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Tang Ben Forum
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董繼玲：爲美國亞裔公民，向布希總統進言 Dear Friend, Greetings from Sacramento. Last month, I was grateful to be invited to join President Bush at the Asian Heritage Month Celebration Signing Ceremony. Here is the partial translation of the Chinese article in Northern CA section (World Journal) regarding my visit to the White House. "CA State Senate Republican Principle Consultant Chiling Tong was invited as one of the twelve Asian leaders to the White House to join President Bush at the Asian Heritage Month Celebration. Transportation Secretary and Labor Secretary Chao accompanied the President at the ceremony. After the ceremony, President Bush spent about 30 minutes discussing different Asian Pacific issues with the group. Chiling Tong raised the issue of "Asian bashing" to the President's attention. She said whenever there are tensions between the United States and an Asian country, Asian-Americans become a target of blame and criticism. President Bush expressed his concern about racial intolerance. He said he hoped that Asian Americans would not be singled out, and that they should be not. Bush said, "we are all Americans and we should not be treated differently. President Bush praised the contributions and accomplishments of the Asian-American community. He stated that the API community has brought values and ideals to American that are essential to the continued well-being of our nation. Diversity represents one of our greatest strengths, [and the] API community will help to determine the course of our Nations' future." In addition to President Bush's historic appointments of two API cabinet members and nine sub-Cabinet members to date, listed below are two other actions that President Bush has recently taken in support of the API community - Amendment to Executive Order to increase participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Federal Programs and Quoc Doung will head White House Imitative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Wish you have a good summer!! Chiling Tong THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 6, 2001 EXECUTIVE ORDER AMENDMENT TO EXECUTIVE ORDER 13125, INCREASING PARTICIPATION OF ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and in order to change the title of Executive Order 13125 of June 7, 1999, and to extend by 2 years the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that was created by Executive Order 13125, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. The title of Executive Order 13125 is deleted and the following title is inserted in lieu thereof: "Increasing Opportunity and Improving Quality of Life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders." Sec. 2. Section 9 of Executive Order 13125 is amended by deleting "2 years after the date of this Executive order unless the Commission is renewed by the President prior to the end of that 2-year period" and inserting in lieu thereof "on June 7, 2003, unless renewed by the President prior to that date." GEORGE W. BUSH THE WHITE HOUSE, June 6, 2001. DUONG WILL HEAD WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS John Quoc Duong is the new executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today. "We are very pleased that Mr. Duong has joined the HHS team," Secretary Thompson said. "We will work closely with him to improve the health and well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders." Established by an Executive Order in June 1999, the initiative addresses the concerns of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in a variety of areas, including health, education, labor, small business, housing and economic development. "I look forward to working with the White House, Secretary Thompson and his staff to develop an agenda that will give Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders a strong voice in government," Duong said. "I am delighted to have this opportunity to serve my community and my country." Prior to joining the Bush administration, Duong was vice president for Development, a real estate development company headquartered in Orange County, Calif. He previously served as deputy director of California Gov. Pete Wilson's Office of Community Relations. Duong served as a board member for the Contra Costa College Foundation, the Contra Costa County Workforce Development Board, the American Viet League, and the Vietnamese American Council. He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis. For more information on the initiative, please visit <http://www.aapi.gov>. |