Bill Clinton

“ As we approach the 21st century, Asian and Pacific Americans are playing an increasingly important role in the life of our Nation, helping us to maintain our leadership in the global economy. More important, they are inspiring us to embrace the wider world, to recognize and appreciate the blessing of our great diversity, and to become one America. ”

“ These courageous men and women from Asia and the Pacific Islands were met in America by prejudice as they strived to make a living and establish a home in their adopted country.
These brave new Americans would prevail over every hardship. Whether working in the gold fields of California, laboring on the sugar and pineapple plantations of Hawaii, constructing the transcontinental railway, or creating their own businesses, Asian and Pacific Americans succeeded in building new lives for themselves and their families. ”

“ Like millions of others who left their homelands to come to America, the first Asian and Pacific Island immigrants who arrived here in the 19th century were seeking a better life than the one they left behind. ”