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Biden signs bill for establishing national Asian Pacific history museum

President Joe Biden signed a bill that will create a commission to study establishing a national museum on the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States

US President Joe Biden acknowledged that the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin launching a full-scale invasion may have seemed far-fetched. (Photo: Bloomberg)

US President Joe Biden (Photo: Bloomberg)

AP Washington

President Joe Biden signed a bill Monday that will create a commission to study establishing a national museum on the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

I'm honored to sign into law something that's long overdue, he said at a White House ceremony.

The Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture Act creates an eight-member commission to study how to make such a museum a reality in Washington, including whether it should be part of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Senate majority and minority leaders, and the House speaker and House minority leader each would name two members of the study commission.

 

The House passed the bill in April, and the Senate did so in May, which Biden had designated as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Biden was joined at the ceremony by Vice President Kamala Harris, the first person of Indian descent to be elected to the position. Harris' mother was Indian.

Harris said such a museum will help fight ignorance and dispel misinformation about Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander people in the US.

The Smithsonian is in early planning stages for two new museums, the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum.

Both the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture are run by the Smithsonian.

The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY, and Sen Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Jun 14 2022 | 9:10 AM IST

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