Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 11, 1 November 2009 — President re-establishes Asian American and Paciflc Islanders Commission [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

President re-establishes Asian American and Paciflc Islanders Commission

On Oct. 1 4, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that aims to increase participation of Asian Americans and Pacific lslanders in federal programs. The order re-established the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific lslanders and the White House lnitiative on Asian Americans and Pacific lslanders, first created by President Bill Clinton 10 years ago. The commission's 20 members, who will be appointed by Obama, will advise the president on his efforts to improve quality of life for the nation's more than 1 6 million Asian Americans and Pacific lslanders. "When any of our citizens are unable to fulfill their potential due to factors that have nothing to do with their talent, ehameter or work ethic, then I believe there's a role for our government to play," Obama said. "This is not to guarantee anybody's success or to solve everybody's problems, but to ensure that we're living up to our nation's ideals; to ensure that we ean eaeh pursue our own version of happiness, and that we eonhnue to be a nation where all things are still possible for all people." - Photo: Courtesy ofthe White House