Congressional leaders call for action against attacks on Asian Americans

Members of Congress held a virtual press conference denouncing anti-Asian violence.

The outcry against the continuing acts of violence directed at Asian Americans has reached the U.S. capitol.

Friday, members of the Congressional Tri-Caucus – composed of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) – held a press conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries to condemn the recent spike in anti-Asian hate crimes and violence in recent weeks.

“It is a profound and unacceptable injustice that the AAPI community faces not only the coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis right now, but also the growing threat of bigoted attacks against their community," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "This epidemic of violence is a challenge to the conscience of our country, which our Democratic Congress is committed to combating, confronting and ending.”

Since March last year when Stop AAPI Hate began accepting reports of hate acts against Asians, there have been about 3,000 incidents reported.

The recent unprovoked attacks against AAPI elderly, some of which were videotaped by security cameras, struck an emotional chord with the Asian American community. Respecting and honoring seniors is part of most Asian cultures.

Members of Congress and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice issued the following statements:

“Attacks on Asian Americans have become an almost daily tragedy in our country. My heart breaks for the thousands of Asian American families that have been terrorized by this xenophobic violence since the start of the pandemic. But I am also encouraged by the support from other communities of color, Congressional leadership, and the Biden Administration,” said Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), CAPAC Chair. 

“This terrible violence is the deliberate result of a party that put xenophobia and blame shifting ahead of the health and safety of fellow Americans, and that is why it means so much to have a new President and elected leaders at all levels of government who are willing to condemn attacks against the Asian American community and push back on racist slurs like ‘Kung flu’ and ‘China virus’ that have put lives in danger," continued Chu.

“Hate has no place in America, but rates of harassment, bullying and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have risen dramatically in the past year. President Biden condemns and denounces anti-Asian xenophobia,” said Ambassador Susan Rice, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. 

Biden has made racial equity a cornerstone of his administration. Days after taking office the President signed a Presidential Memorandum on combating anti-Asian xenophobia, which directed departments and agencies within the federal government to take steps to combat anti-Asian bias, and partner with AAPI communities to prevent hate crimes and harassment. 

"As part of the Administration’s whole of government approach to advancing equity, we are focused on improving federal data disaggregation, removing language access barriers, and ensuring equal opportunities for AAPI communities,” said Rice.

The press conference was held on the Day Remembrance to recount the injustice towards Japanese Americans when they were incarcerated during WWII.

"As we shed light on the rise in hate crimes against the AAPI community, we dedicate this day to the nearly 120,000 innocent people who were wrongfully interned by our government solely because of the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes, and their Japanese heritage. What the AAPI community is experiencing today compared to what Japanese Americans experienced almost 80 years ago may be different, but the root cause of it is the same: scapegoating and mass blame,” said Rep. Mark Takano (CA-41), CAPAC Second Vice Chair. 

“Hate and discrimination against the AAPI community has been a long-standing problem, but it has been made far worse by the pandemic and because powerful leaders, like Trump and Republicans who enabled him, spread fear, misinformation, and racist rhetoric to advance their political agenda and cover up their incompetency in response to this virus, said the California representative.

“My heart goes out to the families of Vicha Ratanapakdee, the 61-year old Filipino man whose face was slashed with a knife in New York City, and any family or individual who has been impacted by the sickening and disturbing violence we’re seeing against Asian Americans,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-33), CAPAC Whip. 

“These racist acts of violence have been fueled by the hateful rhetoric of the previous administration, who in an attempt to scapegoat, wrongfully blamed an entire community for spreading the coronavirus," said Lieu. 

"When the leaders of our country use terms such as ‘Kung-Flu’ – there are real world consequences. Asian American families are afraid to send their children to school and families are worried about their elderly parents or grandparents leaving their homes. This is not right. We will not stand for this senseless violence nor any form of discrimination or harassment against Asian Americans.”

“It is incredibly tragic that, as we just celebrated the Lunar New Year, we are still seeing a surge in Anti-AAPI hate crimes and violence,” said Rep. Marilyn Strickland (WA-10). “Whenever there is a crisis in America, there is a history of wanting to blame someone, and in this case, it is the AAPI-community. 

"Because of the honor and respect our culture has for elders, watching them become the victims of this violence is even more painful and horrifying," said the first-term member of Congress. "In addition to the physical violence, we must also condemn the verbal abuse we have seen. We need action now, and we want to see consequences so that this behavior does not continue."