National museum of Asian Pacific Americans may be created

President Joe Biden on Monday signed legislation that establishes a commission to study the creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture.

The legislation was brought to the Senate floor by U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.

Hirono said such a museum would help promote understanding about Asian Pacific Islander American communities during a time of elevated anti-Asian hate crimes.

“Despite many noteworthy contributions in various spaces, Asian and Pacific Islander American individuals and communities have largely been excluded or erased from American history,” Hirono said in a news release issued after the signing ceremony.

“We are often pejoratively depicted as foreigners, instead of people who have lived in and positively contributed to this country for generations — narratives which have fueled xenophobia and prejudice, contributing to decades of racist laws and discrimination,” she said.

Hirono, who migrated to Hawaii as a child, vowed to continue working to make sure the stories of Asian and Pacific Islander American communities are told and preserved for future generations.

The bill previously passed in the House, where it was introduced by Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., and passed in the Senate unanimously in May.

Hawaii leads the nation in the percentage of Asians with 57% of the population in 2019, while Honolulu is the city with the nation’s highest percentage of Asians at 61.4%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

During Monday’s signing ceremony, Biden noted that the legislation — HR 3525 — had been working its way through Congress for the better part of a decade. He said it was long overdue.

“Throughout our history Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders have literally shaped the history and the contours of this country,” Biden said.

“Museums of this magnitude and consequence are going to inspire and educate,” he said. “More than anything else, it’s going to help people see themselves in the story of America — the story that has made us a better America.”

During his speech, Biden remembered his friend and former colleague, the late U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye of Hawaii. He said Inouye tried to join the military when war broke out in 1941, but he had fight to enlist in the U.S. military out of high school.

“Danny served in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. And, I might add, he earned the Medal of Freedom, and he also went on to do so much more,” the president said.

The bill establishes an eight-member commission, appointed equally by House and Senate majority and minority leadership. The panel will comprise those with expertise in the research, study and promotion of Asian Pacific American history, museum administration and related fields.

The commission will be responsible for submitting a report with recommendations to the president and Congress on the potential creation of a museum, including whether it should be part of the Smithsonian. Congress would then need to act on those recommendations to establish the museum.

Congress has previously established similar museums. In 2003 it passed a law to create the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2020, Congress approved the creation of the National Museum of the American Latino.