Recognizing the 1885 Rock Springs Chinese Massacre.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1324 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1324

          Recognizing the 1885 Rock Springs Chinese Massacre.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 26, 2026

  Ms. Chu (for herself, Ms. Meng, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. 
    Velazquez, Ms. Simon, Ms. Tlaib, and Ms. Norton) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
          Recognizing the 1885 Rock Springs Chinese Massacre.

Whereas, in the late 19th century, Chinese immigrants were brought to the United 
        States to perform dangerous, low-wage labor in industries such as mining 
        and railroad construction: exploitative labor conditions, including the 
        coal mines operated by the Union Pacific Coal Company, where they 
        performed dangerous and grueling work for significantly lower wages than 
        their White counterparts;
Whereas, in Rock Springs, Wyoming, Chinese miners employed by the Union Pacific 
        Coal Company worked under harsh and exploitative conditions, were paid 
        less than their White counterparts for the same labor, and were 
        systematically excluded from labor unions, fueling racial hostility and 
        economic resentment;
Whereas anti-Chinese racism and xenophobia were widespread during this period 
        and reinforced by discriminatory Federal and State policies, including 
        the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882;
Whereas, on September 2, 1885, escalating anti-Chinese sentiment in Rock Springs 
        culminated in a coordinated attack by a mob of over 200 White miners and 
        townspeople against the town's Chinese community;
Whereas the mob murdered at least 28 Chinese miners, brutally beating and 
        shooting, and many as they fled, looting what was left behind during the 
        attack, and burning down nearly all of Chinatown, including homes, 
        businesses, and forcibly displacing an entire community;
Whereas a mob also formed at the Almy coal mines immediately following the Rock 
        Springs Chinese Massacre, driving out the Chinese coal miners and 
        robbing them of what they left behind;
Whereas survivors took refuge at the Evanston Chinatown, but local law 
        enforcement failed to intervene or protect Chinese residents, no 
        perpetrator was ever indicted or held accountable, and surviving Chinese 
        workers were later forcibly taken to Rock Springs Chinatown under threat 
        of job loss;
Whereas, although the United States Government reimbursed the Chinese Government 
        for property losses, no compensation was provided directly to the 
        victims or their families;
Whereas the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre was one of the deadliest acts of anti-
        Chinese violence in United States history and part of a broader pattern 
        of racial violence and exclusion targeting Chinese immigrants in the 
        19th century;
Whereas, for decades, the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre was minimized, 
        distorted, or erased from historical narratives, often falsely reframed 
        as a misunderstanding, a labor dispute, or even blamed on the Chinese 
        victims themselves;
Whereas descendants of the victims, archaeologists, community historians, and 
        scholars have worked to uncover and preserve the truth of the massacre, 
        despite a long history of suppressed or altered narratives;
Whereas Asian-American communities continue to experience racism, xenophobia, 
        and violence, illustrating the enduring legacy of the prejudice that led 
        to events such as the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre; and
Whereas remembering the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre is essential to 
        understanding the national history of anti-Asian hate, labor 
        exploitation, and the experiences of immigrant workers in the United 
        States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre of 1885 
        and honors the memory of the Chinese immigrant workers who were 
        murdered;
            (2) acknowledges the massacre as one of the deadliest acts 
        of anti-Chinese and anti-immigrant violence in United States 
        history;
            (3) honors the contributions of Chinese immigrant laborers 
        whose work helped build critical American infrastructure 
        despite exploitation, discrimination, and violence;
            (4) condemns the racist mob violence perpetrated against 
        the Chinese community of Rock Springs and the failure of 
        authorities to protect Chinese residents or hold perpetrators 
        accountable;
            (5) condemns historical efforts to erase, distort, or deny 
        the reality of the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre and other acts 
        of anti-Asian violence;
            (6) recognizes the importance of education about the Rock 
        Springs Chinese Massacre and the broader history of anti-Asian 
        discrimination in the United States;
            (7) encourages the documentation, interpretation, and 
        commemoration of the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre site in 
        Wyoming, including through survey, historical research, 
        archaeological excavations, and consideration of eligibility 
        for recognition under Federal historic preservation programs, 
        as part of a broader effort to identify and preserve places 
        significant to the history of Chinese Americans and Asian and 
        Pacific Islander American communities in the United States and 
        as recommended in the Transcontinental Railroad Study approved 
        by Congress in 2019;
            (8) encourages education about the Rock Springs Chinese 
        Massacre, including its causes, the racial ideology that fueled 
        it, and the subsequent attempts to deny or rewrite its history, 
        in schools and institutions of higher education; and
            (9) recognizes the responsibility of Congress to 
        acknowledge and learn from the history of anti-Asian violence, 
        discrimination, and exclusion in the United States, including 
        the Rock Springs Chinese Massacre, and to work toward racial 
        justice.
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