Bill Summary
This bill, known as the "Teaching Asian Pacific American History Act", aims to provide grants to educational institutions to develop programs that include the history of Asian and Pacific Islander peoples in the settling and development of America. It also highlights the discriminatory laws and social, economic, and political environments that have impacted these communities and their contributions to American life in areas such as history, literature, economy, politics, and culture. The bill also recognizes the need for more accurate and diverse representation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in textbooks and education materials. It calls for the federal government to support this effort through national museums and educational activities. The bill also emphasizes the importance of teaching the impact of immigration laws and policies on Asian and Pacific Islander communities, as well as the contributions of these communities to American society. It also acknowledges the need to address ongoing issues of discrimination, hate crimes, and stereotypes faced by these communities. Overall, the bill aims to provide a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the integral role of Asian and Pacific Islander peoples in American history and foster greater appreciation and respect for their contributions.
Possible Impacts
1. This legislation could potentially increase awareness and understanding of the history and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, which could positively impact the way they are viewed and treated in society.
2. By requiring the inclusion of Asian Pacific American history in American history education, this legislation could potentially lead to more diverse and accurate representation of these communities in textbooks and other educational materials.
3. This legislation could also potentially prompt further examination and discussions about issues such as racism, discrimination, and immigration policies that have affected Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders throughout history, leading to a better understanding of their experiences and struggles.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8519 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8519
To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible
entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of
peoples of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the settling and
founding of America, the social, economic, and political environments
that led to the development of discriminatory laws targeting Asians and
Pacific Islanders and their relation to current events, and the impact
and contributions of Asian Americans to the development and enhancement
of American life, United States history, literature, the economy,
politics, body of laws, and culture, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 2, 2020
Ms. Meng (for herself, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Takano, Mr. Ted
Lieu of California, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Green of
Texas, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Espaillat, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New
York, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Case, Mr. Raskin, Mr. San Nicolas,
Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Rush, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Trone, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Cox of California,
Mr. Correa, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Cardenas, and Ms. Speier)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible
entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of
peoples of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the settling and
founding of America, the social, economic, and political environments
that led to the development of discriminatory laws targeting Asians and
Pacific Islanders and their relation to current events, and the impact
and contributions of Asian Americans to the development and enhancement
of American life, United States history, literature, the economy,
politics, body of laws, and culture, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Teaching Asian Pacific American
History Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States of America has benefited from the
integral role Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have played
in our country's history and contributions to the world.
(2) The Pacific Island Territories of Guam, American Samoa,
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have
unique histories that are often overlooked in American history
despite their immense contributions to our Nation.
(3) The traditional American K-12 curriculum continues to
be taught from a Eurocentric point of view and exclude
histories of racist immigration laws relevant to policies
today.
(4) K-12 social studies textbooks poorly represent Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders, overlook the diversity within
those communities, and print images of Asian Americans and
Pacific Islanders in stereotypical roles.
(5) The Federal Government, through support for educational
activities of national museums established under Federal law,
can assist teachers in efforts to incorporate historically
accurate instruction on the comprehensive history of Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders and assist students in their
exploration of Asian Pacific American history as an integral
part of American history.
(6) The history of America's system of immigration is rife
with racism, embedded in goals of hiring workers to work for
cheaper wages and labor in heinous working conditions.
(7) Congress has continuously passed anti-Asian laws as the
result of the scapegoating of Asian immigrant laborers for the
United States economic downturns.
(8) The history of South Asian Americans in the United
States dates back to the late 1700s.
(9) The history of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
in what is now considered to be the United States predates the
founding of our Nation.
(10) In 1993, Congress passed a resolution that was signed
into law formally apologizing for the United States role in the
illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which resulted in
the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Native
Hawaiian people.
(11) Twelve thousand Chinese laborers worked in atrocious
conditions to build the Transcontinental Railroad, many dying
from harsh weather conditions and the dangers of handling
explosives.
(12) After the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned Chinese
immigrants from immigrating to the United States, Japanese were
hired. After the Japanese were banned from immigrating due to
the Gentleman's Agreement of 1907, which halted immigration
from Japan, Filipinos were hired under 3-year contracts.
(13) Filipino farm workers helped found the farm worker
labor movement.
(14) The Immigration Act of 1917 restricted immigration to
the United States by barring immigration from the Asia-Pacific
zone.
(15) The Immigration Act of 1924 set a national origin
quota to deter immigration.
(16) The Immigration Act of 1965 made family unification
and skills-based migration the bedrock principle of immigration
to the United States.
(17) The United States conducted nuclear testing on the
Bikini and Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands have made
parts of the island nation uninhabitable and caused forced
migration and health complications that still impact the
community today.
(18) The United States ratified a Compact of Free
Association with the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic
of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau enabling
citizens of these Pacific Island nations to legally migrate to
the United States visa-free while the United States retains
certain strategic military rights over their territorial
waters.
(19) In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the Refugee Act
of 1980 helped more than 500,000 Southeast Asians gain
permanent resident status in the United States within the first
decade of its passage.
(20) President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066
authorized the incarceration of over 120,000 persons of
Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of whom were American citizens,
based solely on race.
(21) The Pacific Islander community represents the largest
concentration of any ethnic group enlisted in the United States
military, as well as representing the highest numbers of
casualties in the current wars on terror.
(22) The ``model minority'' myth perpetuates the stigma of
Asian Americans as perpetual foreigners, and such stereotypes
are used to pit minority groups against one another.
(23) The pattern of hate crimes and hate incidents directed
at Asians and Asian Americans has repeated itself throughout
history.
(24) Asian-American and African-American histories of
fighting against oppression and racism are intertwined, from
the Black Power Movement of the 1960s that birthed the Asian
American Movement to civil rights protests today.
(25) Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and their allies
continue to fight discrimination, racial prejudice, hate
crimes, scapegoating, structural racism, economic inequities,
and benign and overt omission of the integral role they played
in the development of this country.
SEC. 3. AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS EDUCATION.
(a) Program Authorized.--Section 2231(a) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6661(a)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ``,
which shall include Asian Pacific American history,'' after
``American history''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by inserting ``which shall include Asian
Pacific American history,'' after ``American
history,''; and
(B) by inserting ``, which shall include Asian
Pacific American history'' after ``traditional American
history''.
(b) Presidential and Congressional Academies for American History
and Civics.--Section 2232 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6662) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``, which shall
include Asian Pacific American history,'' after
``American History''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, which shall
include Asian Pacific American history,'' after
``American History'';
(2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ``, which shall
include Asian Pacific American history,'' after ``American
history'';
(3) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by inserting ``, which shall include
Asian Pacific American history,'' after
``American history'';
(ii) in subparagraph (A)--
(I) by inserting ``, which shall
include Asian Pacific American
history,'' after ``teachers of American
history''; and
(II) by inserting ``, which shall
include Asian Pacific American
history,'' after ``subjects of American
history''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``,
which shall include Asian Pacific American
history,'' after ``American history'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, which shall
include Asian Pacific American history,'' after
``American history''; and
(C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``, and with the
Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Center
to provide programs and resources for educators and
students'' after ``National Parks''; and
(4) in subsection (f)--
(A) by inserting ``, which shall include Asian
Pacific American history,'' after ``American history'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, which
shall include Asian Pacific American history,'' after
``American history''; and
(C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``, which
shall include Asian Pacific American history,'' after
``American history''.
(c) National Activities.--Section 2233 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6663) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``which shall include
Asian Pacific American history,'' after ``American history,'';
and
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``which shall include
Asian Pacific American history,'' after ``American history,''.
(d) National Assessment of Educational Progress.--Section
303(b)(2)(D) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress
Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting
``(which shall include Asian Pacific American history)'' after
``history,''.
<all>