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“ETHNICITY, WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY IN THIS COUNTRY BUT WE STILL HAVE A WAY TO GO” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2722 on May 25, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ETHNICITY, WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY IN THIS COUNTRY BUT WE STILL HAVE A
WAY TO GO
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu) is recognized for 60 minutes.
Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker, an odd thing happened to me 2 days ago on my way down to the Department of Energy. I was going down to give a talk to employees there, and I was stopped by the guards when I was trying to enter the building and I was asked repeatedly, my staffer and I were asked repeatedly, whether we are American citizens. This occurred both before and after I presented my congressional identification card.
Now I have walked around the White House, the Supreme Court, this United States Capitol, and I know that there is sensitive information at the White House, at the Supreme Court and sometimes here, but maybe, maybe the Department of Energy is a special case, perhaps.
What they said was that they asked everyone, everyone, whether they are a U.S. citizen or not, but that proved not to be true. My friend and colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano), went yesterday and he was not asked the way that I was at all.
The ultimate irony is that I went to the Department of Energy 2 days ago to give a talk, at their request, about the progress of Asian Americans in America as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month celebration activities by the employees there.
There has been progress over the last 200, 215 years for Asian Americans in America but apparently we have a little ways to go yet.
Now I am reluctant to make much of this incident and I was just going to let it go, but upon reflection, Mr. Speaker, I cannot just let this go because it would be wrong and it would break a promise that I have made to students in Oregon and that I have made to students across this country.
When I visit with students at home and in other places around the country, sometimes they ask, are you treated fairly? Is there any difference because of ethnicity in the U.S. Congress? And I always answer, no, I am treated very well and very fairly and there is no question about ethnicity in the House, and that is absolutely true.
Then sometimes there is a follow-up question, have there ever been incidents in your life that caused you to reflect upon or make you think that you are discriminated against?
At that point, I generally try to refocus the direction of the discussion. I say, look, look, you are here in school to study, to work hard. You need to focus on those things that you can change, that you can effect, and if you focus on those things then this country will give you a chance to succeed and, please, please do not obsess about things that you cannot change because some of the attitudes you cannot change right away. If you obsess about those things, they will take away from your efforts at focusing on your goals and your future success, because this country will give you that chance.
I say to them, leave those other things, leave those things that cannot be changed in the short-term, leave those things to adults like me. Leave those things to people who are in a position to work on them, like me.
If I had just let this incident go, this incident of 2 days ago at DOE, I would have broken my promise to those students at home and across this country, because I believe that it is our obligation, despite whatever our reluctance might be, despite whatever our discomfort might be, to point out those things which are not right or to investigate them, to see if they need to be improved. I am going to encourage the Department of Energy to redouble its efforts, engage in a true process of soul searching. Do you really ask everyone their citizenship at the door? And if so, is that an effective way of enhancing national security?
I do not know how many spies you have caught with that question, but you have at least one Congressman. And I suspect that ultimately there is a connection to national security but in a way that you might not expect, and that is there is a tremendous number of Asian American scientists and engineers working at the Department of Energy and they have made valuable contributions to our national security by doing good research.
If the Department creates a work environment that is hostile or perceived to be, we have already begun to lose some of those scientists, and my understanding is that some of the brightest graduate students in the country, who happen to be Asian American, are now refusing to go work for the Department of Energy. That is as damaging to our national interest, our national security, as anything that I can think of.
I want to underscore once again that this is not about the specific incidents of 2 days ago and this is not about me, but it is about a pledge to students to work on issues that they are not in a position to work on themselves, and it is about doing this job, my job, in the best manner that I know how.
Being a Member of Congress is the greatest honor that I can imagine. We have no mission other than to get up each and every day and to try to make the world a little bit better, or to ameliorate some of the problems that people face. Today I want to give that effort to make the world a little bit better just one small further nudge.
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