Asian American lawmakers implore Republicans to tone down rhetoric in wake of attacks

"Your president and your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you don't have to do it by putting a bull's-eye on the back of Asian Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on our kids," Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, said to Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas.

"This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community and to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice from us," she added.

Earlier Thursday during the hearing, Roy said his "concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society, free speech, and away from the rule of law and taking out bad guys."

"I think the Chinese Communist Party running the country of China, I think they're the bad guys," he said.

In arguing that Americans "want justice" for victims, Roy also said, "There's an old saying in Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree. You know, we take justice very seriously and we ought to do that, round up the bad guys."

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, who is an immigrant from Taiwan who served active duty in the US Air Force, also pushed back against Roy's remarks, saying the hearing is "not about policing speech."

"I served in active duty so you can say whatever you want under the First Amendment, you can say racist stupid stuff if you want," Lieu said in comments Thursday. "But I'm asking you to please stop using racist terms like 'Kung flu,' or 'Wuhan virus' or other ethnic identifiers in describing this virus. I am not a virus and when you say things like that, it hurts the Asian American community."

Their comments came during the first House hearing on discrimination against Asian Americans in over three decades. Anti-Asian hate incidents have been on the rise since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During Thursday's hearing, several Asian American female lawmakers, including Reps. Meng, Doris Matsui, Judy Chu, Young Kim and Michelle Steel and Sen. Tammy Duckworth testified about the discrimination the community has faced.

"Our community is bleeding. We've been in pain and we've been screaming out for help," Meng said.

Other panel witnesses include actor Daniel Dae Kim, University of Minnesota professor Erika Lee, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice president John C. Yang, along with other advocates and experts.

Reports of anti-Asian hate incidents have risen in recent months, including several unprovoked violent attacks on elderly Asian Americans, with at least three in the Bay Area captured in disturbing videos this year.

Asian Americans have reported being targeted at least 500 times in the first two months of this year, according to a recent report from the organization Stop AAPI Hate. The majority of these -- 68% -- were verbal harassment, while 11% involved physical assaults, according to Stop AAPI Hate. The group said it received at least 3,795 complaints since it began tracking violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on March 19 of last year.

Thursday's House committee hearing also addressed the history of racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans, which dates back to the 19th century.

The hearing also comes after a string of shootings in the Atlanta area left eight people dead -- six of whom were of Asian women. Though the motive of the killer is still being investigated, the killings have exacerbated existing fears among the Asian American community.

In a statement Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jerry Nadler and the subcommittee's chair Rep. Steve Cohen said the "horrific violence" in Georgia is "another reminder of why we need urgently to address the fear gripping the Asian American community, in part stemming from racist incidents related to the coronavirus pandemic."

This story has been updated with additional developments.