After years of grassroots campaigning by Asian Americans, members of Congress from both major parties unveiled a bill saying that the United States "deeply regrets" the Exclusion Act and discrimination against ethnic Chinese.

The 1882 act banned immigration by Chinese workers and their naturalization as US citizens, marking the first time the United States explicitly closed its borders to a particular nationality.

The law severely complicated life for the more than 100,000 ethnic Chinese already in the United States. Many had been recruited to build the transcontinental railroad but faced racism from white workers.

Representative Judy Chu of California, who heads the Asian American caucus in Congress, said that the Chinese Exclusion Act "engendered hatred, bigotry and prejudice in the minds of Americans" against ethnic Chinese.

"For a generation of our ancestors, including my own grandfather, who were told for six decades by the US government that the Land of the Free wasn't open to them, it is long past time that Congress officially and formally recognizes these ugly laws and expresses sincere regret," she told reporters.

Chu, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, put a top priority on approving the resolution but waited until enlisting members of the rival Republican Party which won control of the House last year.

"I think Asian Americans are probably the least understood minority in this country," said Representative Mike Coffman, a Republican from Colorado who supports the bill.

"Most Americans are not familiar with the Exclusion Act -- which wasn't repealed until 1943 -- and the extraordinary levels of discrimination against Asian Americans," he said.

Activists note that when Congress repealed the act, the United States was in the throes of World War II and was primarily concerned that Japan was citing the law in propaganda questioning China's alliance with Washington.

After the act's repeal, the United States still let in only 105 Chinese each year. The United States opened up to large-scale immigration by non-Europeans under a landmark 1965 law championed by then senator Ted Kennedy.

Many Asian American campaigners had sought a full-fledged statement of apology for the Chinese Exclusion Act but showed a willingness to compromise in hopes of seeking the bill's passage.

Chu argued that a statement of regret was more appropriate for a congressional decision more than a century ago, saying: "You can only apologize for what you did yourself."

All Asian Americans in Congress are Democrats. Republican supporters of the resolution acknowledged the issue was not on the leadership's radar but hoped for passage in the current Congress if Asian American voters drum up momentum.

Representative Judy Biggert, a Republican who co-sponsored the House resolution with Chu, said that her constituents in suburban Chicago persuaded her to take up the issue.

"I think this is an important thing -- that we are a country where everyone is equal and gets equal rights," Biggert said. "We have to keep that in front for future generations, because otherwise it will happen to someone else in a similar way."

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