Whereas the people of the United States join together each May to pay tribute to the contributions of generations of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have enriched the history of the United States; Whereas the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States is inextricably tied to the story of the United States; Whereas the Asian American and Pacific Islander community is an inherently diverse population, comprised of over 45 distinct ethnicities and over 100 language dialects; Whereas, according to the Bureau of the Census, the Asian American population grew faster than any other racial or ethnic group over the last decade, surging nearly 72 percent between 2000 and 2015; Whereas there are approximately 21,000,000 residents of the United States who identify themselves as Asian and approximately 1,500,000 residents of the United States who identify themselves as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, making up nearly 6 percent of the total population of the United States; Whereas the month of May was selected for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month because the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States on May 7, 1843, and the first transcontinental railroad was completed on May 10, 1869, with substantial contributions from Chinese immigrants; Whereas section 102 of title 36, United States Code, officially designates May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month and requests the President to issue an annual proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities; Whereas 2018 marks several important milestones for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, including— (1) the 120th anniversary of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), a Supreme Court decision that determined that the 14th Amendment grants birthright citizenship to all persons born in the United States, regardless of the national origin of their parents