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Bush extends APA Commission's term

Aziz Haniffa
India Abroad Correspondent in Washington

The President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, established by President Bill Clinton to co-ordinate the efforts of the White House Initiative on APAs, has been given a fresh lease of life.

The commission, established two years ago, was headed by Shamina Singh. Singh's appointment as executive director made her the highest-ranking Indian American woman to hold a job in the federal government.

President George W Bush extended the commission's term for two years so that it can continue its efforts to increase the participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in federal programmes.

The commission, comprising a dozen members, includes two Indian Americans -- hotelier and former chairman of the Asian American Hotel Owners' Association Mukesh 'Mike' Patel and tech guru Vinod Dham, famous for his invention of the Pentium chip for Intel.

Both, however, are Clinton appointees and word is that they are likely to be replaced by Republican Party faithful.

The commission advises the President on the development, monitoring, and co-ordination of federal efforts to improve the quality of life of APAs through public-sector, private-sector and community involvement.

It is also mandated to study ways of fostering research and data collection on APAs, including information on public health.

The White House Initiative on APAs co-ordinates the efforts of the commission with a federal infrastructure in order to address the concerns of APAs in areas such as health, education, labour, small business, housing and economic development.

President Bush recently appointed John Quoc Duong executive director of the White House Initiative on APAs, replacing Singh.

Parag Mehta, Syracuse University alumnus and holder of a master's degree in public policy, will continue as liaison between the White House Initiative and the commission.

Singh, who was responsible for recruiting Mehta, told India Abroad, "He is an outstanding scholar and extremely smart, and he is doing a great job in terms of making sure that all interests of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are represented, and also that the interests of Indian Americans are taken care of."

"If the Indian American community cares about this Initiative, they will have to be much more vocal, more so because now the executive director is not Indian," Singh warned, adding, "It will require an extra effort on their part."

Singh also stressed the need for unanimity in the Indian American community on who should represent them on the commission, when Bush gets ready to replace the likes of Patel and Dham. "It is important that health interests are represented, also business and technology, all of which are important to our community," she pointed out.

"I've spoken with Duong and I plan on working closely with him, as much as he wants," the commission's outgoing executive director said.

She pointed out that Bush's decision to extend the commission's term was "in large measure because we built such a strong foundation. The initiative proved itself to be something valuable, not only to the community but also to the president. I think it is a tremendous testament to the work of the entire community," she added.

Singh said there was no doubt that Bush's decision was based on the fact that the APA community "is a constituency that requires attention and it has been well proven in the 2000 census where Asian Americans, particularly Asian Indians, have shown phenomenal growth."

The census shows a snowballing in the Asian Indian population by over 105 per cent, from 800,000 in 1990 to over 1.6 million in 2000.

Singh said she had mentioned these and related matters in the report she submitted to Clinton as he left office, and to Bush as he took over.

She added that extension of the commission's term of office was a clear signal that "President Bush recognized the energy, the vitality, of this community and that they are Americans as anybody else".

"I am very excited [about the extension]. It's a testament to all of the hard work that the community, including the Indian American community and commission members like Mike Patel and Vinod Dham, put in, and it was the community that was very involved in making sure that the White House executive order extending the life of the commission was issued," she said. "They fought hard to do it. They worked behind the scenes and I think it's also because of the staff of that office, with people like Parag who are top-notch. So I am looking forward to working with them."

For his part, Duong declared that Bush, by extending the commission's life, "has affirmed his commitment to including all Americans in his agenda for this nation".

He predicted that the commission "will provide valuable leadership and will serve as an effective vehicle to receive input from diverse communities on critical issues that need to be addressed".

Prior to taking over from Singh, Duong was vice-president for Bridgecreek Development, a real-estate company based in Orange County, California. He has previously served as deputy director of former California Governor Pete Wilson's office of community relations.

A Vietnamese American, Duong is a graduate of the University of California, Davis.

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Census 2000: The Indian American story

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