Date: 1996-05-21
Speaker: PATSY MINK (democrat)
Chamber: H

to salute all those in this country. all those Americans of Asian/Pacific Islander descent who have made this such a great country. I rise because I have .grown to know and to respect the many accomplishments of our Asian/Pacific Americans. and I happen to have a district in California. in the Los Angeles area. that happens to have a great number of Asian/Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles. It happens that much of my work. much of my effort and much of my success is a result of the efforts of many of the people in my district. and I count among those the many people from the Asian/Pacific community that have helped me along the way. Mr. Speaker. I would like to spend a few moments talking a little bit about the individual and the collective contributions of Asian/Pacific Americans to our country. and I would like to do that within the context. if I may. of my particular district. because as I said. my district is rich in what makes America great. the diversity. the talents. and I can speak of so many individuals from my particular district in southern California. so I would like to concentrate on just a few of those. First. I would like to just make sure it is clear that someone who has an opportunity to represent Koreatown in Los Angeles. parts of Chinatown in Los Angeles. a great percentage of the Filipino community in Los Angeles. and countless other Southeast Asians who live in Los Angeles. I have had a great opportunity to get to know the much and diverse ways in which our culture here in America is reflected. We can talk about people like Mr. Don Toy. who is a Chinese American. who has become probably Mr. Chinatown over the years because of his many efforts on behalf of the residents of Chinatown within the Los Angeles area. This is the executive director of Chinatown Teen Post. and in that capacity he has been able to help so many of our youth go on and lead productive lives. He has been instrumental in making sure that senior citizens throughout Los Angeles have an opportunity in the areas around Chinatown to have safe and decent homes to live in at the point of their retirement. Cathay Manor. which houses more than 300 units and is home to more than 500 seniors in Los Angeles. is really a tribute to the success of someone like Don Toy. Cathay Manor is there. and the people living in Cathay Manor owe a great deal to Don Toy. Stewart Kwoh. another Chinese American. is a resident of Los Angeles. the Silver Lake area. part of which I represent. He is the executive director of the Asian/Pacific American Legal Center of southern California. Most people know of the legal center because of its many successes in defending the rights and protecting those rights of Asian/Pacific islanders who are in this country. We have found on too many occasions the need to go to court to defend the rights of all citizens of this country. of all people of this country. to have the protections of the Constitution. Stewart Kwoh and the Asian/Pacific American Legal Center of southern California have been there to ensure that those people have been able to assert their rights. Bong Hwan Kim. a friend and another individual from my district. he is Korean American. He is also the director of a fantastic program at the Korean Youth and Community Center. It is the largest Korean American service organization in the Nation. Through his leadership it has continued to grow. and it continues to build bridges with the different races and ethnic groups that make up Los Angeles. the patchwoik which has become such a renowned part of Los Angeles. It is because of his efforts that the Korean American community has been able to reach oat to the African American community. to the other communities which make up that portion of America that we call Los Angeles. Linda Wong. a Chinese American of fantastic reputation. is chief financial officer of Rebuiid L.A.. the organiza. tion created to make sure that we could. after the aftermath of the unrest in Los Angeles. go on 5o rebuild this great city. She has worked tirelessly for many years as a lawyer defending so many people. not just Asian/Pacific islanders. but many people through her public interest work as an attorney. and now she is also someone who is working as a trustee of the Los Angeles metropolitan project. which is a $100 million educational reform movement in Los Angeles. The honorable Delbert Wong. Chinese American resident. is the first superior court judge in the United States. a fantastic jurist. someone who would be just the epitome of what we would want to see in our courts. He is someone who is Los Angeles bred. One last friend. Dr. Haing Ngor. Some of you may remember this Cambodian American because he is the individual who won the Oscar for best supporting actor in the film. thd Killing Fields. He has unfortunately left us because of his brutal murder. a tragic death. but he too was an Asian American of renown. Throughout his lifetime Dr. Ngor never gave up his work to someday obtain peace in Cambodia. I want to thank the Speaker for the opportunity to say to all those people who have represented this country so well and will continue to do so whether they are of a particular ethnicity. or race in this case. we are talking about the Asian/Pacific islander community. that what make America great is the fabric that keeps us together. The Asian/Pacific islander community is among the various communities that make this Nation so great. and I wish to extend to all those people my congratulations and my thanks for the greatness that comes through those people.