Asian Americans in Congress
Before 1965, American immigration laws restricted Asians from coming to the United States. Asian-American communities existed in the larger cities, but their populations generally were not large enough to elect members to Congress. The territory of Hawaii contained a high proportion of Chinese-, Japanese-, and Polynesian-American citizens. Much of the opposition to making Hawaii a state came from racially biased members who feared that Hawaii would send to Congress Asian Americans sympathetic to civil rights legislation. Indeed, when Hawaii became a state in 1959, it elected the first Chinese-American member of the Senate, Hiram Fong (Republican) and the first Japanese-American member of the House, Daniel Inouye (Democrat). In 1964, Patsy Mink (Democrat-Hawaii) was the first Japanese-American woman elected to the House. Daniel Akaka (Democrat-Hawaii) became the first Polynesian-American member of the House in 1977 and the first in the Senate in 1990.
California has also sent several Asian Americans to the House and Senate, including the first Asian American ever elected to Congress, Dalip Singh Saund (Democrat). Born in India, Saund came to the United States to study at the University of California. He won a House seat in 1956 and served three terms. California sent Japanese American Norman Mineta (Democrat) to the House in 1974, and S. I. Hayakawa (Republican) to the Senate in 1976. In 1992 California voters elected Jay Kim (Republican) as the first Korean American to serve in the House.
Sources
- Daniel K. Inouye, Journey to Washington (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1967).
- Dalip Singh Saund, Congressman from India (New York: Dut-ton, 1960)
