National Asian American Pacific Islander Museum Takes Step Forward

QUEENS, NY — A national museum dedicated to the history and culture of Asian American and Pacific Islanders is one step closer to becoming a reality.

President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Monday afternoon seeking to create the national museum, which he said is "long overdue."

The legislation has been championed for seven years by co-sponsor U.S. Rep Grace Meng, who represents Bayside.

"Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have shaped our nation since its founding. It’s time for more Americans, and our future generations, to know our story," said Meng in a statement after the bill — officially titled the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act — was signed into law.

As its name suggests the legislation will charge a commission of eight experts to look into what it would take to open an AAPI museum in the Washington-area, possibly as part of the Smithsonian Institution.

The commission, which will be appointed by the House Speaker, Senate Majority Leader, House Minority Leader and Senate Minority Leader, will have 18 months to complete the study.

Meng's legislation follows a similar path used to create the National Museum of African American History and Culture which opened in 2016 to great acclaim. There are also similar plans underway for the National Museum of the American Latino and National Women’s History Museum.

Vice President Kamala Harris, recalling her own mother's journey from India to the United States, spoke of the museum's personal and national importance at Monday's signing.

"Growing up, my mother made sure that my sister Maya and I learned of the important, glorious history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in America," she said.

"To teach this history is to help all of us as Americans understand where we come from, and to teach this history is to help us understand who we are."

Harris also said that the museum would tackle "some of our country's darkest moments," including historic discrimination against the AAPI communities — like the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese internment — as well as ongoing anti-AAPI hate crimes and violence, which have increased exponentially amid the pandemic.

In May, Meng's legislation aimed at better addressing the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans was also signed into law.