Mike Honda

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I am just a little bit concerned about information that has been shared with the public and through the media about the student loans and about the criticism of the fact that banks and other financial institutions were being eliminated from this ability to provide direct student loans to our students and were charging them interest rates. As a teacher and as a person who used to receive student loans, I think that it's really misleading the public when we say that they're being put out of business when, in fact, the Federal Government subsidizes these banks and these financial institutions to provide the student loans, and then they add on top of that the subsidy that they're going to charge interest to the students so that these banks and financial institutions will be making money on Federal dollars and on the backs of students. That is so wrong, and I think that that has to be clarified. So I just wanted to make that clarification, not only as a person who used to receive student loans and who made it through school, but also as a teacher who wants to make sure that our students get a fair break and that the taxpayers get a fair break.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the leadership of the committee for bringing H.R. 3119 forward. I rise in strong support of this legislation honoring the first Chinese American Postmaster General in the United States, Lim Poon Lee, by naming a post office after him. At the time of his appointment, he was the highest ranking federally appointed Chinese American official. He served the United States honorably in World War II as a counterintelligence specialist. He spoke three languages, Chinese, Japanese and English. During his tenure as Postmaster General, he worked to change the face of the post office by hiring women, racial and ethnic minorities and the disabled. Postmaster Lee was a key activist in the fight against the Chinese Exclusion Act, and during his long career in public service, he served as a social worker, juvenile probation officer, and preacher, sitting on numerous community boards and councils. I think it is fitting to also say that we do look into the background of folks to see if they should be honored in this way. I think that when we talk about him, it is obvious that he has contributed quite a bit to his country. But one more thing that I think we need to understand is that he also was a victim of anti-Asian legislation in this country. And when he was able to reach and attain a certain level of responsibility, I think he also understood this concept of not perpetuating these kinds of behaviors, but correcting it and making it easier for other folks to be able to participate in this country. And I think that is why he is recognized in being able to work with other folks. I guess we call that ``acting affirmatively in positions of influence.'' I think that he is a great example of someone who understood how to implement things like affirmative action and looking at going beyond the arena of comfort in doing the right thing and extending the conduct and the principles of the Constitution of this country. I and other members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus have worked to highlight the accomplishments of and contributions to American society made by Asian American and Pacific Islanders. In this spirit, I thank the Speaker and the other leaders for bringing forth this resolution and urge my colleagues to rise in support to honor a pioneering Chinese American who contributed much to this country.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to the Stearns amendment, which would reduce the amount appropriated to the Peace Corps from a much needed $450 million to a little more that $373 million. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer and a member of the House Appropriations committee, I was pleased to see Chairwoman Lowey answer President Obama's call to double the size of the Peace Corps, beginning with increased funding. Since President John F. Kennedy's call to serve in 1960, over 195,000 people have served as Peace Corps Volunteers spanning 139 countries. The Peace Corp gives Volunteers the chance to travel the world and help some of the most impoverished people in the world develop better lives for themselves and their communities. Beyond that, my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador was a defining moment in my life-- I developed both personally and professionally, and tested my physical, emotional, and spiritual limits. I returned with a passion for teaching, and quickly put my skills, including fluency in Spanish, to use in Santa Clara county schools and started a lifelong commitment to public service. There are currently just under 8,000 Peace Corps volunteers serving around the world, with thousands more ready, willing, and eager to join, but held back by the lack of funding and opportunity. A $450 million dollar funding level is necessary to help the Peace Corps modernize its systems, optimize the number of Volunteers and staff in existing countries, strengthen and expand recruiting and diversity efforts, expand to new nations, and maximize safety and security training and compliance efforts. I hope that with increased funding, a commitment to double the size of the Peace Corps, and a renewed call to service by President Barack Obama, people from all walks of life will bear the torch of peace and goodwill that many Americans in the past have carried proudly to other countries. The Peace Corp's budget is 1% of the foreign policy budget of the United States, which, in itself, is only 1% of the entire federal budget. For the good this does around the world, it is a critical investment. With a bleak economic outlook and an international community under pressure, the Peace Corps mission is more vital than ever, and so I urge mu colleagues to oppose the Stearns Amendment and urge full funding of the Peace Corps at the $450 million level agreed upon by the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. I would like to thank my chairman for this opportunity. I rise in opposition to the gentleman from California and his amendment. I'm pleased to have this opportunity to talk about what may well be the most important problem facing our world today, global warming, and about this important project to help us deal with it. The gentleman and many of his colleagues on that side of the aisle may wish to keep their heads in the sand about global warming, but I believe we need to prepare to deal with the problem today. And I'm not alone in this view. The United States Global Change Research Program, which coordinates and integrates Federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society, released a new report yesterday that provides authoritative assessment of national and regional aspect of global climate change in the United States. This new report provides a valuable, objective scientific consensus on how climate change is affecting and may further affect the United States. It reveals that climate change will alter precipitation patterns on the timing of mountain snow melt, and predicts that climate change could bring parching droughts to the southwest, home of the gentleman offering this amendment. One of the keys to dealing with these changes is going to be adaptation, developing ways to protect people and places by reducing their vulnerability to climate changes. To properly adapt to more extreme climate events, we need to have more data, accurate weather forecasting, weather forecasters trained to predict the extreme events expected with climate change, can give the American people the advanced warning needed to deal with--or even escape from, if necessary--these dangers and avoid tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina. The funding for this amendment would be used by San Jose State University to complete the development of a field experience curriculum to supplement the existing bachelor of science in meteorology program. This will allow San Jose State University to better train the next generation weather forecasters helping to ensure that government can plan and respond properly. By the way, this is a one-time shot that will be used over and over again as instruction goes on. The field experience will improve the quality of the graduates by exposing them to a wider array of weather phenomenon that is typically experienced where the school is located. This will enhance their ability to recognize and forecast the wide array of weather that is likely to be experienced in California and across the Nation in the next 30 years as we experience climate change. I know the gentleman often asks why this project and others are not worthy projects. Well, the Department of Meteorology at San Jose State University is the only meteorology department in the public university system in the State of California, the Nation's most populous, with a strong focus on the undergraduate program. There are very few bachelor of science in meteorology programs in the western States, so the benefits of this program will extend to other States in the region whose students will attend San Jose State. There are not a lot of options for developing this important curriculum, and San Jose State University has the faculty base capable of developing and offering this new course. The gentleman also often asks, why should the Federal Government be funding this? I think NOAA makes that point for me. The headline from a NOAA News online story from the agency's Web site reads, ``NOAA leads climate impact and adaptation activities.'' This is what NOAA does. In its own words, NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events. The curriculum that the funding in this bill will complete will help NOAA achieve this mission. The university will seek other funding sources in order to offer the class after it has been geared up. But to get the program started, I think it is perfectly appropriate for NOAA to make a small investment in the development of a field experience course that will help to better train the next generation of weather forecasters to predict the extreme weather events that are expected to accompany climate change. Just a side word on this. When I was going to San Jose State back in the sixties, several new words like ``ecology,'' ``food web,'' ``smog'' and other terminologies which are common among youngsters today started then at universities, and today, these are concepts that are necessary for understanding the kinds of things we are faced with.

Mr. HONDA. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Just to respond to my friend on the other side who indicated that on my Web site the item of San Jose State University for training the next generation of weather forecasters was not on my Web site. Mr. Campbell, I have a copy of my Web site here. So I am going to tell you right now that it is on the Web site and has been there. So when you make those kinds of accusations, I think that you need to double check what it is that you are going to be saying. To the idea of $180,000, although it may be small, what about this: by 2025, it is estimated that the four global warming weather kinds of damages in terms of energy costs, estate costs, hurricane damage, those four kinds of global warming impact damages will cost approximately--I want you to hear this number, Mr. Campbell--$271 billion. That is estimated damages in the future. So $180,000 doesn't seem like a lot of money, but it is a great investment. I come from an area called Silicon Valley where we understand ROI, immediate return on investment, and I think if we can reduce the damages of $271 billion with a $180,000 investment, that is a good investment by any means. And these are not only damages to property, but how about lives? Being able to predict properly the weather and do it in a way where people can avoid a holocaust because of the weather, I think $180,000 is a good investment. Coupled with $271 billion in anticipated costs by the losses due to global warming and climate changes, and the saving of lives, $180,000 is a minuscule amount, but it is a good investment by any standard. So, I just want to reiterate, it is good to be able to say that it is not on the Web site, and when you are not there in front of your computer, it is hard to say that he is wrong. But I just had to take this opportunity to let you know that going back to my Web site, I can show you, if you would like to see it, the iteration that we have on our Web site. I suspect that any other comments regarding other Members' Web sites, that these things are not apparent on the Web sites, could be questioned.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support strongly the issue of SCAAP. I come from the State of California, where the financial situation is very grave, and help in this manner would be tremendous for the State of California and I suspect for the other States that have these kinds of problems too.

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, l rise today to mourn the passing of Judge Sandra Otaka, who died of natural causes at the age of 57 on the 6th of June, 2009. As the first Asian-American to be elected judge in Cook County, and the second in Illinois, she was a strong advocate for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Born in California as a sansei, or third-generation Japanese American, she was a politically active young woman. She campaigned against the Vietnam War before enrolling as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley at the age of 28. During her time at Berkeley, Otaka worked to overturn the conviction of Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American who was arrested in 1942 for not reporting to his designated assembly center for internment. Her fight for justice and equal opportunity continued during law school, where she protested the university's plan to scale back its affirmative action program. After graduating, Otaka moved to Chicago to work for a commercial law firm and later as counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After a racist comment by a Cook County Circuit Court Judge, Otaka, as co-chair of the judiciary committee of the Asian American Bar Association, led the effort to have him removed. She succeeded, with the judge failing to win the sixty percent of the vote required for retention. In 2000, Sandra Otaka was appointed to the Cook County Circuit Court, and in 2002, she was reelected--the first Asian American judge in Cook County to do so. Judge Otaka is remembered for her continual fight for the Asian American community and as an advocate for diversity on the bench. She is survived by her sister, Susan Smith, and her nephew, Jeffery, who she raised as her own after her brother's death. In closing, Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in mourning the passing of Sandra Otaka. She is truly deserving of our respect and admiration.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, as millions of Americans are now aware, Dr. George Tiller was assassinated in his church on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 because of his political beliefs and profession. Dr. Tiller provided legal abortions, and his dedication to his profession, to the health and well-being of the women he cared for, cost him his life. I join President Obama, members of Congress, and millions of Americans in professing horror, shock, and sadness over this blatant act of terror. I hope that all Americans--regardless of their personal stances on the issue of abortion--will join in opposing those who would seek to control the actions of women and doctors through the use of violent intimidation. Abortion doctors and women's clinics across this country which provide a range of women's health services including abortion face threats and violent acts every day. I sincerely hope that in the wake of this terrible event, the Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies across this country take future threats directed toward women's health providers seriously. Justice and the rule of law demand nothing less.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, last week I reintroduced the ``Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (E-STEM) Act of 2009,'' H.R. 2710. This legislation, improved from last Congress, provides comprehensive mechanisms to coordinate the Nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education initiatives. Forty-nine members of the United States House of Representatives signed on as original cosponsors of this bipartisan legislation. The intent of this bill is to increase the coordination, collaboration, and coherence to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education initiatives for the students of today and the citizens and workers of tomorrow. As a former teacher, principal and school board member I am deeply committed to improving the education we provide our young people. Developing citizens that are critical thinkers and scientifically literate will help drive a vibrant society and create sound economic policy. Our economy depends on our country's education. Today, more than ever, our economic resiliency depends on the competitiveness of our labor force. Unfortunately, the signs are not good. Over 25 years ago, ``A Nation at Risk'' identified America's need to improve STEM education to ensure that we remain competitive in an increasingly global economy. In this country we have many successful STEM education programs. The challenge is that these programs are not coordinated. Over a dozen agencies are engaged in STEM education and often not aware of the efforts of other agencies--they are working in isolation. Our Nation is not maximizing the impact of our STEM education initiatives. The E-STEM Act will provide a framework for federal agencies, the states and all stake-holders, to work collaboratively. It will help them establish national STEM education goals, coordinate STEM education initiatives, and avoid unnecessary duplication among these efforts. The bill has four major components: (1) Elevating the STEM Education Subcommittee at the President's Office of Science Technology Policy (OSTP) to the standing committee level. This change would give STEM education a higher profile within OSTP and establish the mechanism for the coordination of federal STEM education initiatives. (2) Establishing an Assistant Secretary for STEM Education at the U.S. Department of Education. This Office would bring together the Department's STEM education efforts and manage programs such as Math and Science Partnerships, Math Now, Math Skills for Secondary Students, Minority Science and Engineering Improvement, Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow, and Upward Bound Math-Science as well as the non- financial aid components of the National Science and Mathematics Access Retain Talent (SMART grants), the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH grants), and the Academic Competitiveness grants. (3) Creating the State Consortium on STEM Education. This voluntary group of states will be provided with support to align their STEM education efforts. Their mission is to coordinate policies to address weaknesses in STEM education. For example, the Consortium will work with stakeholders to identify strategies to improve the representation of women and minorities in STEM fields. (4) And lastly, this bill establishes the National STEM Education Resource Repository (NSERR). This clearing house will be a portal to information about all federally funded STEM education programs, making the results of the more than $3 billion the Federal Government spends annually on STEM education available to local educators. NSERR will make STEM education resources, research and promising practices and exemplary programs widely available to educators, search engines, and third party developers to create applications to enhance STEM teaching and learning. We need to ensure that all our children are prepared for citizenship in a world that is increasingly dependent on STEM literacy. The bleak outlook for our economy should be a wake-up call that we cannot continue to move forward without a blue print for our students and our future economic well-being. This is why I reintroduced the E-STEM Act. I want to thank all my colleagues for joining together to address the critical needs of our Nation. I look forward to working together to move this legislation through this Congress.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, I am honored and pleased by the action we are taking today on H.R. 1709, the ``STEM Education Coordination Act of 2009,'' to ensure coordination of federal science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education activities by elevating an existing committee under the National Science and Technology (NSTC). H.R. 1709 focuses on the coordination of the federal government's STEM education activities. Providing this coordinating mechanism for the federal STEM education programs is critical to ensuring America remains innovative and competitive in the 21st century global economy. According to the Academic Competitiveness Council's (ACC) report, in 2006 the U.S. sponsored 105 STEM education programs at more than a dozen different Federal Agencies. These programs devote approximately $3.12 billion to STEM education activities spanning pre-kindergarten through postgraduate education and outreach. The report notes that many of these Agencies do not share information or work collaboratively on similar programs. The ACC found that ``coordination among agencies could be improved to avoid, for example, grants to numerous projects that support the same sorts of interventions... there appears to be a lack of communication among the agencies about the work they are funding and the results that are being generated . . . agencies are often uninformed by the results of earlier projects.'' H.R. 1709 is similar to the one of the sections of the ``Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (E-STEM) Act of 2009'', H.R. 2710 which I recently reintroduced. The E-STEM Act establishes a comprehensive approach to improving coordination and coherence of STEM education activities and stimulates collaboration at both the federal and state levels throughout the nation. My legislation provides federal agencies and states with the infrastructure required to work collaboratively, establish national STEM education goals, coordinate STEM education initiatives, and to avoid unnecessary duplication among these efforts. In addition the E-STEM Act would require the NSTC committee to create a coordinated interagency STEM education budget and a five year projection of the STEM workforce. Strengthening STEM education is important for our nation to remain innovative and ensure our future prosperity. During a time of rapid technological and scientific advance, scientific literacy is increasingly important for full participation in our Democracy. I want to thank Chairman Gordon, Representative Baird, and Ranking Member Ehlers for bringing this legislation to the floor and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. I would also invite my colleagues to cosponsor the E-STEM Act to encourage similar coordination among States and improve the dissemination of promising practices and STEM education resources.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Madam Chair, I rise today to express my strong support for the Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009 (H.R. 626). As the country's largest single employer, the Federal Government is responsible for over 2.7 million employees. The Federal Government is facing the retirement of 40% of its workforce over the next ten years and must be able to compete with private sector opportunities in order to attract talented new employees. Under current law, federal employees who want paid time off for the birth or adoption of a child only have the option of using their accrued sick days and vacation time to supplement unpaid leave. It is difficult for relatively new employees or those who experience reoccurring health problems to save up enough time for paid parental leave. Even for older employees who rarely get sick, unpredictable life events can make it equally difficult to accrue sufficient parental leave time. Parents should not be forced to choose between their new child and their paycheck. The Congress' Joint Economic Committee has found that Fortune 100 firms offer paid leave that typically lasts six to eight weeks. This is also consistent with the amount of leave typically offered by Congressional offices. The lack of a Paid Parental Leave policy for newly born or adopted children puts the Federal Government in the minority, not only in relation to U.S. companies but also among developed nations. The European Union requires that member countries offer 14 weeks of paid maternity leave and most offer more than the required amount, and the U.S. is one of only five countries out of 165 surveyed that does not guarantee paid parental leave. The Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009 will make the Federal Government a more family-friendly, competitive employer. It will cost relatively little compared to the benefit to American families and workers that it would bring. It is past time for federal employees to enjoy the benefits offered to employees of private companies and fix a flaw in our current system.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, I rise with sadness today to honor Albin Gruhn of San Anselmo, California, who passed away March 18 at the age of 94. Mr. Gruhn was a respected and beloved labor leader and consumer rights activist whose calling was preserving and improving the welfare of working people in California. His 36 years as president of the California Labor Federation and his role as a founder of the Association of California Consumers were at the heart of a remarkable career. Mr. Gruhn was born in Eureka, California, in 1915. At the age of 19 he began working for the Hammond Lumber Co. where he joined the Sawmill and Loggers Federal Union. A strike shortly afterwards resulted in the deaths of three union picketers and deeply affected him, resulting in a life-long commitment to the labor movement. Blacklisted as a result of his participation in the strike, he soon found employment in construction, joining the Laborers Local where his membership continued for over 60 years. At the age of 22, he became secretary of the Central Labor Council of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties and led that council for over 20 years. In 1940 Mr. Gruhn was first elected to what is now the California Labor Federation as district vice president and became its president in 1960. He led with skill, enthusiasm, and passion until his retirement in 1996. He helped build the organization into a strong and effective advocacy group for the rights of workers, inspiring several generations of political and labor leaders along the way. During the 1960s, Mr. Gruhn was also a founder of the Association of California Consumers, California's first consumer group, and later became a founding officer and then president emeritus of the Consumer Federation of California. He also devoted some of his considerable energies to the California Apprenticeship Council and the California Constitution Revision Commission as well as serving on various state commissions. These appointments spanned several decades and five California governors, covering a variety of issues from fair housing to air pollution. One of the commissions dealt with children and youth, reflecting his deep involvement in the annual scholarship program established by the California Labor Federation. Mr. Gruhn supported the causes he believed in by staying politically active. From campaigning for Franklin Roosevelt at the age of 17 to serving as an Adlai Stevenson delegate in 1956, he stayed engaged in the process. In 1944, he founded the Northern California AFL Political League. Mr. Gruhn was married to the former Dorothy Coon for over 37 years. Dorothy predeceased him in 2005, and the couple is survived by a large family of eight children, 14 grandchildren, and 17 great grandchildren. Madam Speaker, Albin Gruhn was proud to fight for working people, and all those with whom he came in contact--from family and friends to political leaders and co-workers--drew inspiration from his commitment. It is fitting in honoring him today to remember the remarks he always used to conclude his labor speeches: ``In unity there is strength. United we stand, divided we fall. An injury to one is an injury to all.''

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 270 and 271, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mahalo.

Mr. HONDA. The idea of title IX and equity for women was probably one that formulated in her life and in her work, and the opportunity came about when she was able to walk the Halls of Congress. She did that, but she didn't stop there because I understand there is a story about her where she led a contingent of women to protest that there were no gymnasiums here for women and only for men. That must have been a real sight.

Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, our Nation was founded by immigrants who valued freedom and liberty, who sought to be free from persecution, from tyranny. Families fled their home countries to seek refuge in this great Nation because they, too, believed in liberty, justice, and freedom for all. It is in this spirit that CAPAC supports immigration legislation that shifts the debate from an exclusionary, anti-immigrant, enforcement-only approach to one that confronts the social and economic realities behind immigration, honors the dignity of all families and communities, and recognizes the economic, social, and cultural contributions of immigrants to our great country. Today, AAPIs constitute a growing and vibrant piece of the American fabric. In 2007, approximately 10.2 million of the Nation's foreign born were born in Asia, constituting over one-quarter of the foreign- born population and over one-half of the total Asian American Pacific Island population. Even with a relatively high naturalization rate, Asian undocumented immigrants living, working, or studying in the U.S. represent approximately 12 percent of the undocumented immigrants in the U.S. These include victims of immigration fraud who have become undocumented due to no fault of their own. Many work and study hard and pay taxes, yet live in fear with no hope of gaining a path to legal permanent resident status. We must also recognize that reuniting families gives strength to American communities and are the bedrock of a vibrant and stable economy. We must eliminate the long backlogs keeping families apart for years and often decades. We have the tools and resources to remove the obstacles of massive backlogs, insufficient staffing, and unused visas that cause unnecessary misery for our newest Americans. Let's keep families together. By strengthening the social fabric of our communities and integrating workers, we can get our economy back on track while reuniting American workers with their families. The American people spoke in a united voice last year when they voted down the politics of division and embraced the politics of change. President Obama, the son of a Kenyan immigrant, has made comprehensive immigration reform a high priority. CAPAC is prepared to work with our colleagues to push through the long-deferred changes needed to ensure a fair, efficient, and secure immigration system. We join with the other caucuses to make sure that becomes a reality. Madam Speaker, a common misperception of AAPIs is that as a group we face fewer health problems than other racial and ethnic groups. In fact, AAPIs as a group, and specific populations within this group, do experience disparities in health and health care. For example, AAPIs have the highest hepatitis B rates of any racial group in the United States. We must bring attention to and educate our communities about prevention of hepatitis B through testing and vaccination. In the United States, 12 million people have been infected at some time in their lives with the hepatitis B virus, and more than 5,000 Americans die from hepatitis B-related liver complications each year. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders account for more than half of the chronic hepatitis B cases and half of the deaths resulting from chronic hepatitis B infections in the United States. In order to break the silence surrounding this deadly disease and bring awareness to the American people, Congressman Edolphus Towns, Congressman Charlie Dent, Congressman Anh Cao, and I will introduce a resolution to support the goals and ideals of Viral Hepatitis Awareness Month and World Hepatitis Awareness Day. I hope my colleagues will join me in educating our communities about the dangers of this disease. Furthermore, according to the Census Bureau, 16.8 percent of AAPIs went without insurance in 2007, up from 15.5 percent in 2006. This means that the uninsured are not only more likely to go without care for serious medical conditions, they are also more likely to go without routine care, less likely to have a regular source of care, less likely to use preventative services, and have fewer visits per year. At the same time, without appropriate language translation services or properly translated materials, limited English-proficient immigrants cannot receive adequate care as well as State and Federal benefits for which they may be eligible. In the AAPI community, 76 percent of Hmong Americans, 61 percent of Vietnamese Americans, 52 percent of Korean Americans, 39 percent of Tongans speak limited English. Therefore, eliminating health care disparities in the AAPI community must include data collection, linguistically appropriate and culturally competent services, and access to health insurance. CAPAC has been working with both the Congressional Hispanic and Black Caucuses on the Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act to eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities for all of our communities. The act would expand the health care safety net, diversify the health care workforce, combat diseases that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities, emphasize prevention and behavioral health, and promote the collection and dissemination of data, and enhance medical research. CAPAC has also joined the Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Progressive Caucuses to strongly support a public health insurance plan option, such as Medicare. In addition to immigration and health care reform, expanding educational access for all Americans is also a high priority for CAPAC. This Saturday marks the 55th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. As we celebrate, we must remember that education is at the very center of our democratic meritocracy, and it is imperative that every American should be afforded the true opportunity to achieve their highest potential. I have reintroduced the Educational Opportunity and Equity Commission Act, H.R. 1758, to begin the process of overhauling the country's education system and to finally address the disparities among America's schools. This legislation creates a national commission charged with gathering public opinions and insights about how government can improve education and eliminate the disparities in our educational system. I hope you will join me as cosponsors to this legislation. As we celebrate Brown v. Board of Education, we must remember the needs of all young people, including Asian American and Pacific Islander students, many of whom struggle in low-income communities, refugee communities, and do not have sufficient English skills. Brown paved the way for future Supreme Court rulings, such as in 1974, the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Lau v. Nichols. That decision enumerated the educational rights of English language learners and established that education is a civil right. As Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, we should be proud of our community and its participation in our country's civil rights movement and not forget that we have a long way to go yet. According to the 2000 Census, only 9.1 percent of Cambodian Americans, 7.4 percent Hmong Americans, 7.6 Lao Americans, 19.5 percent of Vietnamese Americans, and 16.5 of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders who are 25 years and older have a bachelors degree or higher. These numbers show that we must do a better job of disaggregating data and information about our communities and to assess the needs of those hardworking Americans who still falter behind. To address the disparities between subgroups of the larger AAPI community, we must support greater funding for Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving institutions. This program provides Federal grants to colleges and universities that have an enrollment of undergraduate students that is at least 10 percent AAPI, and at least 50 percent of its degree-seeking students receive financial assistance. On behalf of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressman David Wu and I will be working to increase the availability of loan assistance, scholarships, and programs to allow AAPI students to attend a higher education institution, to ensure full funding for teachers and bilingual education programs under the No Child Left Behind law to support English language learners; and to support full funding of minority outreach programs for access to higher education, such as the TRIO programs, to expand services to service AAPI students. I am proud of our community's accomplishments, and I would like to recognize many of the AAPI ``firsts'' in the areas of art, film, sports, sciences, academia, and politics. In 1847, Yung Wing, a Chinese American, graduated from Yale University and became the first AAPI to graduate from an American University. In 1863, William Ah Hang, a Chinese American, became the first AAPI to enlist in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. In 1913, A.K. Mozumdar became the first Indian-born person to earn U.S. citizenship, having convinced the court that he was Caucasian, and therefore met the requirements of naturalization law that restricted citizenship only to free white persons. In 1922 Anna May Wong, in her lead role in The Toll of the Sea, at the age of 17 became the first AAPI female to become a movie star, achieving stardom at a time when prejudice against Chinese in the U.S. was rampant. In 1944 An Wang, a Chinese American who invented the magnetic core memory, revolutionized computing and served as the standard method for memory retrieval and storage. During World War II, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army, comprised mostly of Japanese Americans, became the most highly decorated unit of its size in the history of the U.S. Army, including 22 Medal of Honor recipients. It appears that my time is expiring. So let me quickly indicate that we have young people like Wataru ``Wat'' Misaka who was born in 1947 who became the first ethnic minority and the first AAPI to play in the National Basketball Association, the New York Knicks. Imagine that, an Asian American in basketball. Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for this opportunity to share within a short hour the history of the Asian Americans and a variety of communities that reside in this country that have contributed, yet many of these names are still unknown. Ang Lee is probably the most widely known today, the Chinese American director who was the first to win an Academy Award for Best Director. Thank you very much, and we would hope that we have opportunities in the near future to be able to share more.

Mr. HONDA. That was a great contest. I believe that Billie Jean King won, didn't she?

Mr. HONDA. I have a couple of comments to what you had shared with us. One is I'm very, very pleased that you have taken the initiative to join CAPAC, not only because you believe in it, but also there are folks in your district that need to be represented. Your knowledge and your understanding of the communities; that it has to be disaggregated to understand the different necessities and needs of each community rather than looking at one monolithic community, is greatly appreciated because, as you mention, about the census, it is about the census that drives us constitutionally to make sure that we count every person in this country. The fact that you express that there are different strategies of housing based upon family structures; that many times one family per household does not necessarily exist and that many families do live together to be with each other and give each other support, I wanted to thank you for that observation. And one not very known fact about Patsy Mink. When she led the effort to pass the title IX legislation, that she did in fact open up quite a bit of avenues for women, but also I still remember the great tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

Mr. HONDA. I thank the gentlewoman from Texas and always count on her support for the issues that we care about together. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and to commemorate the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. As Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, what we call CAPAC, I feel privileged to be here tonight with my colleagues to speak of the Asian and Pacific Islander American history and accomplishments. Additionally, I will be highlighting those issues affecting our community and the priorities for CAPAC. In celebrating the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I want to give thanks to the late Congressman Frank Horton from New York and my good friend, former Secretary Norman Mineta, along with Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Masayuki Matsunaga of Hawaii. It is because of their efforts that May is now designated as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The first 10 days of May coincide with two important anniversaries: one, the arrival of the first Japanese American immigrants on May 7, 1843, to the United States, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. In 1992, Congress passed Public Law No. 102-450, the law that officially designated May of each year as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Today the Asian Pacific Islander community is quickly expanding. Currently, there are approximately 16.2 million APIs living in the United States. By the year 2050, there will be an estimated 43 million Asian Pacific Islanders, comprising 10 percent of the total U.S. population. My home State of California has the largest Asian population at 5 million. The States of New York and Texas followed at 1.4 million and close to 1 million, respectively. The population is also growing in States beyond the usual hubs of New York and California. We are also seeing growth in other areas in our country such as Virginia, Nevada, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Florida. I encourage my congressional colleagues to learn more about the Asian American Pacific Islander populations in their districts and become a member of CAPAC. At this moment, Madam Speaker, I yield to my colleague from California, the gentlewoman, Laura Richardson.

Mr. HONDA. Despite his tactics. And so what we do here has great impact not only in this country but worldwide. So I really do appreciate the time and thought that you have put into this presentation and the the idea that Asian Americans have contributed to this country and in building this country, as you had mentioned, on the transcontinental railroad. It's interesting to note that when you look at pictures of the golden spike being driven into the ground at Promontory Summit, there are no Asian faces there. I often wonder what happened. Were they given the day off or something like that? I think it's very clear today that they were excused. And the kind of history that we see that is shared in our history books need to be brought up to date and be accurate. This kind of forum, where we have a month dedicated to discussions about our contributions and our perspectives of how we see the communities in this country, is greatly appreciated. The fact that we have many people from different backgrounds in our caucus only expresses the understanding and the sensitivity and the consciousness that each individual Congressperson representing their district, even though a district may have 14 percent or 1 percent, the fact that it is stated publicly that you are representing those districts and those communities is greatly appreciated. So, to my sister from California, I really appreciate your time spent with us.

Mr. HONDA. Thank you. The Asian American Pacific Islander community is often misperceived as an overachieving monolithic group. However, our community is extremely diverse in our languages, ethnicities, income, educational attainment, language capabilities, special need and challenges. Stereotypes about our communities make it difficult to understand the unique problems faced by individual communities and subgroups. Data that is disaggregated by ethnicity for our various communities is hard to come by, but critical to the understanding where we must direct Federal attention. As a country, we need to better address the needs of the AAPI community when we discuss comprehensive immigration reform, health care, economic recovery, and education. We are also barely visible in corporate America, underrepresented in political and judicial offices throughout the country, and misportrayed in our mainstream media. As our community expands, we must also continue to educate our fellow citizens about the uniqueness of our experiences. Despite the daunting challenges we face, this is a time of great optimism and hope for the communities. This year, we are marking Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month under the twin banners of National Service and Recovery. We are at a pivotal moment in our Nation's history where the national spirit is shifting to a new era of volunteerism, public service, and working for the common good. The Asian Pacific Islander American communities are no stranger to these changes, and our communities have taken hold of a new civic spirit engendered by President Obama's new administration. At this time, Madam Speaker, I'd like to yield such time as she may consume to our gentlelady from the Aloha State, Mazie Hirono.

Mr. HONDA. Thank you for sharing that. I guess in English we say you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth, nor golden chopsticks. Knowing your history of political participation, being the lieutenant governor of Hawaii and now representing Hawaii, I guess one can say that you are a statistical aberration of probabilities, and who would guess except for the fact that your mom had such great strength.

Mr. HONDA

Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 262, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.'' Stated against: