{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://meng.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-passes-legislation-introduced-by-reps-meng-and-royce-that-removes", "House Passes Legislation Introduced by Reps. Meng and Royce That Removes the Term "Oriental" from Federal Law", "2015-12-03", "2015", "2015-12", "Democrat", "House", "NY", "Grace Meng", "M001188", "meng.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation sponsored by U.S. Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY) and Ed Royce (R-CA) that removes the term Oriental from federal law.\nThe word Oriental is an offensive and derogatory term that should no longer be used by the federal government, said Meng. Nobody in our country, regardless of ethnicity, should be referred to in an insulting manner by the government. Its well past time to strike the legal use of this outdated term. It no longer has a place in federal law, and I look forward to the day when its finally gone for good.\n\"Orientals is an offensive and antiquated term, especially so when referring to America's vibrant Asian American community,\" said Royce. \"Using this term in federal law lends it a legitimacy it doesn't deserve, which is why Congresswoman Meng and I have moved to remove it.\"\nThe legislation removes all references to \"Orientals\" in federal law, and replaces the term with \"Asian Americans.\"\nThe Meng-Royce legislation, which was approved unanimously last night by voice vote, is included in the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act.\nIn 2009, Meng  when she was a member of the New York State Legislature  passed legislation into law that eliminated the use of Oriental in all official New York State documents.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://meng.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-passes-legislation-introduced-by-reps-meng-and-royce-that-removes"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5115570276975632, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}