On May 16, US House Representative Mark Takano (D-CA) commemorated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month by honoring one of his predecessors, Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian American (and only Sikh) to serve in US Congress (1957-1963):

Congressman Saund was the first Asian American Member of Congress, the very first Member of a non-Abrahamic faith, and the first Member born in Asia. He was also our first Sikh American to enter Congress. He also represented my hometown of Riverside, California, a community that I proudly represent today.

You can watch Representative Takano’s remarks during the House Session on May 16 below.