Eni Faleomavaega said "Linsanity is here with us today. On behalf of over 18 million Asian Pacific Americans, and as a member of the Asian Pacific Congressional Caucus, I rise today to commend rising NBA star Jeremy Lin. A son of immigrants from Taiwan and the first American NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese ancestry, Jeremy is the first, first Harvard-- economics major, 4.0 GPA--graduate to play for the league since the 1950s. Since playing as the Knicks' point guard, he has scored the highest point total in his first five games--136 points--for any player since the 1970s. In the history of Asian Pacific American participation in the NBA, Japanese American Wataru Misaka broke the color barrier when he played for the Knicks in the 1940s. Following Misaka, we have Japanese American Rex Walters; Filipino American Raymond Townsend; Samoan American Wally Aliifua Rank; and, currently, Samoan American James Johnson, who plays for the Toronto Raptors; and Hawaiian American Jason Kapono, who now plays for the L.A. Lakers. Along with these pioneers, Jeremy Lin's rise to international stardom has broken ethnic stereotypes in our society. I commend Jeremy for this tremendous achievement and for his example to the world and what America is all about: You work hard, you be true to your principles of fairness and equity, things will come your way. ___________________

On the recordFebruary 28, 2012

Linsanity is here with us today. On behalf of over 18 million Asian Pacific Americans, and as a member of the Asian Pacific Congressional Caucus, I rise today to commend rising NBA star Jeremy Lin. A son of immigrants from Taiwan and the first American NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese ancestry, Jeremy is the first, first Harvard-- economics major, 4.0 GPA--graduate to play for the league since the 1950s. Since playing as the Knicks' point guard, he has scored the highest point total in his first five games--136 points--for any player since the 1970s. In the history of Asian Pacific American participation in the NBA, Japanese American Wataru Misaka broke the color barrier when he played for the Knicks in the 1940s. Following Misaka, we have Japanese American Rex Walters; Filipino American Raymond Townsend; Samoan American Wally Aliifua Rank; and, currently, Samoan American James Johnson, who plays for the Toronto Raptors; and Hawaiian American Jason Kapono, who now plays for the L.A. Lakers. Along with these pioneers, Jeremy Lin's rise to international stardom has broken ethnic stereotypes in our society. I commend Jeremy for this tremendous achievement and for his example to the world and what America is all about: You work hard, you be true to your principles of fairness and equity, things will come your way. ____________________

Said by

Eni Faleomavaega

American Samoa

Source

govinfo.gov

Feb 28, 2012