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President’s Advisory Commission on AAPI

Thirteen members sworn in

By Ji Hyun Lim

In an ongoing effort to increase APA participation in federal programs, the Bush administration swore in 13 members to the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on Nov. 28. The new group will continue the work of previous commission members in advising the president on matters of health, education, economic and community development, civil rights and business.

“The commissioners are from ethnically and professionally diverse backgrounds in health, labor, business,” said John Quoc Duong, director for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. “Their job is to hold town hall meetings and site visits. They do research, read scholarly research and data, and make recommendations.”

In June 1999, then-President Clinton signed Executive Order 13125, establishing the President’s Advisory Commission, the federal Interagency Working Group (IWG) and the White House Initiative on AAPIs — branches to assist the president in addressing APA concerns.

Dr. John Tsu, chair of the commission, and Dr. Lupo Carlota, David Cohen, Mary Ling, Barbara Marumoto, Garry On, Sunny Park, Michelle Park Steel, Amata Radewagen, Jhoon Rhee, Joseph Ting, Bao Ky Vu and Zachariah Zachariah were sworn in last Wednesday at the White House. The Bush administration hopes to fill the two remaining seats.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson administered the oath of office, and Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao gave keynote speeches. Members of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) attended, as did numerous legislators.

Community leaders have applauded President Bush’s renewal of the commission. However, he has been criticized for not appointing a more diverse group, which now has just one South Asian, one Vietnamese American and one Filipino American. There are no native Hawai’ians.

In light of recent statistics, the need to represent these communities in particular is evident. Southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders and Filipinos typically have low participation rates in federal programs. Meanwhile, South Asians have become vulnerable targets of hate crimes since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Moreover, they are an important force, with their population increasing 110 percent in the last 10 years, the largest growth among APA groups.

Shortly after the President’s Advisory Commission was sworn in, members met with representatives of federal agencies and discussed future plans as they traveled through Washington, D.C., and New York. The commissioners visited the Chinatown community in New York to report on pending problems since Sept. 11. Displaced workers and community members voiced concerns, such as gaining access to donations and aid given to the victims of Sept. 11.

“Tension shifted since the terrorist attacks but President Bush made it clear that he wants life to go on,” Duong said.

Commissioners plan to examine ways to overcome language barriers, a major reason for low participation in federal programs. Among APAs, 40 percent of the population struggles with the English language.

“It starts with linguistic access and having more data so we can justify the service,” Duong said. “All of the commissioners are bilingual or trilingual. [Many] are foreign-born and reflect the APA community.”

Tsu promised he would implement recommendations issued 10 months ago by the former commissioners. He said data collected on civil rights groups, sweatshop workers, hate crimes and labor issues would be studied.

Said Duong: “[We need to] identify a handful of priority areas first. Urgent needs come first whether they are economic interests or concerns in Chinatown, Koreatown or other communities. We streamline the process to expedite it and identify areas the federal government needs to address.”