Asian and Pacific Islander American Members of Congress and Cabinet Members to be Recognized by United States Capitol Historical Society, AT&T and Wal-Mart

A special screening of “Yielding the Floor,” a documentary featuring current and former members of Congress of Asian and Pacific Islander American heritage, was held last May 15, 2008 at the ImaginAsian Theater in New York City. Sponsored by the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, AT&T, Wal-Mart Stores, ImaginAsian TV and IW Group, and co-hosted by OCA–New York, the event showcased the groundbreaking documentary with a 25-minute highlight reel featuring interviews with U.S. Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel Akaka; U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, David Wu and Doris Matsui; and, former U.S. Rep. and Presidential Cabinet member Norman Y. Mineta. U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao offered her own commentary about her experience with Congress in a separate video.

“Yielding the Floor” was created to record members of Congress reliving their memories of people, places and events that have occurred in the Capitol. After more than a year of interviews conducted with six current and former members of Congress, the U.S. Capitol Historical Society retained the services of Samantha Cheng, vice president and executive producer of Television Production Services in Washington, D.C., to interview and videotape these national leaders.

Cheng and her team, in coordination with U.S. Capitol Historical Society staff, compiled more than 10 hours of interviews, and developed a series of six full-length documentaries. From this series Cheng and the broadcast production team at IW Group compiled a 25-minute video which was shown at the screening featuring highlights of the personal observations, thoughts and comments from the six former and current members of Congress and U.S. Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

“’Yielding the Floor’ exemplifies the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s commitment to preserving an important part of our nation’s history,” said Ronald Sarasin, president of the historical society and a former congressman who conducted the interviews. “The society felt strongly that it needed to capture the rich and diverse history of our congressional leaders both past and present for future generations. We are proud to include a special focus on Asian Pacific Americans in Congress.”
In order to support the project, the society enlisted the support of two corporate leaders in the Asian Pacific-American community, AT&T and Wal-Mart Stores.

“It is an honor and a pleasure for AT&T to support this project which records and celebrates the incredible contributions that Asian Pacific Americans make to the health and prosperity of our community through their dedicated work as members of Congress,” said Anne Chow, senior vice president of business marketing at AT&T. “Preserving the oral histories of our congressional leaders will ensure that future generations will benefit from their knowledge, wisdom and dedication.”

Wal-Mart’s Senior Vice President for Diversity Relations, Esther Silver-Parker stated, “Wal-Mart celebrates and supports the accomplishments and heritage of all communities, including Asian Pacific Americans. That’s why we’re proud to provide funding for ‘Yielding the Floor’ and its interviews with our nation’s most distinguished public servants.”

The “Yielding the Floor” oral history project was initiated in early 2007 after the United States Capitol Historical Society announced that it would unveil historically significant contributions and achievements of some of our nation’s most prominent and accomplished Asian Pacific-American leaders. A full-length version of all congressional interviews is available online at http://uschsnewmedia-podcasts.uschs.org.

The U.S. Capitol Historical Society

The United States Capitol Historical Society (USCHS), founded in 1962, is chartered by Congress to educate the public on the history and heritage of the U.S. Capitol Building, its institutions and the people who have served therein. USCHS derives its funds from individual and corporate memberships, gifts, grants, tours and the sale of educational items such as the book “We, the People: The Story of the U.S. Capitol”, calendars, tourist memorabilia, video and books of general interest and academic research. USCHS is a nonpartisan, private, nonprofit, tax-exempt, educational 501(c)(3) organization.