Speech #1090147458

He was to be joined by other Asian farm workers. especially those coming from Japan. Though in 1920. some 12.000 farm workers from the sugar plantations were cruelly evicted and thrown out of work. their rugged determination and gritty character typified their conviction that America must live by its creed of equal opportunity and simple justice for all. The downtrodden and the disenfranchisedthese defined the miserable conditions to which those first immigrants were mercilessly subjected. What better way to memorialize those hardy spirits than to invoke their courage under fire during this Centennial of their epic journey to selfhood and recognition. They came to forge a better life and contribute to the building of America in Hawaiis sugar cane and pineapple fields. in the canneries of Alaska. and throughout the verdant farm lands of California and other west coast States. In his stirring novel. America is in the Heart. Carios Bulosan. the Filipino writer par excellence. described the first Filipino immigrants abject exclusion from American society when he wrote: "I know deep in my heart that I am an exile in America . . . I feel like a criminal running away from a crime I did not commit. And this crime is that I am a Filipino in America." Despite this inglorious past. their pioneering efforts and resilient spirit were drawn by their genuine belief in Americas spirit of idealism as the land of opportunity and promise. I am confident that under the aegis of this Centennial. America will join FilipinoAmericans in recognizing the untold sacrifices of the early Filipino migrants whose faith in God and whose work ethic sustained them in their ordeal. In converging this celebration with the indomitable spirit of those pioneers. we hope to be enlightened and enriched by the messages they wrote through their silent struggles to be recognized and appreciated. It is on this historic occasion that I congratulate the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA). the PhilippineAmerican Federation of South Florida (PhilAmFed) and other bonafide groups for their steadfast efforts in sensitizing us to the contributions that Filipino immigrants gave and continue to give to buttressing Americas stature as the envy of world today. FilipinoAmericans in my District. and millions of others across this great Nation. may take heart in Mr. Bulosans prophetic words: "America is not a land of one race or one class of men.