APIAVote would like to congratulate the following individuals on their appointments within the Obama-Biden administration (listed in alphabetical order).

Preeta Bansal - General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Anju Bhargava - Member of Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Steven Chu - Secretary of Energy

Nancy-Ann DeParle - Director, White House Office of Health Reform

Tammy Duckworth - Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs

Ivan K. Fong - General Counsel, Department of Homeland Security

Neal Katyal - Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States

Betsy Kim - White House Liason, Department of Defense

Harold Koh - nominee, Legal Advisor, Department of State

Howard Koh - nominee, Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services

Vivek Kundra - Federal Chief Information Officer

Gary Locke - Secretary of Commerce

Chris Lu - Cabinet Secretary

Florence Y. Pan - Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Eboo Patel - Member of Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Nicholas Rathod - Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

Pete Rouse - Senior Advisor to the President

Meena Seshamani, Director of Policy Analysis Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Health Reform

Rajiv Shah - Nominee, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, United States Department of Agriculture

Sonal Shah - White House Office of Social Innovation

Rhea Suh - Nominee, Assistant Secretary for Policy Management and Budget, Department of Interior

Neera Tanden, Senior Advisor Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Health Reform

Tina Tchen - Director, Office of Public Engagement

Kal Penn  - Associate Director, Office of Public Engagement

APANO-PAC, the 501c4 political/partisan wing of APANO, is still an active part of the Asian/Pacific Islander community.  For the 2008 General Elections Nov 4 however, APANO-PAC has decided not to go through an endorsement process for candidates.  

We encourage you to visit our non-profit 501c3 organization, APANO, which is actively registering, educating and turning out voters.  APANO has taken the position of No on 58.  Visit them at www.apano.org.

By Ronault Catalani

The Oregon we know is an energetic mix of families from almost every continent. We are from as many newly free Eastern European and former-Soviet states as we have United States. We are from Africa, a continent even more racially and ethnically diverse then America. We’re from Arabia and India and Asia, from societies older than history.

Our personal and our political histories are different. Each of our many communities’ pull to Oregon is as different as the human pressures and economic policies that pushed us from our ancestral homelands. Our circumstances are indeed, very different.

We argue about politics and economics. As immigrants and refugees, we often argue vigorously – but as families and communities we are in always in accord over one thing:

All our children’s education.

Nationality and ethnicity and religion aside, we all want our bright boys and our bright girls excelling in school. We dream of them competitive in Oregon’s marketplace. We are ambitious peoples.

We respect educators. Immigrant and refugee parents firmly believe our children’s teachers have the heart and the knowledge to deliver our dreams. We trust our teachers because they work their classrooms everyday, because they know their students’ needs. We are not confident of politicians who advocate educational change that is contrary to our educators’ best judgment.

Newcomers to America understand that federal funding is essential to educating our kids, and that this is very different from the neglect schools endure in the countries we left to come here. We are do not want changes in Oregon school practices that will threaten an end to federal monies flowing into our classrooms.

As parents and as communities we are deeply disturbed by Ballot Measure 58 and other similar current efforts trying to turn public anxieties about Oregon’s economy and America’s security, against anyone’s vulnerable children. This is not the Oregon we know. Our immigrant and refugee students have succeeded when we’ve let their teachers, guided by local assessments, and supported by federal dollars, do their jobs.

Please vote No on Measure 58.  To get more involved in APANO’s Electoral Work, please email organizer@apano.org or call 503-490-5639.

Disclaimer: APANO-PAC has not endorsed any 2008 Presidential Candidate. This is for your information only.

AsiaFest Portland (event website)
Date: May 10, 2008 11:00am to 6:00pm

Featured Performance: Portland Taiko

Location: Oregon Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A
777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd, Portland, OR 97232
Cost: $3.00. Children 6 & Under are Free

The 16th Annual Asian American Youth Leadership Conference is being held this Friday at PCC-Sylvania. APANO-PAC members will be tabling and seeking to register 100% of the eligible participants. 2008 is a special year for voter registration, as Oregon passed a new law (HB 2910) that permits 17 year-olds to register to vote. They are not eligible to cast their ballot until they are 18 years of age. This allows civic groups such as APANO-PAC to work closely with events like the Youth Leadership Conference to intentionally educate and register students.

Organizer Paul Mai reports they expect 400 students to attend from area high schools. Paul was the keynote speaker at the first Conference in 1992, and has come full circle to be on the planning committee. As for program:

Each year the Planning Committee selects a particular theme for the conference and then develops a series of workshops related to that theme. Although the theme and topics change from year to year, all workshops are developed to achieve the conference’s three overriding goals:

(i) to impart leadership skills
(ii) to provide career guidance and opportunities
(iii) to foster a strong sense of culture and self-pride among the students.

For more information, visit the nice new AAYLC website. APANO-PAC is seeking volunteers to help us register students to vote. Get involved by contacting Interim Organizer Joseph Santos-Lyons (apano.organizer@gmail.com) 503-490-5639 and filling out an APANO-PAC Membership Form.