CAPAC Leaders to Testify in House Judiciary Hearing on Discrimination and Violence Against Asian Americans

On March 18^th at 10:00 a.m. ET, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Rep. Judy Chu, CAPAC First Vice Chair Rep. Grace Meng, and CAPAC Members Senator Tammy Duckworth and Rep. Doris Matsui will testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties as part of a hearing on the discrimination and violence Asian Americans have faced both historically and since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m so grateful to House Judiciary Chairman Nadler and Subcommittee Chairman Cohen for organizing this incredibly important hearing to address anti-Asian discrimination, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to voice some of the fear and frustrations I’ve heard from constituents over the past year,” said CAPAC Chair Rep. Chu. “Since the start of this pandemic, the Asian American community has been terrorized by physical and verbal assaults, too many of which have been fatal. This has been made worse by former President Donald Trump and Republican leaders who insist on using xenophobic slurs like ‘Chinese virus’ and ‘Kung flu’ despite warnings from health experts not to do so. As a result, there were over 3,000 reported anti-Asian hate incidents in just a 10-month period last year. This is unacceptable. By shining a light on this problem, we can help call attention to it and build the support necessary for legislation like the NO HATE Act that will help to better track and address hate crimes and bigotry targeting our community.”

“There has been a long history of anti-Asian racism in the United States, especially during times of social or economic unrest. Unfortunately, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this bigotry has reared its ugly head once again,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). “As President Biden said, the rise in violence against our fellow Asian Americans is wrong, un-American, and it must stop. The Committee will examine this issue and explore ways to prevent racially-motivated discrimination and violence. I look forward to seeing this work lead to meaningful change.”

Witnesses:

First Panel:

• The Honorable Doris Matsui, Member of Congress
• The Honorable Judy Chu, Member of Congress
• The Honorable Tammy Duckworth, United States Senator
• The Honorable Grace Meng, Member of Congress

Second Panel:

• John C. Yang, Esq., President & Executive Director, Asian American Advancing Justice – AAJC
• Manjusha P. Kulkarni, Esq., Executive Director, Stop AAPI Hate, Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council
• Erika Lee, PhD., Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies, Director, Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota
• Charles Lehman, Fellow, Manhattan Institute, and Contributing Editor, City Journal
• Wencong Fa, Esq., Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
• Daniel Dae Kim, Actor and Producer
• Shirin Sinnar, Esq., Professor of Law & John A. Wilson Faculty Scholar, Stanford Law School
• Hiroshi Motomura, Esq., Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law, Faculty Co-Director, Center for Immigration Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law

Background:

Xenophobia and anti-Asian racism has been prevalent in the United States since the 19^th century, leading to discriminatory policies including the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and Executive Order 9066, which ordered the forced internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. In the aftermath of the September 11th attack on the United States, South Asian, Muslim, and Middle Eastern Americans increasingly became the targets of violence and discrimination, and in the week following the terrorist attack, media outlets reported 645 bias incidents targeting people perceived to be Muslim or of Middle Eastern descents.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a notable surge in harassment and violence against the Asian American community. In part sparked by xenophobic rhetoric framing fault for the coronavirus around its country of origin, Asian Americans, notably those of Chinese-descent or assumed Chinese-descent, have suffered increased rates of violence, harassment, and intimidation over the last year.