Bills
| 3.23.22

Removing "Oriental" and Other Dated Terms to Describe Minorities from Federal Laws (H.R. 4238)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 4238?

(Updated September 18, 2017)

This bill was enacted on May 20, 2016

This bill would modernize the language used two federal laws by replacing the derogatory terms used to refer to minority groups with more accurate terms.

Existing portions of the Department of Energy Organization Act and the Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976 referring to minority groups would be amended to now include the following terminology:

“Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders, African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Natives.”

These terms would replace: 

"Negro, Puerto Rican, American Indian, Eskimo, Oriental, or Aleut or is a Spanish speaking individual of Spanish descent" 

Argument in favor

Derogatory terms have no place anywhere in respectable public discourse, let alone in federal law. Modernizing terms used to describe minorities in federal law should be a continuous effort.

Argument opposed

The terms used to describe minority groups in federal laws might be offensive to some — but Congress has more important things to do than spend time trying to correct its past mistakes.

Impact

Federal laws that use derogatory terms to describe minority groups.

Cost of H.R. 4238

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) introduced this legislation to remove derogatory terms from federal law that are insensitive to minority groups:

“It is way past time for the U.S. government to stop using this offensive and antiquated term and including my legislation in this Senate bill brings us one step closer to making that happen. Many who use the word ‘Oriental’ may not mean it in a derogatory manner; but it is an insulting term that should finally be removed from federal law.”

This legislation was approved by voice vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and it has the support of 76 cosponsors in the House — including 74 Democrats and two Republicans.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Flickr user Anna Fox)