Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry met with members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and other Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) leaders at his campaign headquarters in Washington D.C., on May 21.
Kerry outlined his strategy to mobilize APIA voters and criticized President George W. Bush for ignoring the concerns of the APIA community. He also praised the many contributions of the APIA community in the celebration of the Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month.
“Since the earliest days of our country, Asian Pacific Islanders have made a positive impact on our country and have been a beacon of the American dream. However, too many Asian Pacific Islander Americans have been forgotten by the Bush Administration,” said Kerry.
“Today’s meeting with members of congress, state and local elected officials and APIA leaders was a great opportunity to share our common vision for an America that celebrates diversity, embraces inclusion and opens doors of opportunity. I look forward to our continued dialogue as we work together to build a stronger America,” he added.
During the one-hour meeting, Kerry noted that while higher education has been a ladder to success for many in the APIA community, under Bush’s administration, access to college has become unaffordable.
Average tuition and fees at public four-year colleges increased from $3,487 in 2000-2001 to $4,694 in 2003-2004, a 28 percent increase after inflation, he said. This jump in tuition has resulted in an estimated 222,000 students being unable to attend college due to cost.
While Bush has turned a blind eye to the rising costs of education, Kerry has proposed a comprehensive approach to tackling this issue by creating a college opportunity tax credit and simplifying the financial aid process, according to a press release from Kerry’s campaign office.
Kerry also criticized the administration’s failure to address critical immigration issues and the unfair treatment that many minorities of Asian Pacific Islander descent endured under Bush’s immigration registration program. Kerry pledged to make immigration fairer, ensure family reunification as a priority and implement policies that respected civil rights while maintaining security. He also stressed his support for reinstating benefits to legal immigrants, many of whom are Asian Pacific Islander American Seniors.
Japanese American Congressman Michael Honda (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacifica American Caucus; Filipino-American Irene Bueno; Indian-American Krishna Kumar; Vietnamese-American Hung Nguyen; Korean-American Chris Pak; and Chinese-American Yeni Wong were among the leaders who met Kerry.
Kerry also voiced his alarm over the recent Executive Order that drastically reframes and restricts the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The original Executive Order issued by President Bill Clinton had a broad mandate to “improve the quality of life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased participation in Federal programs where they may be underserved (for instance, health, human services, education, housing, labor, transportation, and economic as well as community development).”
The Executive Order signed by Bush on May 13, 2004 narrows the mandate to focus principally on business and forgoes previous collaboration between government agencies. Kerry stated his support to reinstate the mandate laid out in the original Executive Order and indicated a need for data collection and cross-agency collaboration on numerous Asian Pacific Islander American issues.
Kerry also praised the efforts of the many APIA organizations that worked together to produce the report, “Call to Action: Platform got Asian Pacific Americans National Policy Priorities,” and expressed his agreement with many of the principles and policies outlined in the report.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian American Associations – National Capital Region (FIA-NCR) – celebrated the seventh Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on May 23 at the Potomac Community Center, Potomac, MD. The theme for this year’s celebration was “Freedom for All, A Country We Call Our Own.”
The organizers, including Parthasarathy Pillai, Ann Pillai and others, said one of the important goals of FIA-NCR is to promote better understanding and cooperation between Asian Indian Americans and other ethnic Asian Pacific Americans (APA).
The United States government has recognized Indian Americans along with other Asian Pacific Americans as a minority population in this country. Therefore, it is important to unite and work together in identifying and addressing issues and concerns common to us, protect rights and privileges, and project ourselves as a major social and political power to be reckoned with, they said.
The FIA-NCR gave prominent recognition to Lt. Shiby Chacko who served in the U.S. Army as a combat pilot in Afghanistan for more than a year and returned home recently after his service.
Those who attended the event included Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Rakesh Sood, Congressman Al Wynn (D-MD), Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Maryland House majority Leader Kunar Barve, and Samuel Mok, chief financial officer, U.S. Department of Labor.
