I'm pleased to announce a breakthrough on my historic resolution of regret for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.  After months of negotiations, we have reached a bipartisan agreement on the bill, which means that it will pass unanimously out of the House of Representatives!

Please tune into C-SPAN this coming Monday, June 18th at at 1pm PST/4pm EST at http://www.c-span.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN/ to witness this major milestone.  

This will mark the first time this legislative body acknowledges the far-reaching injustice of these discriminatory laws.  It is a remarkable moment - and shows that great nations like ours can learn from its mistakes and atone for them.  

Just like many immigrants before them and since, Chinese flocked to the United States to make a better life for themselves.  But many encountered outright hostility and xenophobia, as they were spat upon in the streets, derided in the halls of Congress and even brutally murdered.   Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 to prevent the Chinese from immigrating, becoming naturalized citizens, and from ever having the right to vote.  It was the beginning of a series of several discriminatory laws aimed at Chinese immigrants, and took 60 long years to be repealed.  

The trauma of the Exclusion Laws left a permanent scar upon generations of Chinese Americans, splitting apart families, and disenfranchising many.  Like all Chinese Americans, my own grandfather did not have the legal right to become a naturalized citizen, and had to carry papers on him at all times or else be deported.

My resolution, H. Res. 683, finally acknowledges these injustices.  It formally regrets the passage of legislation that adversely affected people of Chinese origin in the United States because of their ethnicity, and recognizes that the United States was founded on the principle that all persons are created equal. 

I feel especially honored to have introduced this resolution as the first Chinese American woman to have ever been elected to Congress.  I must express my sincere thanks to Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle who are strongly supporting H. Res. 683, and to my colleagues in the Senate who unanimously supported a similar resolution.  Our success wouldn't have been possible without community members and Americans from every race and creed coming together to work on this bill.  

I believe diversity is America's greatest strength and I remain committed to fighting for the civil rights of everyone in America, no matter their ethnicity or background. This resolution is another step forward on our path to equal rights for all people, for all Americans.  

In friendship, 

Judy Chu

Member of Congress