President's Advisory Commission Reports that Asian Heritage Should Be Taught in Schools
	Guilty Verdict for Edmund Ko (in National News) Retired Asian American Judge to Fill Insurance Post (in Bay Area News) Streaming Media--Primetime and Online (in Business) The Big Bang of Bay Area Butoh (in A&E) Emil Amok: A Sudden Eraption (in Opinion)

S.F. Bay Area Celebrates Members of President’s Advisory Commission

Executive order to address needs of Asian Americans

By Julie D. Soo

Following a day-long town hall meeting in Los Angeles that was video-linked with 12 other cities, several hundred guests welcomed members of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to a July 25 reception at the Presidio’s Golden Gate Club.

The commission was established through Executive Order 13125, which President Clinton signed on June 7, 1999. It seeks to improve the quality of life of Asian Americans through increased participation in federal programs where they may be under-served. The executive order also establishes the Federal Interagency Working Group on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that calls upon all federal departments to mobilize their resources to meet the health and social service needs of Asian Americans.

Fired up by the crowd, Advisory Commission Chair Martha Choe explained their mission: “We will collect data. We will foster public-private partnerships. We intend to change [API] lives—not just issue a paper report but get money for services. The work is daunting and we will rely on community leaders and federal agency leaders.”

Supervisor Michael Yaki applauded the commission’s efforts and reminded the audience that while San Francisco has been the site of many dark periods against Asian Americans, it has also been the epicenter of historic triumphs. The last and only other executive order affecting Asian Americans was Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, which authorized the removal of over 120,000 citizens and immigrants of Japanese ancestry from western coastal regions to internment camps. The order was carried out from the Presidio.

Last Tuesday, however, the scene was celebratory. Wilma Chan, Alameda County Board of Supervisors president and candidate for the State Assembly, brought an air of hope to the reception by declaring the next 10 years as the “Decade of the Asian American.” A November victory for Chan would make her the 80th woman to serve in the Assembly and the first Chinese American to serve since 1974. Currently, only two Asian Americans hold seats in the Assembly: Democrats George Nakano of Torrance and Mike Honda of San Jose, who is making a bid for the 15th Congressional District after receiving top votes in the March primary election.

The Advisory Commission under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services will advise the president on three goals: to develop, monitor, and coordinate federal efforts to improve Asian American participation in government programs; to foster research and data collection for Asian American populations and sub-populations; and to increase public and private sector and community involvement in improving the health and well-being of the API populace.

APIs are the fastest growing racial-ethnic group in the United States, expected to reach 10 percent of the population by the year 2050. The latest U.S. Census Bureau data show that 10.4 million Asian Americans live in the United States and U.S.-associated Pacific Island jurisdictions, comprising approximately 4 percent of the total U.S. population, according to the Office of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Eight out of the 15 members on the commission attended the San Francisco reception. They included Martha Choe, Jacinta Titialii Abbott, Tessie Guillermo, Jonathan Leong, Lee Pao Xiong, Haunani Apoliona, Mike Patel and Vinod Dham. The other members are: Norman Y. Mineta, Gloria Caoile, Susan Soon-Keum Cox, David Ho, Dennis Hayashi, Ngoan Le and Wilfred P. Leon Guerrero. Though newly confirmed Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta presided over the Los Angles meeting, he was absent from the San Francisco festivities. He has stepped down as chair of the commission to take over the role of commerce secretary. The commission will sunset on June 7, 2001, but may be renewed at that time by the sitting president.

Reverend Norman Fong of the Chinatown Community Development Center closed the event with good thoughts and blessings, engaging the crowd in a good luck chant, “Power to you, Commissioners.”