic support systems.
Thus, the current educational support system fails to address the needs of specific
ethnic groups within the AAPI population. A Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
study of the 2000 Census found great differences of education attainment among the
different ethic groups of the AAPI population. For example, only 26% of Laotian and
28% of Cambodian Americans have had some college as compared to 63.6% of
Chinese and 51.8% of the national average. The study also found that 26.2% of
Cambodian and 45% of Hmong Americans indicated that they have no formal
schooling, as compared to 1.4% nationally.
“The grants acquired through the AAPI Serving Institutions bill would increase
higher education opportunities for low-income and underserved AAPI students by
funding culturally and linguistically appropriate services,” said Congressman Mike
Honda (CA-15), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. “This
bill is an acknowledgement that educational disparities do in fact exist within the
AAPI community. It would enable America to pursue her noble goal of equal educational
opportunities for all students, particularly for those who fall behind due to socio-
economic and cultural barriers.”
Congressman Wu’s legislation is currently supported by 5 original cosponsors:
Representatives Mike Honda, Neil Abercrombie, Jim McDermott, Betty McCollum
and Zoe Lofgren.
12/6/06 Sacramento Bee: Bill passed to save WWII camps; Japanese American internment sites will be preserved,
by David Whitney
Congress completed action Tuesday on legislation to preserve and protect the remnants of one of the darkest chapters in American history: the internment camps and gathering centers that were used in the roundup and forced detention of Japanese American citizens during World War II.
“By preserving these sites, we will be demonstrating our commitment to equal treatment under the law,” said Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, who spent time as a child in the Granada War Relocation Center near Amache , Colo.
The voice vote in the House of Representatives came two days short of the 65th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor . That aggression stirred such fear and anger in the United States that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 three months later, ordering the roundup. The Supreme Court later upheld the directive on the grounds of “pressing public necessity.”
Congress issued a formal apology in 1988 and offered $20,000 apiece in compensation to the survivors of the camps, who lost their freedom and property without any formal legal proceedings. Lesser numbers of Alaska Natives, Germans and Italians also were ordered detained.
On the West Coast, the Japanese Americans drew a strong public reaction. They were removed from their homes with very few possessions, taken to processing centers and transported to the internment camps, in remote corners of seven states, where they lived behind barbed-wire fences for most of the war.
Ten relocation centers were built to house them, and two — Manzanar and Minidoka — have been turned over to the National Park Service.
With money from the legislation, what remains of the others can be restored and operated by local sponsors to keep the memory of the camps alive. President Bush is expected to sign the bill.
The legislation authorizes up to $38 million in federal grants to help preserve the camps and gathering centers. The money must be matched by local communities. It can be used to buy land, restore what remains of the centers and construct interpretive centers.
The chief author of the legislation is Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, who choked with tears last November when the measure first came to the floor and passed, also on a voice vote. Thomas, the stern and acerbic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is retiring, and his bill could be his final legislative victory after 28 years in the House.
“The understanding of this period in our history is essential,” Thomas said. “It has to do with the fundamental rights … of native-born citizens in a time of war.”
Thomas’ interest in the plight of the Japanese Americans at the camps dates back to his service in the California Legislature, when he roomed with former state Sen. Floyd Mori, who is now the acting head of the Japanese American Citizens League.
An estimated 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were rounded up under the executive order. Almost two-thirds of them were U.S. citizens. Many never recovered their confiscated property.
“The internment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II is a painful part of our nation’s past,” said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento. “The memories of the time … so many innocent Americans spent in stark and isolated camps continue to resonate today.”
Matsui was born in the Poston Relocation Center in Arizona , where her parents met while in confinement.
Her late husband, Rep. Robert Matsui, spent a brief period in California ‘s Tule Lake War Relocation Center near the Oregon border before being moved to an Idaho camp. Tule Lake was the center where the most troublesome detainees were sent, many simply because they refused to sign loyalty pledges.
“Let us pass it today so that those who come after us will know of the places where their ancestors struggled for freedom in the country that they loved,” said Matsui, a co-sponsor and leading proponent of Thomas’ bill.
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress – 2nd Session
| Question: On the Amendment (Inhofe Amdt. No. 4064 ) | |||
| Vote Number: | 131 | Vote Date: | May 18, 2006, 05:00 PM |
| Required For Majority: | 1/2 | Vote Result: | Amendment Agreed to |
| Amendment Number: | S.Amdt. 4064 to S. 2611 | ||
| Statement of Purpose: | To amend title 4 United States Code, to declare English as the national language of the United States and to promote the patriotic integration of prospective US citizens. | ||
| Vote Counts: | YEAs | 62 |
| NAYs | 35 | |
| Not Voting | 3 |
Alphabetical by Senator Name
| Akaka (D-HI), Nay Alexander (R-TN), Yea Allard (R-CO), Yea Allen (R-VA), Yea Baucus (D-MT), Yea Bayh (D-IN), Nay Bennett (R-UT), Yea Biden (D-DE), Nay Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Bond (R-MO), Yea Boxer (D-CA), Nay Brownback (R-KS), Yea Bunning (R-KY), Not Voting Burns (R-MT), Yea Burr (R-NC), Yea Byrd (D-WV), Yea Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Carper (D-DE), Yea Chafee (R-RI), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Yea Clinton (D-NY), Nay Coburn (R-OK), Yea Cochran (R-MS), Yea Coleman (R-MN), Yea Collins (R-ME), Yea Conrad (D-ND), Yea Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Craig (R-ID), Yea Crapo (R-ID), Yea Dayton (D-MN), Nay DeMint (R-SC), Yea DeWine (R-OH), Yea Dodd (D-CT), Nay Dole (R-NC), Yea |
Domenici (R-NM), Nay Dorgan (D-ND), Yea Durbin (D-IL), Nay Ensign (R-NV), Yea Enzi (R-WY), Yea Feingold (D-WI), Nay Feinstein (D-CA), Nay Frist (R-TN), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Yea Gregg (R-NH), Yea Hagel (R-NE), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Yea Hutchison (R-TX), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Yea Jeffords (I-VT), Nay Johnson (D-SD), Yea Kennedy (D-MA), Nay Kerry (D-MA), Nay Kohl (D-WI), Nay Kyl (R-AZ), Yea Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay Leahy (D-VT), Nay Levin (D-MI), Nay Lieberman (D-CT), Nay Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Lott (R-MS), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Not Voting McCain (R-AZ), Yea |
McConnell (R-KY), Yea Menendez (D-NJ), Nay Mikulski (D-MD), Nay Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Murray (D-WA), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea Obama (D-IL), Nay Pryor (D-AR), Yea Reed (D-RI), Nay Reid (D-NV), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Not Voting Salazar (D-CO), Nay Santorum (R-PA), Yea Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Nay Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shelby (R-AL), Yea Smith (R-OR), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Yea Sununu (R-NH), Yea Talent (R-MO), Yea Thomas (R-WY), Yea Thune (R-SD), Yea Vitter (R-LA), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Yea Warner (R-VA), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Nay |
3/23/06 Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Closer to Home? A Vietnamese refugee from
Dallas has dedicated his life to easing the citizenship requirements for children of
U.S. servicemen. Now, his labor is finally beginning to bear fruit.
By Chris Vaughn
Vietnamese refugee Bernard Nguyen, founder of the Vietnamerican Legal Support
Center, is a champion of citizenship for Amerasians.
The memory, the one of hundreds of Vietnamese children with American faces,
haunts Bernard Nguyen. They are huddled in worn-out cribs in a crowded orphanage,
yearning for hugs and lullabies, crying for someone to pick them up and whisper that it
will be OK.
“I couldn’t pick them all up and love on them,” Nguyen said. “They are in my heart.”
Those children are grown now, most of them in their early to mid-30s. About 26,000
of them live in the United States , brought here in the late 1980s and early 1990s
because they are the children of U.S. servicemen. Usually called Vietnamese
Amerasians, they are considered immigrants under the language of the Amerasian
Homecoming Act of 1987. It was the same status given Nguyen in 1979 when he came
to the United States as a refugee.
Almost none of the Amerasians can prove paternity because many were abandoned
by their mothers and know nothing of their fathers. Many mothers who did keep their
children responded to the communist takeover by burning evidence of their relationships
with Americans. The immigrants were admitted to the United States primarily on the
basis of their appearance. The vast majority are illiterate in their native tongue and
can’t imagine mastering enough English to pass the citizenship test.
Nguyen has spent several years writing letters to Asian papers, scheduling lunch
dates with U.S. political leaders, delivering speeches at conferences and reaching
out to lobbyists in Washington to call attention to their situation. His labor is finally
beginning to bear fruit.
A bill was introduced in Congress late last month that calls for awarding U.S.
citizenship to all the Amerasians admitted under the homecoming act. Passage of
the Amerasian Naturalization Act would be the fulfillment of Nguyen’s American dream.
Still, his anger is never far from the surface.
“When we took Puerto Rico, Guam , American Samoa , the Marshall Islands, our
country made those people U.S. citizens instantly, when they had no connection to the
country but the land they lived on,” he said. “The offspring of American citizens in other
countries are automatically given citizenship. Everyone, he said, “but the children of
GIs in Vietnam .”
‘A constant battle’
In 1986, a Newsday photographer snapped a picture of Minh Van Le, a crippled
Amerasian boy selling flowers made of discarded aluminum foil on the streets of
Ho Chi Minh City , the former Saigon. The image horrified a group of Long Island
high school students. They called their congressman, Robert Mrazek, a three-term
Democrat who sat on the House Appropriations Committee. Mrazek vowed to try
and do something for the boy. But relations between the United States and Vietnam
were at a low point, and Mrazek doubted that he would succeed. He flew to Vietnam
to meet with the foreign minister about Minh.
He wrote a bill that became the Amerasian Homecoming Act. Although some believe
that the act didn’t go far enough, Mrazek said it was a far more ambitious endeavor than
he had envisioned. The Amerasians would be considered immigrants but would
receive the benefits afforded refugees, such as free rent for two months and help
finding a job.
U.S. Rep. Tom Ridge, R-Pa., now the director of the Homeland Security
Department, signed on as a co-sponsor. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Dale Bumpers,
D-Ark., agreed to move the bill through the Senate.
The bill immediately encountered trouble. The Reagan administration opposed it
because it had drawn a hard line with the Vietnamese government over the issue of
refugees and the U.S. soldiers missing since the Vietnam War. Congressional
immigration committees fought the bill, too, for political reasons, according to
Mrazek — because it hadn’t originated with them.
“It was a constant battle,” he said. “It was a very iffy proposition. It never had a hearing.
I lobbied every member of the subcommittee and worked it on the floor.”
After the bill passed, Minh was among those who came to America .
Citizenship matters to Amerasians in a way that those born with it might never consider.
Permanent residents can access almost all of the benefits enjoyed by U.S. citizens.
But citizenship protects them from deportation, a significant fear because the Amerasians
don’t know where they would go. A U.S. passport also would allow them to return to
Vietnam to visit relatives without fear of an oppressive Vietnamese government.
Citizenship also matters for symbolic reasons. After all these years, they want to be
wanted.
Removing an obstacle
Mrazek, now retired to a career of writing Civil War-related books, came to one
conclusion early in the process of writing the homecoming act: Congress would never
approve granting citizenship en masse. The bill’s prospects were shaky enough as it was,
he said. “As a pragmatist, I just moved on,” he said. “I knew once they were here, they
would be in a position to qualify for citizenship. If that had been written into my legislation,
they would still be in Vietnam .”
To qualify for citizenship, Amerasians must go through the same process as any
immigrant — completing an application, passing a test on U.S. history, government and
English, and getting through a brief interview in English. The idea is so daunting that few
expect to try, much less succeed.
“They don’t have a gram of education,” Nguyen said. “How can you expect them to
learn a foreign language and pass a test on U.S. history?”
It was a conversation some months ago between Nguyen and the director of a group
called Boat People SOS that led to the recent breakthrough on Capitol Hill. Boat People
SOS, a national organization for Vietnamese refugees, began contacting members of
Congress and found receptive audiences with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.;
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston; and Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Beaumont.
Officials with Boat People SOS had hoped for a bill that would ease citizenship
requirements. A precedent had been set in 2000 for people of the Hmong ethnic group
who helped the Special Forces in Vietnam and Laos and were allowed to immigrate to
the United States as refugees.
Because the Hmong have no written language, they, too, found citizenship all but
impossible through the normal process. Through the Hmong Veterans’ Naturalization
Act, Congress waived the English-language requirements.
“It is the citizenship test part that is the biggest obstacle,” said Ha-Hoa Dang,
communications coordinator for Boat People SOS in Virginia. “The uniqueness of the
population is that even having the test in Vietnamese wouldn’t help because of their
illiteracy in both languages.”
But the Amerasian Naturalization Act, which probably won’t get a hearing until next
year, goes much further. It would confer instant citizenship to the Amerasians. “There is
no doubt they are sons and daughters of American fathers,” Lofgren said when she
introduced the bill. “That determination was made when the U.S. government invited
these individuals to come to the United States. “It is time to finally close a chapter in our
history that has too long denied Amerasians the opportunity to be recognized as the
American citizens they are.”
1/9/06
Dear Friend:
I recently joined Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) in introducing legislation to create a new
federal competitive grant program for universities and colleges where Asian and Pacific
Islander students make up at least 10 percent of the undergraduate student body.
The legislation, which authorizes $30 million for 2006 and such sums as may be
necessary for the next four years, would allow these institutions to provide more higher
education opportunities for low-income minority students.
The funds can be used for a wide range of activities, including outreach to high school
and elementary school students, renovation and improvement of campus facilities,
curriculum development, tutoring, counseling and other student support services.
Right now, there is no federal assistance targeted to schools that serve a large number
of low-income Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. We need to make college just as
accessible to low-income Asian American students as other minority students.
This bill is an important step toward that goal and will help encourage greater diversity
at our institutions of higher education. This program would join other programs that provide
funds for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving institutions,
Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-
Serving Institutions.
Sincerely, Barbara Boxer
Border and Immigration Enforcement Act (H.R. 4437)
Sensenbrenner Bill
This bill fails to address many of the most important elements of immigration reform,
including backlogs in family visas, regulation of the future flow of migrants, and the
presence of a sizeable undocumented community in the United States. Worse, this
bill threatens due process of law, family unity, and the safety and security of all
Americans. It targets all immigrants for punishment and does not contribute to our
security or to immigration reform.
Here is a sample of the provisions:
| Criminalizes millions of immigrants. Anyone in the U.S. illegally would be subject not only to deportation but imprisonment as well. |
| Greatly expands the definition of smuggling in a way that could severely penalize innocent acts of kindness and daily, casual contacts that many Americans have with undocumented immigrants. U.S. citizens married to undocumented immigrants could be convicted of aiding aliens. Persons driving their nannies to an appointment could be convicted of transporting aliens. |
| Greatly expands mandatory detention and expedited removal, potentially imprisoning millions of persons and generating huge costs to the taxpayer while accomplishing little in the way of deterring migration. |
| Expands the definition of aggravated felony, rendering legal immigrants convicted of minor offenses in the past ineligible for immigration benefits including naturalization. Those negatively affected by this will inevitably be American families, who could face separation as a result. |
| Deputizes local law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration laws over the objections of many such officials, who believe that this authority undercuts their ability to protect the public safety. |
| Mandates a broad-reaching employment verification system that requires employers to retroactively verify the employment status of employees who have been employed for years. It also mandates that churches, NGOs, and others involved in workforce development prescreen potential job applicants before referring them to jobs, a procedure that is likely to result in employment delays and possibly discrimination. |
| Severely reduces due process rights for legal immigrants in a way that dramatically undercuts basic principles of American justice. |
Sponsor: Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI)
Co-sponsors:
| Rodney Alexander (R-LA) Spencer Bachus (R-AL) Richard H. Baker (R-LA) Mary Bono (R-CA) Michael C. Burgess (R-TX) Dan Burton (R-IN) Tom Cole (R-OK) John Culberson (R-TX) David Dreier (R-CA) Tom Feeney (R-FL) Randy J. Forbes (R-VA) Virginia Foxx (R-NC) Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) Darrell Issa (R-CA) Ernest J. Istook (R-OK) Peter King (R-NY) John Kline (R-MN) Jerry Lewis (R-CA) |
Daniel Lungren (R-CA) Michael McCaul (R-TX) John M. McHugh (R-NY) Gary Miller (R-CA) Tim Murphy (R- PA) Collin Peterson (D-MN) Charles W. (Chip) Pickering (R-MS) Ted Poe (R-TX) Jim Ramstad (R-MN) Edward Royce (R-CA) Jim Ryun (R-KS) Jean Schmidt (R-OH) Bill Shuster (R-PA) Lamar Smith (R-TX) Cliff Stearns (R-FL) Mac Thornberry (R-TX) Joe Wilson (R-SC) |
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 661
H R 4437 RECORDED VOTE 16-Dec-2005 10:33 PM
QUESTION: On Passage
BILL TITLE: Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act
| Ayes | Noes | PRES | NV | |
| Republican | 203 | 17 | 11 | |
| Democratic | 36 | 164 | 2 | |
| Independent | 1 | |||
| TOTALS | 239 | 182 | 13 |
—- AYES 239 —
| Aderholt Akin Alexander Bachus Baker Barrow Bass Bean Beauprez Berry Biggert Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boehlert Bonilla Bonner Bono Boozman Boren Boswell Boucher Boustany Bradley (NH) Brady (TX) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Burgess Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp (MI) Campbell (CA) Cannon Cantor Capito Carter Case Castle Chabot Chandler Chocola Coble Conaway Costello Cramer Crenshaw Cubin Culberson Davis (KY) Davis (TN) Davis, Tom Deal (GA) DeFazio DeLay Dent Doolittle Drake Dreier Duncan Edwards Ehlers Emerson English (PA) Everett Feeney Ferguson Fitzpatrick (PA) Flake Foley Forbes Ford Fortenberry Fossella Foxx Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Gallegly Garrett (NJ) |
Gerlach Gibbons Gilchrest Gillmor Gingrey Gohmert Goode Goodlatte Gordon Granger Graves Green (WI) Gutknecht Hall Harris Hart Hastert Hayes Hefley Hensarling Herger Herseth Higgins Hoekstra Holden Hostettler Hulshof Hunter Inglis (SC) Issa Jenkins Jindal Johnson (CT) Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Kanjorski Keller Kelly Kennedy (MN) King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kirk Kline Knollenberg Kuhl (NY) Larsen (WA) Latham LaTourette Lewis (CA) Lewis (KY) Linder Lipinski LoBiondo Lucas Lungren, Daniel E. Mack Manzullo Marchant Marshall Matheson McCaul (TX) McCotter McCrery McHenry McHugh McIntyre McKeon McMorris Melancon Mica Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller, Gary Moore (KS) Moran (KS) Murphy Musgrave Myrick |
Neugebauer Ney Northup Norwood Nussle Osborne Otter Oxley Paul Pence Peterson (MN) Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Platts Poe Pombo Pomeroy Porter Price (GA) Pryce (OH) Putnam Ramstad Regula Rehberg Reichert Renzi Reynolds Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Ross Royce Ryan (WI) Ryun (KS) Salazar Saxton Schmidt Schwarz (MI) Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shaw Shays Sherwood Shimkus Shuster Simmons Simpson Skelton Smith (TX) Sodrel Stearns Strickland Sullivan Sweeney Tancredo Tanner Taylor (MS) Taylor (NC) Terry Thornberry Tiahrt Udall (CO) Upton Visclosky Walden (OR) Walsh Wamp Weldon (FL) Weldon (PA) Weller Westmoreland Whitfield Wicker Wilson (SC) Wolf |
—- NOES 182 —
| Abercrombie Ackerman Allen Andrews Baca Baird Baldwin Bartlett (MD) Becerra Berkley Berman Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Boehner Boyd Brady (PA) Brown (OH) Brown, Corrine Butterfield Capps Capuano Cardin Cardoza Carnahan Carson Clay Cleaver Clyburn Conyers Cooper Costa Crowley Cuellar Cummings Davis (AL) Davis (CA) Davis (FL) Davis (IL) DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Diaz-Balart, L. Dicks Dingell Doggett Doyle Emanuel Engel Eshoo Etheridge Evans Farr Fattah Filner Frank (MA) Gonzalez Green, Al Green, Gene Grijalva Gutierrez |
Harman Hastings (FL) Hastings (WA) Hayworth Hinchey Hinojosa Hobson Holt Honda Hooley Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jefferson Johnson, E. B. Jones (OH) Kaptur Kennedy (RI) Kildee Kilpatrick (MI) Kind Kucinich Langevin Lantos Larson (CT) Leach Lee Levin Lewis (GA) Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Lynch Maloney Markey Matsui McCollum (MN) McDermott McGovern McKinney McNulty Meehan Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Menendez Michaud Millender-McDonald Miller (NC) Miller, George Mollohan Moore (WI) Moran (VA) Murtha Nadler Neal (MA) Nunes Oberstar Obey Olver Ortiz |
Owens Pallone Pascrell Pastor Payne Pearce Pelosi Price (NC) Radanovich Rahall Rangel Reyes Ros-Lehtinen Rothman Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Sabo Snchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sanders Schakowsky Schiff Schwartz (PA) Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sherman Slaughter Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Souder Spratt Stark Stupak Tauscher Thomas Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Tiberi Tierney Towns Turner Udall (NM) Van Hollen Velzquez Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Watt Waxman Weiner Wexler Wilson (NM) Woolsey Wu Wynn |
—- NOT VOTING 13 —
| Barrett (SC) Barton (TX) Cole (OK) Davis, Jo Ann Diaz-Balart, M. |
Hyde Istook Kolbe LaHood McCarthy |
Napolitano Young (AK) Young (FL) |
11/23/05
Angel Island Immigration Station Restoration and Preservation Act Passes the U.S. Senate
The Angel Island Immigration Station Restoration and Preservation Act (H.R. 606/.262),
which would authorize $15 million in federal funding to preserve the historic immigration
station in San Francisco Bay, passed the Senate on November 16, 2005. With passage
in the House in May and the Senate, the legislation now goes to the President for signature.
The bill will authorize up to $15 million in future federal support to preserve and restore
the Angel Island Immigration Station. Although no funds are allocated by this authorizing
legislation, enacting the bill would open the door to federal support in the future, despite
Angel Island s status as a state-owned property.
The Angel Island Immigration Station Restoration and Preservation Act was
sponsored in the Senate by Senator Feinstein and by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma)
in the House. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), and Daniel Inouye
(D-HI) are cosponsors of the legislation in the Senate. The House bill was cosponsored
by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-S.F.)
11/17/05 San Francisco Chronicle: House OKs funds to preserve WWII internment camps:
‘A great people can make mistakes,’ bill’s backer says,
by Edward Epstein
Washington — The House adopted legislation Wednesday aimed at ensuring the country
never forgets the bitter lessons of the World War II internment of tens of thousands of
Japanese Americans, many of whom were from California.
The bill, passed by voice vote after a brief but poignant debate, authorized up to $38 million
in federal funds to preserve and restore 10 internment camps, including Tule Lake near the
California-Oregon border and Manzanar in the stark eastern Sierra. The bill also includes
the preservation of 17 assembly centers in places such as San Bruno , Sacramento ,
Salinas and Stockton . Nonprofit groups and local, state and tribal governments would have
to come up with 75 percent of the money for projects.
“A great people — and the American people are a great people — can make mistakes.
What you need to do is admit it and don’t make it again,” said the bill’s chief sponsor,
Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, his voice quivering with emotion.
Most of the sites are crumbling and need work soon to prevent them from disappearing.
“It is essential that the internment camps and sites be preserved and maintained. In
protecting them, we are reaffirming our belief in the Constitution and the rights and
protections it guarantees for each and every American,” said Rep. Doris Matsui,
D-Sacramento. She was born in the Poston internment camp in Arizona , and her late
husband, Rep. Robert Matsui, was sent as an infant to the Tule Lake camp with his parents.
Thomas, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has adopted
the issue because of friends who were interned under Executive Order 9066, which then-
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued not long after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ,
authorizing the roundup of American citizens of Japanese descent. The order subsequently
survived a legal challenge brought by Fred Korematsu, who died March 30, that went to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
Congress in 1988 approved legislation, signed by former President Ronald Reagan,
providing an apology and $20,000 to each of the 45,000 to 60,000 Japanese Americans
surviving at that time from the estimated 120,000 sent to the camps.
Thomas served in the state Legislature during the 1970s with Democrat Floyd Mori.
The two, who remain friends, were roommates in Sacramento , and Thomas learned how
Japanese Americans such as Mori and then-San Jose Mayor Norman Mineta surmounted
a childhood in which their homeland had literally taken everything away from their families.
Mineta, now U.S. secretary of transportation, became a longtime Democratic congressman
and co-sponsored the 1988 legislation.
“This bill provides a closing note on what was my upbringing in California in the 1940s
and ’50s,” said Thomas, a graduate of what is now San Francisco State University .
The camps and the memories are “rapidly slipping away” as the World War II generation
dies, adding urgency to the preservation effort, he said.
For Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, who spent his early childhood in a Colorado camp
with his family, the bill is an extension of his efforts as a state legislator to create a California
grant program to pay for educational efforts about the internments.
“This will have a deep impact on our abilities to make the stories real for future
generations,” said Honda.
The National Park Service now operates a visitors’ center at the Manzanar site along
Highway 395, which draws about 80,000 people a year. Park service officials opposed
Thomas’ legislation because they said the agency didn’t have the money to implement it.
Park service officials reiterated that opposition Wednesday and noted that even though
the House had authorized $38 million, Congress still must come up with the money through
the appropriations process.
Thomas’ sponsorship means it could be easier to get the money, which could go to buy
property that since the war has passed into private hands and to build museums or visitors’
centers.
In the Senate, identical legislation has been introduced by Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii,
a Medal of Honor recipient who during World War II fought in Italy and France with the Army
442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit made up of Japanese Americans whose families
were interned by the same government they served in combat. Wounded, Inouye lost his right
arm and spent 20 months recovering in an Army hospital.
Secure America Act (H.R. 2330) aka McCain-Kennedy bill to reform immigration.
Sponsors: Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Rep Luis Gutierrez (D-IL).
Co-Sponsors:
Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL)
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA)
Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA)
Rep. Ray Lahood (R-IL)
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH)
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Rep. James Walsh R-(NY)
Secure America Act (S. 1033) aka McCain-Kennedy bill to reform immigration.
Sponsor: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Co-Sponsors
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (D-SC)
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO)
9/20/05: The Organization of Chinese Americans applauded the passage the
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEEA) by a decisive 223 to 199
bipartisan vote, taking a giant step toward giving law enforcement the tools they need to
enforce and prosecute hate crimes against Americans based their race, color, religion,
or national origin. In addition, the LLEEA would permit federal involvement in the
prosecution of bias-motivated crimes based on the victim’s gender, sexual orientation,
or disability. The measure was passed as an amendment to H.R. 3132, the Childrens
Safety Act.
“By empowering the men and women who work in law enforcement to take
action when investigating hate crimes, we ensure that those found guilty of these
horrible acts are met with the justice they deserve, said Ginny Gong , OCA National
President. The strong bipartisan support this legislation garnered illustrates how important
this issue is to the American people, said Gong, Hate crimes effect all Americans of any
political party, any race, any religion, any sexual orientation any American of any
classification. OCA has long supported legislation to strengthen hate crimes laws and
we will encourage our members to thank the brave lawmakers who voted for the LLEEA
as well.
Current hate crimes law leaves federal prosecutors powerless to intervene in bias-
motivated crimes when they cannot also establish that the crime was committed because
of the victim’s involvement in a “federally-protected activity” such as serving on a jury,
attending a public school, or voting. LLEEA strengthens the federal hate crimes statute
by removing unnecessary obstacles to federal prosecution and by providing authority for
federal involvement in a wider category of bias-motivated crimes.
Roll Call Vote 469, Sept. 14, 2005
H R 3132 RECORDED VOTE 14-Sep-2005 3:20 PM
AUTHOR(S): Conyers of Michigan Amendment No. 25
QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Amendment
Democrats in italics
AYES 223 —
| Abercrombie Ackerman Allen Andrews Baca Baird Baldwin Barrow Bass Bean Becerra Berkley Berman Biggert Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Boehlert Bono Boswell Boucher Boyd Brady (PA) Brown (OH) Brown, Corrine Butterfield Capps Capuano Cardin Cardoza Carnahan Carson Case Castle Chandler Clay Cleaver Conyers Cooper Costa Costello Cramer Crowley Cuellar Cummings Davis (AL) Davis (CA) Davis (FL) Davis (IL) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dicks Dingell Doggett Doyle Edwards Emanuel Engel Eshoo Etheridge Evans Farr Fattah Filner Fitzpatrick (PA) Foley Ford Frank (MA) Gerlach Gonzalez |
Gordon Green, Al Green, Gene Grijalva Gutierrez Hastings (FL) Herseth Higgins Hinchey Hinojosa Holden Holt Honda Hooley Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jefferson Johnson (CT) Johnson, E. B. Jones (OH) Kanjorski Kaptur Kelly Kennedy (RI) Kildee Kilpatrick (MI) Kind Kirk Kolbe Kucinich LaHood Langevin Lantos Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Leach Lee Levin Lewis (GA) Lipinski LoBiondo Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Lynch Maloney Markey Marshall Matheson Matsui McCarthy McCollum (MN) McCotter McDermott McGovern McIntyre McKinney McNulty Meehan Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Menendez Michaud Millender-McDonald Miller (NC) Miller, George Mollohan Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (VA) Murtha Nadler Napolitano |
Neal (MA) Oberstar Obey Olver Ortiz Owens Pallone Pascrell Pastor Pelosi Peterson (MN) Platts Pomeroy Price (NC) Rahall Rangel Reichert Reyes Ros-Lehtinen Ross Rothman Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Sabo Salazar Snchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sanders Saxton Schakowsky Schiff Schwartz (PA) Schwarz (MI) Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Shays Sherman Shimkus Simmons Skelton Slaughter Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Spratt Stark Strickland Stupak Tauscher Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Tierney Towns Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Van Hollen Velzquez Visclosky Walden (OR) Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Watt Waxman Weldon (PA) Weller Wexler Woolsey Wu Wynn |
—- NOES 199 —
| Aderholt Akin Alexander Bachus Baker Barrett (SC) Bartlett (MD) Berry Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boehner Bonilla Bonner Boozman Boren Boustany Bradley (NH) Brady (TX) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Burgess Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp Cannon Cantor Capito Carter Chabot Chocola Coble Cole (OK) Conaway Crenshaw Cubin Culberson Cunningham Davis (KY) Davis (TN) Davis, Jo Ann Davis, Tom Deal (GA) DeLay Doolittle Drake Dreier Duncan Ehlers Emerson English (PA) Everett Feeney Ferguson Flake Forbes Fortenberry Fossella Foxx Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gibbons Gillmor |
Gingrey Gohmert Goode Goodlatte Granger Graves Green (WI) Gutknecht Hall Harris Hart Hastings (WA) Hayes Hayworth Hefley Hensarling Herger Hobson Hostettler Hulshof Hunter Hyde Inglis (SC) Issa Istook Jenkins Jindal Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Keller Kennedy (MN) King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kline Knollenberg Kuhl (NY) Latham LaTourette Lewis (CA) Lewis (KY) Linder Lucas Lungren, Daniel E. Mack Manzullo Marchant McCaul (TX) McCrery McHenry McHugh McKeon McMorris Mica Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller, Gary Moran (KS) Murphy Musgrave Myrick Neugebauer Ney Northup Norwood Nunes |
Nussle Osborne Otter Oxley Paul Pearce Pence Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Poe Pombo Porter Price (GA) Pryce (OH) Putnam Radanovich Ramstad Regula Rehberg Renzi Reynolds Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Ryan (WI) Ryun (KS) Schmidt Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shaw Sherwood Shuster Simpson Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Sodrel Souder Stearns Sullivan Sweeney Tancredo Tanner Taylor (MS) Taylor (NC) Terry Thomas Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Turner Upton Wamp Weldon (FL) Westmoreland Whitfield Wicker Wilson (NM) Wilson (SC) Wolf Young (AK) Young (FL) |
—- NOT VOTING 11 —
| Barton (TX) Beauprez Clyburn Gilchrest |
Harman Hoekstra Melancon Payne |
Royce Walsh Weiner |
8/9/05 San Diego Union Tribune: Campaign is on to preserve internment camps
of WWII,
Rep. Bill Thomas, a powerful Bakersfield Republican, is pushing the $38 million
appropriation to preserve internment camps, buy sites in private hands and expand
museum exhibits dedicated to telling the story.
California lawmakers have weighed in with a nonbinding resolution urging
Congress to act. The measure flew through the Assembly on unanimous votes and
is awaiting state Senate approval.
“It’s the right thing to do, to confront our past. The camps should not be bulldozed
and forgotten,” said Assemblyman Johan Klehs, a San Leandro Democrat carrying
the measure, AJR 23.
The U.S. House is expected to take up Thomas’ appropriations bill, HR 1492,
when lawmakers return from summer recess in early September.
7/01/05 The Argus: Joint resolution would preserve internment sites: $38 million sought
for WWII camps where Japanese-Americans were detained,
Hayward Assemblyman Johan Klehs, D-San Leandro, is hoping a joint resolution
will help preserve World War II Japanese-American internment camps as historical sites.
Klehs authored Assembly Joint Resolution 23, which encourages Congress to pass
U.S. House of Representatives House Resolution 1492.
If passed, the House resolution would authorize $38 million in federal funds to restore
and protect internment camp sites for future generations of Americans to visit, and learn
about that period in the nation’s history.
The joint resolution was approved last week by the Assembly Judiciary Committee
and was passed on the Assembly Floor by a vote of 69 to 0.
HR 1492 was co-authored by state Congressman Bill Thomas, Congresswoman
Doris Matsui and Congressman Mike Honda. Matsui was born in an internment camp
and Honda spent his early childhood in one. The House resolution was unanimously
approved by the House Resources Committee in May. It will next be considered by the
full House of Representatives.
According to Klehs’ office, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order
9006 in 1942 to authorize the establishment of internment camps for Japanese-
American citizens. The camps were surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by
military police. Many of the citizens detained there lost their homes and businesses.
This bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to create a program within the
National Park Service to acquire and preserve the historic camp sites.
Klehs serves the 18th Assembly District, which includes San Leandro , Hayward ,
Dublin , most of Castro Valley and Pleasanton , and a portion of Oakland , as well as
the unincorporated areas of Ashland , Cherryland and San Lorenzo .
5/24/05 Associated Press: Angel Island bill wins House vote,
by Erica Werner
Washington – The House passed legislation Monday to spend $15 million restoring the
immigration station on Angel Island that was the first taste of America for more than 1 million
Asian immigrants.
Most famously used to detain thousands of Chinese immigrants from 1910-1940 under
the Chinese Exclusion Act, the immigration facility in the San Francisco Bay has been
falling into disrepair.
Supporters are trying to raise $50 million to maintain it, create a museum and preserve
dozens of poems that were carved by detainees into the barracks walls.
“Millions of Asians and Asian descendants nationwide are eager to see their roots in
this country honored in the same way we honor Ellis Island ,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey,
D-Petaluma, who authored the legislation. “If these walls crumble we will lose this one-of-
a-kind documentation forever.”
The bill passed on a voice vote.
The Bush administration opposes the legislation, arguing federal money shouldn’t be
spent for a nonfederal purpose when there are many national parks that could use the
money. Supporters say the site should be eligible for federal funds because it was run
by the government while in use under the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Identical legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
D-Calif. The same bill passed the House last year but never got a vote in the Senate.
The Angel Island Immigration Station processed more than 1 million immigrants
while in operation between 1910 and 1940, including new arrivals from Japan , Russia ,
the Philippines and elsewhere.
During the Chinese Exclusion Act, enacted in 1882 in response to political pressure
to crack down on growing Chinese immigration, potential immigrants were kept at the
station for months or even years for interrogations and medical exams. The act was
repealed in 1943.
3/4/05 AsianWeek.com: “Behind the Headlines,”
by Maeley Tom
Howard Dean has had a keen interest in helping APAs ascend to key roles in politics. Few
people know that Dean had been working to help elect APA Democratic candidates such
as Hubert Vo of Texas, Congressman David Wu and Scott Kawasaki, who narrowly lost a
state representative seat by 15 votes in Alaska.
2/22/05 The SunFire Group
Dear Friend:
I recently joined my colleagues, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative
Lynn Woolsey, in supporting legislation to preserve and restore the Angel Island
Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay . The Angel Island Immigration Station
bill would authorize $15 million for preservation efforts, with an equal match
required of state and private funding.
Angel Island is a uniquely American place. From 1910 to 1940, Asian
immigrants pursuing the American Dream came through the immigration station
on Angel Island . The place serves as our most direct connection to their journeys,
including both the joy and the despair. In preserving this place, we honor their
stories.
The Angel Island Immigration Station was the port of entry for thousands of
people, and also served as the detention site for many Chinese during the time.
During their detention, sometimes for months or even years, many carved poetry
on the walls of the station. They left a unique example of American folk art with
the approximately 140 poems that should be preserved for all Americans to learn
from and appreciate.
Since 1997, the Angel Island Immigration Station has been a National Historic
Landmark. More recently it was noted as one of America ‘s most endangered
historic places. I am pleased to join in the effort to save this landmark.
If you have any questions about this or any other matter, I hope you will feel
free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
2/15/05 The SunFire Group
Wu amendment to Energy Bill requires DOE to report to Congress on minority
employment practices
Washington , DC — Congressman David Wu successfully secured language in
the energy bill to require the Department of Energy (DOE) to report to Congress about
minority employment practices at all DOE National Laboratories. A 2002 GAO report
prepared at the request of Congressman Wu, documented racial and gender disparities
in employment practices at DOE labs.
“We need to ensure that our national labs can recruit and retain the best and brightest,
both to protect our national security, and to maintain America ‘s technological leadership,”
said Congressman David Wu.
“My amendment holds the Department of Energy accountable for its practices, and
takes an important step to correct the situation revealed by our Congressional
investigation.”
Congressman Wu’s provision requires the Department of Energy to provide a biennial
report to Congress about equal employment opportunity practices at the Department’s
National Laboratories. Under this measure, DOE must provide information on efforts
to attract minorities to the laboratories and document employee complaints and
disciplinary actions taken.
The provision was included in HR 610, the Energy Research, Development,
Demonstration and Commercial Application Act and was recently successfully voted
out of the House Science Committee.
In May 2002, Congressman Wu released a report prepared by the General Accounting
Office, which documented racial and gender disparities in employment practices at the
DOE weapons labs. This report was inspired by the handling of the Wen Ho Lee case
and increasingly common anecdotes from minority employees at National Laboratories
that work conditions were hostile or unfair.
1/28/05 The Austin Chronicle: The Election, The Baby, and the Bathwater – Heflin
Challenge could Reverberate Statewide,
by Amy Smith
By the time the Lunar New Year rolls in early next month, the state’s Asian-American
community may well have a whole new perspective on Texas politics.
Perhaps it’s a long shot, but the Year of the Rooster could bring about a dramatic shift in
the voting patterns of Asian Americans, who typically vote conservatively but not necessarily
as a one-party bloc.
Now, thanks to the Republican Party’s obstreperous efforts to oust the first Vietnamese-
American ever elected to the Texas legislature, the Asian vote could become the
Democrats’ secret weapon.
The GOP’s problem with Houston Rep. Hubert Vo is not his ethnic heritage but his party
Vo is a Democrat who narrowly defeated Talmadge Heflin, a powerful 22 year Republican
incumbent, and last session’s chair of the mighty House Appropriations Committee.
With Gov. Rick Perry’s apparent blessing and a $10,000 contribution, Heflin has
undertaken an aggressive election challenge that goes to a hearing today (Thursday),
barring a last-minute retreat or some other kind of maneuver, State Rep. Will Hartnett,
R-Dallas, the designated House “Master of discovery” will consider Heflin’s allegations
of illegal balloting in the District 149 race and make a recommendation to a special
committee of 5 Republicans and 4 Democrats appointed by Speaker Tom Craddick.
The full House will then decide whether to uphold Vo’s 33-vote victory, overturn it and
seat Heflin, or ask the governor to order a new election in this south-west Houston district.
Amy Wong Mok, and Austin Businesswoman and community activist, says Asians here
and abroad are closely following this case. The outcome, she believes, could have
long-lasting effects on the overall political landscape of Texas – home to the 4th largest
Asian population in the country. “If they take away Hubert Vo”, said Mok, “Asian-
Americans are going to be very angry for the next two generations. It would be a slap
in the face.” Mok, a former candidate for Austin City Council who leans Democratic,
says the state GOP will have a hard time justifying itself to those Asians who
traditionally vote Republican. “Many different Asian organizations are united behind
Hubert Vo,” she said. “As we see it, this is about arrogance…it’s about not accepting
defeat gracefully.”
1/12/05 Reuters: Republican to Lead Immigration Revolt Against Bush,
By Alan Elsner
Washington – Bush in an interview with the Washington Times published on
Wednesday said he plans to force a debate in Congress this year on his proposal
that would allow some illegal immigrants to obtain legal work permits in the United
States .
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, who heads the House Immigration Reform Caucus,
said he was determined to block the legislation. The caucus, which had 71 members
in the last Congress, argues for stronger action to stop illegal immigration and a
reduction of legal migration.
“Why is this so important to the president?” Tancredo said. “Is it just the corporate
interests who benefit from cheap labor? Do they have such a strong grip on our
president so that he is actually willing to put our nation at risk, because open borders
do put our nation at risk?
“Is it petulance, because we were able to stop it in the last Congress? Why is it so
important to give amnesty to people who have broken the law?” Tancredo said.
“I’m willing to lead a fight against this and I would say there are at least 180
members of our Republican caucus who are willing at least to stop amnesty for illegal
immigrants,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Bush has repeatedly said he views immigration reform as an important issue for his
second term. In the Washington Times interview, he said it was near the top of his
agenda.
“Look, whether or not you agree with the solution or not, we have a problem in
America when you’ve got 8 million undocumented workers here,” he said.
Bush expressed confidence he could win over opponents, as he did in passing tax
reform during his first term. “Initially out of the box, some people said, over my dead
body would they pass tax relief … If I listened to all that, I’d just quit, you know. But that’s
not the way I think.”
But analysts agree that immigration reform could be much more divisive for
Republicans since growing numbers of rank-and-file voters are becoming concerned
at the continued influx of illegal immigrants across the Mexican border.
“No issue, not one, threatens to do more damage to the Republican coalition than
immigration,” said David Frum, a former White House speech writer in Bush’s first term.
“There’s no issue where the beliefs and interests of the party rank-and-file diverge
more radically from the beliefs and interests of the party’s leaders,” he wrote in the
National Review last month.
Bush insists he is not offering amnesty to illegal immigrants but Tancredo said that
was a “manipulation of language, the kind of thing (former President) Bill Clinton would
have done. There is an issue of integrity here and an issue of honesty,” he said.
12/27/04 USA Today; Bush faces GOP fight over ‘guest workers’
Washington (AP) President Bush faces a major rebellion within his own party if
he follows through on a promise to push legislation that would offer millions of illegal
immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship.
Almost no issue divides Republicans as deeply.
To get the guest-worker initiative through Congress, Bush will need to go against
the wishes of many Republicans and forge bipartisan alliances. That’s what President
Clinton did in 1993 to win approval for a free trade agreement with Mexico and
Canada , over objections of a large bloc of congressional Democrats.
The chance seems slim for finding common ground between those in favor of
liberalized immigration laws Bush, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for example and those who want fewer immigrants,
tougher border controls and harsher penalties.
Opposition is strongest among House Republicans.
“In our party, this is a deep division that is growing deeper every minute,” says
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. He heads a group of 70 lawmakers who are against
easing immigration laws.
Tancredo said Bush’s guest-worker proposal is “a pig with lipstick” and will not
pass.
Bush asserts that he won valuable “political capital” in the election and intends
to spend it. It is not clear how much of that he is willing to spend on the immigration
measure.
Higher on his list of priorities is overhauling the Social Security system, rewriting
the tax laws, limiting lawsuit judgments, and making his first-term tax cuts permanent.
An estimated 10 million immigrants live in the United States illegally; the vast
majority are from Mexico , with an additional million arriving every year.
A hint of the trouble ahead for Bush on immigration came this month when
proposals to tighten not ease border restrictions nearly undermined a bill to
restructure U.S. intelligence agencies.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee wanted the measure to bar
states from giving a driver’s license to illegal immigrants. Rep. James
Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said some of the Sept. 11 hijackers gained access to
U.S. aircraft by using a driver’s license as identification.
Sensenbrenner ultimately backed down, but only after House Speaker Dennis
Hastert, R-Ill, promised that the chairman’s proposal would be considered in
separate legislation in 2005.
Hastert also indicated he would not move ahead on major legislation unless it
was supported by a majority of Republicans in the GOP-controlled House and
that he would not rely on Democratic support to pass a bill.
Immigration overhaul is “an issue that splits both parties, and given the new
Hastert rule, may never go anywhere,” said William A. Niskanen, chairman of the
libertarian Cato Institute. Niskanen was a member of President Reagan’s Council
of Economic Advisers.
The president’s plan would grant temporary-worker status, for three years to six
years, to millions of undocumented workers. It also would it easier for those workers
to get permanent U.S. citizenship.
As governor of Texas , Bush was committed to immigration changes. As president,
he came close to making a deal with Mexican President Vicente Fox in the days
before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Those plans were put on hold as tighter
borders took on a higher priority for the United States .
As a presidential candidate, both in 2000 and 2004, Bush eagerly courted
Hispanics, the fastest-growing ethnic group in the electorate.
“We will keep working to make this nation a welcoming place for Hispanic
people, a land of opportunity para todos (for all) who live here in America,” Bush
told the League of United Latin American Citizens last summer.
Bush claimed 35% of Hispanic voters in 2000 and at least 40% last Nov. 2,
according to exit polls. That compares with the 21% won by Bob Dole in 1996
and the 25% that Bush’s father got in 1992.
Republican consultants suggest Bush will not make a big push for his immigration
bill until he has achieved his goals on Social Security and the tax laws. They also
say the president may jettison the immigration bill if it would jeopardize other
parts of his agenda.
Inside the administration, nobody is suggesting that passing the immigration
plan would be anything other than extremely difficult.
“We don’t want to overpromise,” Secretary of State Colin Powell said during
a visit last month to Mexico City .
9/23/04: S.2833. The Angel Island Immigration Station Restoration and Preservation Act of
2004, introduced by Senators Diane Feinstein (D) and Barbara Boxer (D) of California.
10/8/04 Washington Post: Initiative on Hate Crimes Scrapped,
House Republican negotiators yesterday scuttled a Senate-approved proposal to
strengthen the nation’s long-standing hate-crimes law and extend its coverage to include
crimes against gay men and lesbians.
According to sources close to the talks, the proposal was rejected by House members
of a conference with the Senate as the negotiators for the two chambers neared
completion of work on the 2005 defense authorization bill. The defense bill had been
amended by the Senate in June to include the bipartisan proposal to strengthen and
update the civil rights-era hate-crimes statute.
The Senate proposal, which was also rejected by House defense negotiators in 2000,
would have added crimes based on sexual orientation, gender and disabilities to the
existing law that allows federal prosecution of offenses based on race, color, religion
or national origin. Financial support would have been provided for state and local
investigations and prosecutions of hate crimes.
The proposal would also have eliminated restrictions limiting hate-crime
prosecutions to cases where the victims were engaged in federally protected
activities, such as voting.
Proponents, led by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.),
contended the expansion was needed to ensure protection of all hate-crimes victims.
Opponents, including prominent House Republican leaders, argued that labeling
something a hate crime punished thought rather than action.
The Senate added the Kennedy-Smith proposal to the defense bill because the
Senate GOP leadership would not schedule a vote on the hate-crimes initiative
and the defense measure was the only vehicle available at the time to force a vote
on the issue. The House voted 213 to 186 last month to instruct its negotiators to
support the proposal, but the vote was nonbinding and the House conferees did
not follow the instructions.
Kennedy issued a statement blaming the White House and House GOP
leadership for what he called “reprehensible” action in rejecting the hate-crimes
initiative. “We will be back again and again, and we will continue to bring this
legislation up every opportunity we can until it is signed into law,” he said.
9/23/04 Rep. Mike Honda Applauds the National Week of Action for Immigrants Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), today applauded the New American Opportunity Campaign (NAOC) and other national organizations for their advocacy of comprehensive immigration reform during the ongoing National Week of Action. “Our immigration system is broken, causing up to 20 years of separation for Asian Pacific Islander American families who face a backlogged bureaucracy and unduly restrictive laws,” Rep. Honda said. “During this National Week of Action, NAOC and other groups should be hailed for their work to recognize immigrants’ contributions, affirm their value to the U.S., and clear a path to citizenship in a way that strengthens our nation.” “Immigrants make America stronger, and it is very much in our national interest to make our immigration laws more rational, consistent and humane,” Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) said. “I applaud the efforts of the New American Opportunity Campaign to bring these issues to the forefront of our national discourse.” Held throughout the week of September 20 – 26, the National Week of Action marks the one-year anniversary of the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride. Community leaders, organizers, and immigrants have been visiting Congressional offices to encourage support for comprehensive immigration reform, as well as holding rallies and education forums throughout the nation. In particular, immigration reform advocates are urging passage of the following reform bills currently before the Congress: HR 4262, the Safe, Orderly, Legal Visas and Enforcement (SOLVE) Act; S. 1545, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act; and the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security (AgJOBS) Act of 2003. “Immigrants share our values; it’s time our immigration system reflects that and addresses the 1.5 million Asians currently caught in the family immigration backlog,” Honda said. “I applaud the New American Opportunity Campaign and their supporters for continuing to advocate for immigrant rights and for educating the American people about the various immigrant communities throughout our country.” 8/4/04 Honda: Investigation Granted into Chaplain Yee Case Inspector General Agrees to Request for Formal Inquiry Washington, DC – US Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) today announced that the Inspector General (IG) of the US Department of Defense has agreed to his formal request for an investigation into the US Army’s court martial of James Yee, the Muslim chaplain who resigned from the Army on August 2 after being subjected to months of questionable military legal procedures. “Chaplain Yee’s treatment by the US Army clearly warrants an investigation into the handling of his entire case, including whether his detention was supported by adequate evidence and appropriate legal charges,” Congressman Honda said. “I have grave concerns about the government’s track record of unsubstantiated charges – most notably in the case of Wen Ho Lee – and Chaplain Yee’s case raises serious questions about the way the military administers justice.” Citing “irreparabl[e] injur[ies]” to his personal and professional reputation due to the Army’s “unfounded allegations,” Chaplain Yee on August 2 submitted a letter of resignation to the Army, requesting formal discharge as of January 7, 2005. The issue stems from the September 10, 2003 arrest of US Army Chaplain Yee, a commissioned officer of Islamic faith whom Army officials held in solitary confinement for 76 days on a variety of charges ranging from treason to mishandling classified documents. The Army later dropped all criminal charges, opting to pursue a non-judicial punishment that Chaplain successfully fought on appeal before his full reinstatement. In response to allegations that the Army denied Chaplain Yee the military courtesies commensurate with his rank and targeted him because of his religious affiliation with Islam, Rep. Honda publicly called for an investigation into the matter to ensure that the Army complies with accepted rules of law. On June 4, Rep. Honda sent a letter to Joseph Schmitz, Inspector General of the Department of Defense, formally requesting an investigation into the Army’s criminal probe and court martial of Captain Yee. Rep. Honda authored the letter in conjunction with House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Ike Skelton (D-MO), House Armed Services Total Force Subcommittee Ranking Member Vic Snyder (D-AR), and Armed Services Committee member Adam Smith (D-WA). In the wake of Yee’s announced resignation, Rep. Honda contacted the IG’s office seeking an update of his request for an investigation. The IG informed him that, in response to his request, it “will conduct an investigation into the issues raised with respect to” the matter of Chaplain Yee’s treatment by the Army. The IG will initiate its investigation this fall. “I am pleased that the Defense Department has decided that they will investigate the circumstances surrounding Captain James Yee’s detention,” Rep. Smith said. “It is important that this matter is investigated and that any improprieties surrounding this case are resolved.”
7/15/04 Congressman David Wu Supports The Reaffirm Taiwan Relations Act
Washington, DC — Today Congressman David Wu continued his unwavering support of the
Taiwan Relations Act as the cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations by voting for the Reaffirm
Taiwan Relations Act (HCR 462). “The Taiwan Relations Act has been the guide post for U.S.-Taiwan
relations the over the past 25 years, and it has served both sides well,” said Congressman David Wu.
“I am proud to recognize and honor this important relationship.” The measure states that the
Taiwan Relations Act has been instrumental in maintaining peace, security, and stability in the
Taiwan Strait; that China refuses to renounce the use of force against Taiwan; and that the
escalating arms buildup of missiles and other offensive weapons by China is a threat to the peace
and security of the Western Pacific area. The resolution states that the president should encourage
further dialogue between Taiwan and China; and that the U.S. government should not discourage
current officials of the Taiwan government from visiting the United States on the basis that doing so
would violate the “One China Policy.” Finally, the resolution declares that the Taiwan Relations Act
requires that the U.S. government make available defense articles and defense services in such
quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability; that
the Taiwan Relations Act requires the United States to maintain the capacity to resist any force or
other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the
people of Taiwan; and that the Taiwan Relations Act affirms the preservation and enhancement of the
human rights of the people of Taiwan as an objective of the United States.
YEAS 400 —
| Ackerman Aderholt Akin Alexander Allen Andrews Baca Bachus Baird Baker Baldwin Ballenger Barrett (SC) Bartlett (MD) Barton (TX) Bass Beauprez Bell Bereuter Berkley Berman Berry Biggert Bilirakis Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blumenauer Blunt Boehlert Boehner Bonilla Bonner Bono Boozman Boswell Boucher Boyd Bradley (NH) Brady (PA) Brady (TX) Brown (OH) Brown (SC) Brown, Corrine Brown-Waite, Ginny Burgess Burns Burr Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp Cannon Cantor Capito Capps Capuano Cardin Cardoza Carson (OK) Carter Case Castle Chabot Chandler Chocola Clay Clyburn Coble Cole Conyers Cooper Costello Cox Cramer Crane Crenshaw Crowley Cubin Culberson Cummings Cunningham Davis (AL) Davis (CA) Davis (FL) Davis (IL) Davis (TN) Davis, Jo Ann Davis, Tom Deal (GA) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro DeLay DeMint Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dicks Dingell Doggett Dooley (CA) Doolittle Doyle Dreier Duncan Dunn Edwards Ehlers Emanuel Emerson Engel English Eshoo Etheridge Evans Everett Farr Fattah Feeney Ferguson Flake Foley Forbes Ford Fossella Frank (MA) Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Frost Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gephardt |
Gerlach Gibbons Gilchrest Gillmor Gingrey Gonzalez Goode Goodlatte Gordon Goss Granger Graves Green (TX) Green (WI) Gutierrez Gutknecht Hall Harman Harris Hart Hastings (FL) Hastings (WA) Hayes Hayworth Hefley Hensarling Herger Herseth Hill Hinchey Hinojosa Hobson Hoekstra Holt Honda Hooley (OR) Hostettler Houghton Hoyer Hulshof Hunter Hyde Inslee Issa Istook Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jefferson Jenkins John Johnson (CT) Johnson (IL) Johnson, E. B. Johnson, Sam Jones (OH) Kanjorski Kaptur Keller Kelly Kennedy (MN) Kennedy (RI) Kildee Kilpatrick Kind King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kirk Kleczka Kline Knollenberg Kolbe LaHood Lampson Langevin Lantos Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latham LaTourette Leach Levin Lewis (CA) Lewis (GA) Lewis (KY) Linder Lipinski LoBiondo Lowey Lucas (KY) Lucas (OK) Lynch Maloney Manzullo Markey Marshall Matheson Matsui McCarthy (MO) McCarthy (NY) McCotter McCrery McGovern McHugh McInnis McIntyre McKeon McNulty Meehan Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Menendez Mica Michaud Millender-McDonald Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller (NC) Miller, Gary Mollohan Moore Moran (KS) Murphy Murtha Musgrave Myrick Nadler Napolitano Neal (MA) Nethercutt Neugebauer Ney Northup Norwood |
Nunes Nussle Olver Ortiz Osborne Ose Owens Oxley Pallone Pascrell Pastor Payne Pearce Pelosi Pence Peterson (MN) Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Platts Pombo Pomeroy Porter Portman Price (NC) Pryce (OH) Putnam Quinn Radanovich Ramstad Rangel Regula Rehberg Renzi Reyes Reynolds Rodriguez Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Ros-Lehtinen Ross Rothman Roybal-Allard Royce Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Ryan (WI) Ryun (KS) Snchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sanders Sandlin Saxton Schakowsky Schiff Schrock Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Sensenbrenner Serrano Sessions Shadegg Shaw Shays Sherman Sherwood Shimkus Shuster Simmons Simpson Skelton Slaughter Smith (MI) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Souder Spratt Stearns Stenholm Strickland Stupak Sullivan Sweeney Tancredo Tanner Tauscher Tauzin Taylor (MS) Taylor (NC) Terry Thomas Thompson (CA) Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Tierney Toomey Towns Turner (OH) Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Upton Van Hollen Velzquez Visclosky Vitter Walden (OR) Walsh Wamp Watson Waxman Weiner Weldon (FL) Weldon (PA) Weller Wexler Whitfield Wicker Wilson (NM) Wilson (SC) Wolf Woolsey Wu Wynn Young (AK) |
—- NAYS 18 —
| Abercrombie Filner Grijalva Kucinich Lee Lofgren |
McCollum McDermott Miller, George Moran (VA) Oberstar Obey |
Otter Paul Rahall Stark Turner (TX) Waters |
—- ANSWERED PRESENT 4 —
| Becerra Israel |
Sabo Watt |
—- NOT VOTING 11 —
| Carson (IN) Collins Deutsch Greenwood |
Hoeffel Holden Isakson Jones (NC) |
Majette Thompson (MS) Young (FL) |
6/25/04 www.asianweek.com: Federal Probe Urged for Capt. James Yee,
Four Democratic members of Congress are calling on the Pentagon to investigate the Armys treatment of Capt. James Yee, a Muslim chaplain who had been falsely accused of espionage and imprisoned for 76 days before all charges were dropped.
Yee, 35, was investigated for alleged espionage at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba , where the military is holding suspected terrorists.
The June 4 letter was signed by Reps. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Vic Snyder (D-Ark.). Skelton is the senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, while Snyder and Smith serve on the panel.
The letter follows an April 23 request by Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts for a Pentagon investigation of the case to which there has been no response by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.
Rep. Honda believes an independent investigation is the only way to hold the Defense Department accountable for its actions.
In this administration, who is going to inspect themselves? Honda asked. Well back up the Senate request, but I think our request with the inspector general makes a little more sense. An investigation will be the basis for an apology and reparations. We asked for an IG investigation on Rumsfelds policies on the PATRIOT Act and we got one. [The IG] came back with 26 points of concerns, and we wrote a letter to Rumsfeld asking him to respond to those points, and he as yet has failed to respond.
If the right wing accuses me of using this as a campaign issue, I say theyre right. I want them to answer it, Honda said.
The governments additional reprimand against Yee for adultery and pornography also has been overturned.
Those developments raise important questions about the strength and legitimacy of initial assertions by Army officials that Capt. Yee had engaged in espionage and treasonous conduct at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , said Smith and three other House members in a letter to the Pentagons inspector general.
Gov. Gary Locke also pushed for an investigation into the cases of other individuals accused of having connections to terrorism, like Yee, who after a lengthy imprisonment returned to Ft. Lewis , Wash.
Theres a lawyer in Portland , Ore. , who was accused of being connected with the Madrid , Spain train bombing. And yet the fingerprints dont even match. And they had to issue an apology, Locke said.
Why is our government time after time ruining the reputations of people, charging them with being in concert with terrorists and then having to drop all of the charges and then releasing them? There are too many abuses that are occurring and we need to make sure that innocent Americans are not being dragged under like they have, he said.
Joseph and Fong Yee, the parents of chaplain Yee, were heartened by the calls for an investigation.
This will add a little more pressure so there will be an investigation. The military has left a cloud over our sons head, Joseph Yee said.
I want Jimmys name cleared, Fong Yee added, Every bit of help is appreciated.
6/22/04: Democrats Defeat Republican Anti-Immigrant Amendment. Tancredo Amendment Targets Immigrants, Blocks Homeland Security Amendment
Washington, D.C. — House Democrats successfully defeated another Republican anti-immigrant amendment last week that would have stripped homeland security funds from cities that refuse to discriminate against immigrants.
Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) introduced the amendment which would potentially put the country’s safety at risk. Democrats defeated the Republican plan, which failed on a vote of 145 to 262.
“It is unfortunate that House Republicans would risk putting our nation’s safety in danger by stripping the money our states and municipalities need to protect themselves,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said. “Once again, House Republicans have targeted hard working immigrant communities as political pawns in proposing policies that would make us less safe. America deserves better.”
The amendment would have stripped homeland security funds from municipalities and states that use community- based crime prevention and public safety strategies to encourage immigrants to communicate with law enforcement.
“”The Tancredo drivers license amendment denies states the resources they need to fight terrorism, and makes us all less safe solely to promote an extremist anti-immigrant agenda,” said Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. “This radical proposal would prevent states like California from making decisions about who should be allowed to obtain a drivers license and what security precautions will ensure safe highways — all for the sake of persecuting hard-working immigrants in a desperate election-year gambit by congressional Republicans.”
S 966 IS, Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2003 (Introduced in Senate), 108th Congress, 1st Session, To provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crime. May 1, 2003. Sponsors: Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. SMITH, Mr. LEAHY, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. BAYH, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BREAUX, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. DAYTON, Mr. DODD, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. EDWARDS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. GRAHAM of Florida, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KERRY, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. LINCOLN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. MILLER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. REED, Mr. REID, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. LAUTENBERG, and Mr. PRYOR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. COLEMAN added as co-sponsor
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005 (Senate – June 15, 2004), Congressional Record S6775, Rollcall vote no. 114, The amendment (No. 3183) was agreed to. Yeas 65, Nays 33, two absent
Yeas 65
| Akaka | DeWine | Lugar |
| Alexander | Dodd | Mikulski |
| Allen | Dorgan | Miller |
| Baucus | Durbin | Murkowski |
| Bayh | Edwards | Murray |
| Bennett | Ensign | Nelson (FL) |
| Biden | Feingold | Nelson (NE) |
| Bingaman | Feinstein | Pryor |
| Boxer | Graham (FL) | Reed (RI) |
| Breaux | Gregg | Reid (NV) |
| Byrd | Harkin | Rockefeller |
| Campbell | Hollings | Sarbanes |
| Cantwell | Inouye | Schumer |
| Carper | Johnson | Smith |
| Chafee | Kennedy | Snowe |
| Clinton | Kohl | Specter |
| Coleman | Landrieu | Stabenow |
| Collins | Lautenberg | Stevens |
| Conrad | Leahy | Voinovich |
| Corzine | Levin | Warner |
| Daschle | Lieberman | Wyden |
| Dayton | Lincoln |
Nays – 33
Allard
Bond
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Chambliss
Cochran
Cornyn
Craig
Crapo
Dole
Domenici
Enzi
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham (SC)
Grassley
Hagel
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Kyl
Lott
McCain
McConnell
Nickles
Roberts
Santorum
Sessions
Shelby
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Not voting
Jeffords
Kerry
June 5, 2004 PR#: CO.04-22
Assembly Member Chu Statement on GOP Objection To Wen Ho Lee Ceremony
I regretfully cancelled the Assembly Floor ceremony honoring Dr. Wen Ho Lee in order to spare him from an awkward situation arising from the Assembly Republican Caucus’ objection to the presentation. The Assembly GOP Caucus informed our office of their objection to honoring Dr. Lee late Friday afternoon.
I am outraged by the Republican Caucus objection to the ceremony and Howard Kaloogian’s inflammatory remarks in Friday’s Oakland Tribune. [Kaloogian was a Republican Assemblyman from 1994 2000 and a candidate for U.S. Senate].
Dr. Lee has already been victimized by an overzealous prosecution by the government and I do not want him to be brutally victimized again by unwarranted, racially-charged, inaccurate and irresponsible accusations.
It is my great honor to honor Dr. Lee with an award that celebrates and recognizes an Asian Pacific Islander American individual who has shown tremendous courage in the face of overwhelming odds and inconceivable injustice. Dr. Wen Ho Lee, survived nothing less than a racially charged inquisition by runaway government officials and a justice system that was asleep at the wheel.
Dr. Lee is a 60-year-old Taiwanese American scientist who was unfairly singled out and charged with mishandling restricted nuclear data at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he had been an employee for over 20 years.
Contrary to erroneous press accounts and the inflammatory rhetoric, Dr. Lee was never charged with “spying”.
Despite a lengthy investigation involving over 1,000 interviews and review of over one million files, the FBI did not uncover any evidence that Dr. Lee passed on classified or restricted information to any foreign agents.
The conditions of Dr. Lee’s confinement were severe for a 60-year old scientist. He was placed in solitary confinement, shackled with leg irons and chains every time he left his solitary cell, he was denied access to daily exercise and showers, and had very limited access to phone calls, visitors, or outside information.
Nevertheless, Dr. Lee persevered and justice was eventually served. Dr. Lee walked out of court a free man on September 13, 2000 after a federal judge repeatedly apologized for incarcerating him for nine months without trial and angrily rebuked the federal government for its handling of a case that “embarrassed this entire nation.”
The government dismissed 58 counts against Dr. Lee. In a sworn statement provided as part of the deal, Dr. Lee said that he did not intend to harm the United States and that he had not passed the tapes or their contents to anyone.
In the end, the FBI admitted that it had no evidence that Lee was a spy and he was not charged with espionage.
Dr. Wen Ho Lee’s courage in the face of such overwhelming persecution inspired Asian and Pacific Islander Americans all over the country. His perseverance and dignity during this horrendous ordeal is a beacon for all of us to follow and for that I am proud to honor him with the inaugural API Legislative Caucus “Profile In Courage” Award.
6/5/04 Oakland Tribune: Asian caucus to fete former accused spy,
“This is so wrong on so many fronts,” said former state lawmaker Howard Kaloogian. Kaloogian, a Republican involved in the recall of former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, said Lee engaged in “very suspect, questionable activity” and that the lawmakers honoring him took oaths to defend against foreign and domestic enemies. “I wonder if they (caucus members) have ever considered whether a domestic enemy could possibly be the man that they are honoring,” Kaloogian said. “I would think that they would be able to find other role models.”
5/18/04 CONGRESSMAN DAVID WU HELPS DEFEAT THE UNDOCUMENTED ALIEN EMERGENCY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE AMENDMENT
Washington, DC– Today Congressman David Wu (OR) voted with the majority in defeating the Undocumented Alien Emergency Medical Assistance Amendments of 2004 (H.R. 3722). Under this bill, hospitals would not receive critical federal reimbursements for the emergency care of undocumented immigrants unless they question their emergency patients to determine their citizenship, immigration, and financial status and obtain employer information. The bill was defeated by a vote of 331 to 88. “The job of doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers is to take care of sick people, not to be immigration enforcement officers,” said Congressman David Wu. “Requiring healthcare providers to gather this type of information, under the goal of protecting the community, has just the opposite effect. A community is not protected when individuals with infectious diseases are afraid to seek treatment for fear of deportation. “America is a land of immigrants. This bill if enacted would have required medical personnel to determine who is and isn’t an American citizen. The well being of thousand of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants would have been endangered, because medical personnel would be required to determine residency status based on arbitrary and archaic guidelines.”
Sponsors of bill: Rep Rohrabacher, Dana [CA-46] (introduced 1/21/2004), Rep Bereuter, Doug – 2/11/2004 [NE-1], Rep Garrett, Scott – 5/12/2004 [NJ-5], Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. – 5/12/2004 [NC-3], Rep Tancredo, Thomas G. – 5/12/2004 [CO-6]
5/18/2004 Failed of passage/not agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 88 – 331 (Roll no. 182) (regular font = Republican, italics = Democrat).
—- YEAS 88 —
| Aderholt Akin Bachus Barrett (SC) Bass Bereuter Bishop (UT) Blackburn Boozman Boucher Bradley (NH) Burton (IN) Buyer Carter Coble Collins Cox Culberson Cunningham Deal (GA) Doolittle Duncan Everett Feeney Franks (AZ) Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gerlach Gibbons Gingrey |
Goode Goodlatte Gutknecht Hall Hayes Hayworth Hefley Hoekstra Hostettler Hulshof Hunter Isakson Jenkins Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Keller Kelly King (IA) Kingston Kline Manzullo McCotter McCrery Mica Miller (FL) Miller, Gary Musgrave Myrick Norwood Otter |
Paul Pence Pitts Platts Radanovich Ramstad Rehberg Rogers (AL) Rohrabacher Royce Schrock Sensenbrenner Shimkus Shuster Simpson Smith (TX) Stearns Sullivan Tancredo Taylor (MS) Taylor (NC) Toomey Vitter Wamp Weldon (FL) Whitfield Wicker Wilson (SC) |
—- NAYS 331 —
| Abercrombie Ackerman Alexander Allen Baca Baird Baker Baldwin Ballance Ballenger Bartlett (MD) Barton (TX) Beauprez Becerra Bell Berkley Berman Berry Biggert Bilirakis Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Blunt Boehlert Boehner Bonilla Bonner Bono Boswell Boyd Brady (PA) Brady (TX) Brown (OH) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Burgess Burns Burr Calvert Camp Cannon Cantor Capito Capps Capuano Cardin Cardoza Carson (IN) Carson (OK) Case Castle Chabot Chandler Chocola Clay Clyburn Cole Conyers Cooper Costello Cramer Crane Crenshaw Crowley Cubin Cummings Davis (AL) Davis (CA) Davis (FL) Davis (IL) Davis (TN) Davis, Jo Ann Davis, Tom DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro DeLay Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dicks Dingell Doggett Dooley (CA) Doyle Dreier Dunn Edwards Ehlers Emanuel Emerson Engel English Eshoo Etheridge Evans Farr Fattah Ferguson Filner Flake Foley Ford Fossella Frank (MA) Frelinghuysen Frost Gephardt Gilchrest Gillmor |
Gonzalez Gordon Goss Granger Graves Green (TX) Green (WI) Greenwood Grijalva Gutierrez Harman Harris Hart Hastings (FL) Hastings (WA) Hensarling Hill Hinchey Hinojosa Hobson Hoeffel Holden Holt Honda Hooley (OR) Houghton Hoyer Hyde Inslee Israel Issa Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jefferson John Johnson (CT) Johnson (IL) Johnson, E. B. Jones (OH) Kanjorski Kaptur Kennedy (MN) Kennedy (RI) Kildee Kilpatrick Kind King (NY) Kirk Kleczka Knollenberg Kolbe Kucinich LaHood Lampson Langevin Lantos Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latham LaTourette Lee Levin Lewis (CA) Lewis (GA) Lewis (KY) Linder Lipinski LoBiondo Lofgren Lowey Lucas (KY) Lucas (OK) Lynch Majette Maloney Markey Marshall Matheson Matsui McCarthy (MO) McCarthy (NY) McCollum McDermott McGovern McHugh McInnis McIntyre McKeon McNulty Meehan Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Menendez Michaud Millender-McDonald Miller (MI) Miller (NC) Miller, George Mollohan Moore Moran (KS) Moran (VA) Murphy Murtha Nadler Napolitano Neal (MA) Nethercutt Neugebauer Ney Northup |
Nunes Nussle Obey Olver Ortiz Osborne Ose Owens Oxley Pallone Pascrell Pastor Payne Pearce Pelosi Peterson (MN) Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pombo Pomeroy Porter Portman Price (NC) Pryce (OH) Putnam Quinn Rahall Regula Renzi Reyes Reynolds Rodriguez Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Ros-Lehtinen Ross Rothman Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Ryan (WI) Ryun (KS) Sabo Snchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sanders Sandlin Saxton Schakowsky Schiff Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sessions Shadegg Shaw Sherman Sherwood Simmons Skelton Slaughter Smith (MI) Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Souder Spratt Stark Stenholm Strickland Stupak Sweeney Tanner Tauscher Terry Thomas Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Tierney Towns Turner (OH) Turner (TX) Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Upton Van Hollen Velzquez Visclosky Walden (OR) Walsh Waters Watson Watt Waxman Weiner Weldon (PA) Weller Wilson (NM) Wolf Woolsey Wu Wynn Young (FL) |
—- NOT VOTING 14 —
| Andrews Brown, Corrine DeMint Deutsch Forbes |
Herger Istook Leach Oberstar Rangel |
Shays Tauzin Wexler Young (AK) |
5/14/04 www.AsianWeek.com: James Yees Family Calls for Congressional Investigation,
By Sam Chu Lin
Revelations of Americas controversial treatment of Iraqi prisoners could vindicate U.S. Army Muslim Chaplain James Yee if a congressional hearing is held, said his family.
So far, the Yee case has generated congressional interest, but the military has not responded to appeals to investigate the Army captains case. The West Point graduate was recently released and returned to active duty after being detained for 76 days on suspicion of helping suspected terrorist detainees at a Guantanamo Bay prison.
A letter co-signed by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) was sent to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to encourage the military to finally apologize and assume responsibility for its actions against Yee.
Joseph Yee, father of James, is hoping for an investigation into his sons case. The original charges were dismissed out of concern for national security, and a letter of reprimand for possessing pornography and adultery was later pulled from the captains personnel services file.
Im happy [the senators] wrote the letter, but Im a little disappointed because I havent heard anything yet, he said. It looks like the military or the Defense Department isnt responding. Our senator [Jon Corzine] has also written to Gen. James Hill [head of the U.S. Southern Command who oversees the prison], and I still havent heard anything yet.
The Yee family patriarch said that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) last week queried Rumsfeld and the Army brass in a recent congressional hearing about the case.
Yee recalled that Clinton asked why the military had leaked the stories about his son, ruining his career, while keeping the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners under wraps.
But he said that Sen. Clinton also pointed out that the military dropped all of the charges against him.
Joseph Yee believes a hearing would help divulge any connection between his sons case and controversies surrounding U.S. military prisons.
There were probably things going on at Guantanamo Bay that James was disturbed about. I believe he was trying to do his job as a chaplain. They couldnt back him up and make it hard on the detainees at the same time. They should have never sent him down there. A congressional hearing would put Jim in a better light and reveal why he had all of these problems. I want to know who set him up.
One military officer may have some answers, said Eugene Fidell, Yees civilian attorney.
Brigadier General Geoffrey Miller, the man now in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad , was responsible for Chaplain Yees long incarceration, said Fidell.
It looks like [Millers] going to be on the hot seat for a while. Jim has been muzzled by the Army, and cards and letters to the president and to Congress calling for a congressional hearing into his case will help.
Joseph Yee said his son has returned to Fort Lewis , Wash. , with his family after an extended leave. But Yees military career as a chaplain is at a crossroads with his tour of duty ending in January 2005. In civilian life, Yee had worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative for about two years before he rejoined the Army as a Muslim chaplain.
Now he is setting up a social project, his father said. It has nothing to do with being a chaplain.
He added, The letter of reprimand has been removed, but the Army has made him a marked man with the way theyve treated him. They havent even cleared his name from the original charges.
Although Captain Yee has attracted congressional interest, community help hasnt been strong. Captain Yees legal fees now total nearly $200,000. While the elder Yee recognizes a slumping economy has dampened financial support, he feels the Asian Pacific American community in particular should mobilize around his sons fight.
Community indifference only leaves the door wide open for a James Yee case to repeat itself.
Its tough, the elder Yee said. Its probably going to discourage many APAs and Muslims from considering working for the government or [joining] the military in the future.
Yee, a retired mechanical engineer, has sent a letter to Dr. Wen Ho Lee, the former Los Alamos scientist who was once incarcerated on suspicion of giving nuclear weapons secrets to China but never convicted. He has sent letters to Lees supporters, attorney and family and noted the similarities between his sons case and Dr. Lees.
I think it would be very important for Dr. Wen Ho Lee to support my sons case, Joseph Yee said. Dr. Lee was railroaded and really never got a true apology from the government. We need to know what really happened to Jimmy and hear an apology from those responsible.
Yee is hoping that Lees daughter, Alberta , a law student at UC Davis, will encourage her father to voice his support when he appears June 7 at the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Policy Summit.
5/10/04 Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Member said, “I commend the Asian and Pacific Islander American Community and APIAVote for your civic and community involvement. I represent Chinatown in Chicago and have been pleased to take note of the high level of enthusiastic community interaction there. I look forward to working with all of you to increase voter registration, education and turn-out as we fulfill our citizenship rights and responsibilities.”
5/5/04: NAPALC Supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation
Washington D.C. – Today Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill, the Safe, Orderly, Legal Visas and Enforcement Act of 2004 (SOLVE).
The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium and its affiliates, the Asian Law Caucus and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, thank Sen. Kennedy and Reps. Menendez and Gutierrez for introducing this important legislation.
“The SOLVE Act is the most comprehensive of the various immigration reform proposals introduced to date,” stated Karen K. Narasaki, President and Executive Director of NAPALC. The bill includes the necessary elements of comprehensive immigration reform, including:
Family reunification. Currently, lawful permanent residents must wait five or more years before their spouses and/or minor children can join them in the United States. U.S. citizens must wait three and a half years before they can be reunited with their sons and daughters. The waiting period can be as long as 22 years for citizens of certain countries such as the Philippines. The SOLVE Act will reunite families in a humane and timely manner by reducing the tremendous backlog in the family immigration system. It would reclassify spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents as “Immediate Relatives,” allowing them to immigrate to the United States without having to wait five years or more, as they are forced to under the current system. The bill would also allow those who have been waiting for more than five years to immigrate to the United States, regardless of any numerical restrictions. “Over 1.5 million Asians are currently caught in the family immigration backlog,” noted Traci Hong, Immigration Staff Attorney for NAPALC. “This bill, if enacted, will allow many Asian Pacific American families to be reunited after years, sometimes even decades, of waiting for their family members.”
Path to citizenship. The SOLVE Act will also offer hard-working, tax-paying undocumented immigrants an opportunity to come out of the shadows and become fully integrated members of our society. Under this bill, undocumented immigrants must meet the following criteria in order to be eligible for legal permanent residence: 1) lived in the United States for five or more years on the date of the bill’s introduction; 2) show they have worked for at least two years; 3) pass a thorough background check; 4) have paid taxes, and 5) know or be willing to learn English. Undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for less than five years will be eligible for a transitional status. The bill will permit them to apply for permanent residence after they have met the work and physical presence requirements. “According to the Urban Institute, there are approximately one million undocumented immigrants from Asia living in the United States,” observed Stewart Kwoh, Executive Director of APALC. “They work hard, pay taxes, and contribute to the community but are forced to live in fear and are vulnerable to criminals and unscrupulous employers because they lack immigration status. This bill, if enacted, will give them the chance to come out of the shadows and become fully integrated members of our society.”
Safe, orderly and legal work visa program. Immigrant workers often work at hard and difficult jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. The SOLVE Act will create new work visa programs for these essential workers that will prevent exploitation of immigrant workers and protect wages and working conditions of U.S. and immigrant workers alike through strong wage and labor protections.
The SOLVE Act builds on immigration reform legislations already introduced by Sen. McCain and Reps Kolbe and Flake, Sen. Cornyn, and Sens. Hagel and Daschle, as well as President Bush’s immigration reform proposal.
“There is a clear bipartisan consensus that our immigration system is broken and must be fixed,” stated Phil Y. Ting, Executive Director of ALC. “We hope that members of Congress from both parties will work with the Administration to pass a truly comprehensive immigration reform bill in the future. In the meantime, we ask Congress and the President to act immediately on two immigration reform legislations that already have bipartisan support – DREAM Act and AgJOBS.”
DREAM Act would allow undocumented immigrant children who grew up in the United States to earn permanent residence through college attendance or service in the military.
AgJOBS would reform the H-2A agricultural worker program and offer a path to permanent residence to undocumented agricultural workers who meet certain criteria.
4/30/04 press release
Contact: Janelle Hu, 202-223-5500
OCA CALLS FOR FULL GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATION INTO HANDLING OF CHAPLAIN JAMES YEE’S HOLLOW ESPIONAGE CHARGES
Washington, DC – The Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national Asian Pacific American (APA) civil rights advocacy and educational organization with over 80 chapters and affiliates nationwide, objects to the unfounded charges brought against Army Chaplain Captain James Yee.
Chaplain James Yee is a captain in the U.S. Army who served honorably at Guantanomo Bay, where his primary duty was in ministering to detainees and suspected terrorists of Islamic faith. After the U.S. military initially linked him to a possible espionage ring, Chaplain Yee spent 76 days in custody on suspicion of espionage and treason. When the military brought formal charges against Chaplain Yee, none of these accusations appeared. As a result, government prosecutors failed to establish any credible espionage case against him.
Chaplain Yee’s vanishing resembles those of the thousands of immigrants of Arab, Islamic, and South Asian decent who disappeared through secret arrests, detention, and deportations, and became forcibly separated from their wives and children.
Joining Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, OCA supports a full exoneration and justice for Chaplain James Yee and calls upon the U.S. Government to initiate an immediate investigation into the handling of this case. Furthermore, OCA demands an apology and compensation from the government for creating this unjust and prolonged ordeal suffered by Yee and his family, and also destroying Chaplain Yee’s career as a military chaplain through false accusations, arrest, detention, and reprimand. Finally, OCA advocates that the war on terrorism cannot become an excuse for any government to trump basic rights or to profile on the basis of race, ethnicity, or religion.
“Although all charges against Chaplain Yee were dropped, this case must not be overlooked without a full investigation into the inadequate handling of his case,” stated OCA National President, Raymond Wong. “After suffering 76 days in solitary confinement in vain, Chaplain Yee deserves a thorough investigation into whether the U.S. Government had any substantial evidence to support the charges brought against him.”
“Chaplain Yee endured the invasion of his privacy, infringement of his civil liberties, and violation of his basic civil rights of human dignity. Including the case of Dr. Wen Ho Lee, there are too many examples where APAs have been deemed guilty without evidentiary support,” said Christine Chen, OCA Executive Director. “The U.S. Government must prevent similar, unsubstantiated arrests from afflicting innocent APAs in the future.”
4/22/04: Washington, D.C. — Nancy Pelosi (D) co-sponsored H.R. 4204, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2004, which Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) introduced.
When state and local law enforcement do not have the capacity to prosecute hate crimes, this legislation would permit federal prosecution regardless of whether a federally protected activity is involved. This legislation would also allow federal jurisdiction over crimes motivated by bias against sexual orientation, gender or disability. It increases the ability of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to work together to solve and prevent a wide range of violent hate crimes.
OPPOSE WASHINGTON STATE’S PROPOSAL TO RESTORE REVERSE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ASIAN-AMERICANS 1/23/04 Seattle Post Intelliger: Bill would allow universities to consider race in admissions,
Olympia — Legislative proposals to incorporate race as a factor in admissions to Washington’s public universities is necessary to help diversify the state’s student body and its work force, a Senate panel was told yesterday.
[translation without liberal bias: There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
All 15 individuals who testified before the Higher Education Committee gave resounding support to the measures.
With Senate Bill 6268 and its companion, House Bill 2700, legislators and Gov. Gary Locke hope to incorporate the language of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling into Washington state law. The nation’s high court ruled that race could be considered in admissions.
“This bill is about providing flexibility to our public universities and colleges in evaluating their applicants for admission individually, taking into consideration all of the factors, attributes and experiences of an applicant,” said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle.
[translation without liberal bias: There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
The bills would amend Initiative 200, which state voters approved in 1998.
I-200 expressly prohibited the government from discriminating against or giving preference to individuals based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.
If lawmakers approve the plan, public universities would be able to take into account race, color, ethnicity and national origin when admitting students. However, colleges and universities would be prohibited from using quotas or set-aside slots specifically for students of color.
“There is nothing wrong with examining all the background characteristics of a student,” said Sen. Don Carlson, R-Vancouver, chairman of the panel. “It absolutely does not violate the citizens’ decision in the passage of Initiative 200.”
At the hearing, Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley , raised several concerns about the language of the bill. She questioned why the bill left out admissions policies allowing sex as a factor as well.
Pflug also questioned the bill’s vague definition of “diversity.”
“They are allowed to use race to create some kind of diverse atmosphere but what does that mean?” asked Pflug. “More of a particular race, less of a particular race, what constitutes diverse?”
[translation without liberal bias: There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
The Washington Policy Center, a non-profit research organization for limiting government involvement, opposes the new proposals saying they go against the voters’ decision for I-200 blocking unequal treatment of applicants because of their race.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, numbers of minority Washingtonians are rising. The Hispanic population is the largest minority population with 441,509 members followed by 322,335 Asians, 190,267 blacks, 93,301 American Indians and Alaska natives and 23,953 native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
Of the approximately 5.9 million residents of Washington , the Hispanic population composed about 7.5 percent in the 2000 Census. But 2003 Hispanic enrollment in the University of Washington ‘s graduate and professional programs was only 2.9 percent. Overall, enrollment in the graduate and professional programs was 14 percent minority students, according to Julia Harrison, president of UW’s Graduate and Professional Student Senate.
[translation without liberal bias: There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
Representatives from major higher learning institutions across the state testified in support of the senate bill.
Representatives from the University of Washington, Washington State University, The Evergreen State College and Centralia College stated their need to factor race in their admissions policies to attain a more diversified student body. Delegates said new policies would enhance learning and educate a varied future work force.
[translation without liberal bias: There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
Since 1999, the University of Washington admissions policy promoted the diversity of students without looking at race.
The UW’s total student enrollment increased by about 4,000 students since 1998, but numbers of underrepresented students declined in most cases, according to Tim Washburn, UW assistant vice president for enrollment services.
[translation without liberal bias: When selection was color blind, the number of Asian-Americans increased. Therefore bigots for the left have been engaging in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans for 20 years. There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
“Although we’ve maintained numbers in some areas, the proportion of students in almost all of the underrepresented areas has declined,” said Washburn.
[translation without liberal bias: When selection was color blind, the number of Asian-Americans increased. Therefore bigots for the left have been engaging in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans for 20 years. There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
Minority admissions declined after the passage of I-200. Numbers have since gradually increased.
[translation without liberal bias: When selection was color blind, the number of Asian-Americans increased. Therefore bigots for the left have been engaging in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans for 20 years. There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
Representatives from the State Board of Health and the Washington State Hispanic Bar Association of the King County Bar Association testified to the rising need for diverse employees.
The percentage of Hispanics working in the legal profession does not match those using the legal system, according to Joaquin Hernandez of the Washington Hispanic Bar Association of the King County Bar Association.
[translation without liberal bias: When selection was color blind, the number of Asian-Americans increased. Therefore bigots for the left have been engaging in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans for 20 years. There are too many Asian-Americans and not enough blacks and Hispanics. Therefore, let’s engage in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans]
Last June the U.S. Supreme Court handed down two related decisions affecting the way public universities admit students, particularly students of color.
The court decided 5-4 to uphold the University of Michigan ‘s law school’s affirmative action policy. This policy took race into account but did not include quotas or point systems in which minority applicants were given a set number of additional points.
But the justices struck down the university’s freshman admissions policy 6-3 regarding the handling of applicants’ race. At that time, the freshman minority applicants were given additional points on the admission rating scale. The court said this violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
1/21/04: NAPALC Applauds Daschle-Hagel Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill,
Washington D.C. — Today Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel introduced bipartisan immigration reform
legislation, The Immigration Reform Act of 2004.
The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium and its affiliates, the Asian Law Caucus and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center , commend Sens. Daschle and Hagel for taking the first step in tackling the difficult issue of immigration reform by introducing bipartisan legislation that addresses all the issues involved in comprehensive immigration reform.
First, the Daschle-Hagel bill contains provisions to reduce the massive backlog in family immigration. Millions of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents have been waiting for years, sometimes over a decade, to be reunited with their family members in the United States , observed Karen K. Narasaki, President and Executive Director of NAPALC. Over 1.5 million of 3.5 million people caught in the family immigration backlog are from Asian countries. By proposing concrete measures to reduce this unconscionable backlog in family immigration, Senators Daschle and Hagel have recognized that reuniting families in a timely manner is a crucial component in reforming our immigration system.
Second, the Daschle-Hagel legislation provides a mechanism for undocumented immigrants to earn their way to lawful permanent residence if they can show that they have worked hard, have paid or are willing to pay taxes, and are willing to fulfill English and Civics requirements. Currently, approximately one million undocumented immigrants from Asian countries live in the United States .
We would like to thank Senators Daschle and Hagel for acknowledging that hard-working immigrants with roots in United States must be given meaningful opportunity to come out of the shadows and earn their way towards becoming permanent, fully integrated members of our society, said Traci Hong, Immigration Staff Attorney for NAPALC. We look forward to working with the senators to ensure that all hard-working undocumented immigrants who have contributed to our economy can participate in either the earned legalization or the temporary worker provisions of this bill.
Finally, the Daschle-Hagel bill creates a new temporary worker program to facilitate a legal and orderly future flow of workers in and out of the United States . While the temporary worker programs in the Daschle-Hagel legislation provides greater wage and labor protections for both U.S. workers and immigrant workers than the Presidents proposal or other guest worker legislations currently pending in Congress, we would welcome the opportunity to work with Senators Daschle and Hagel and other members of Congress to further strengthen protections for U.S. and immigrant workers alike, stated Stewart Kwoh, Executive Director of APALC.
Senators Daschle and Hagel have shown that Congress can tackle immigration reform in a comprehensive and bipartisan manner, continued Kwoh. There is now a widespread consensus that the current immigration system is broken. We hope that the President will work with Senators Daschle and Hagel as well as other members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who want to fix the broken system.
1/5/04 Associated Press : “Governor Appoints Wisconsin’s First Asian-American Judge,” Glenn Yamahiro recalls going to Wisconsin Dells with his father as a child and watching as he was told there were no rooms available in a hotel — when there clearly were. Last month, Yamahiro became Gov. Jim Doyle’s first appointment to the Milwaukee County bench, replacing Jacqueline Schellinger.
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