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“ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E797-E798 on May 11, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH
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speech of
HON. ZOE LOFGREN
of california
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, today and throughout the month of May, we celebrate the many contributions Asian Pacific Americans have made to the fabric of our communities and to this Nation as a whole.
More than 100 Members of Congress work together in the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to promote Asian Pacific American issues and concerns, and I'm pleased that we are led by my long-time friend and colleague, Congressman Mike Honda.
Congressman Honda and I are proud to represent San Jose, California and surrounding areas, a community blessed with diversity and culture from around the world, including close to 350,000 Asian Pacific Americans.
Some notable Asian Pacific Americans from our area include Norman Mineta, the longest serving Secretary in the history of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the first Asian American mayor of a major U.S. city, and the first Asian American Cabinet member during the Clinton Administration.
San Jose Councilmember Madison Nguyen is another extraordinary Asian Pacific American. She is the first Vietnamese American woman elected to office in the State of California.
Another distinguished Asian Pacific American from the San Jose area is Dr. Allan Seid who founded Asian Americans for Community Involvement
(AACI), the largest social services nonprofit organization serving the Asian Pacific American community in Santa Clara County.
Vinod Khosla has contributed immensely to Silicon Valley as a distinguished venture capitalist and a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, a company that has grown into one of the largest providers of computers, computer components, software, and information-technology services.
In this Congress, there are five Asian Pacific Americans serving our Nation and their communities as members of the House of Representatives, as well as one delegate from American Samoa and two Asian Pacific Americans serving in the Senate. I am proud that the California Democratic Delegation includes two of these Representatives from the Asian Pacific American community.
In the field of science and technology, Asian Pacific Americans have long contributed to our country, from Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian-
American in space, to Flossi Wong-Staal and Dr. David D. Ho, for their work on HIV and AIDS. Moreover, several Asian Pacific Americans have received Nobel Prizes for their accomplishments in science and technology.
Hundreds of thousands of Asian Pacific Americans have also loyally served our Nation in the military willing to give their life for the United States of America. Asian Pacific American veterans of the Armed Forces number 312,700.
In sports, Asian Pacific Americans have helped bring home Olympic gold medals for the United States, including the first woman to win gold medals in the ten and three meter diving events--Filipina American Victoria Manalo Draves.
Although it is important for us to celebrate Asian Pacific American heritage this month, we must not forget the plight that Asian Pacific Americans endure despite the community's many accomplishments.
The pitfalls of immigration law and the backlog of immigration applications continue to prevent many Asian Pacific American families from reuniting for several years.
We must also not forget that the APA community suffers from greater poverty than non-Hispanic Whites, especially in the Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese American communities.
We must work to ensure that Asian Pacific Americans are appropriately counted when our government collects data that will be used to understand the needs of the APA community.
We must make every effort to invite Asian Pacific Americans to participate in government to ensure that our government meets the needs of the APA community.
In commemoration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I honor the contributions of millions of Asian Pacific Americans who have contributed to our nation and who I am sure will continue to contribute in the future. But while I celebrate this month, I also renew my pledge to address the issues affecting Asian Pacific Americans around the country.
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