WASHINGTON - Yesterday evening, APAICS hosted the Ceremonial Swearing-In for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AA & NH/PI) members and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) members of the 118th Congress. The event serves as a recognition of the increasing diversity of federal leadership and representation of AA & NH/PI members serving in Congress.
The event, emceed by Aimee Cho, from News4NBC Washington, included statements of occasion from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and Whip of CAPAC Ted Lieu. CAPAC Chair Judy Chu gave closing remarks, and the Honorable Florence Y. Pan, U.S. Circuit Court Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, administered the ceremonial oath of office.
“I am thankful for the CAPAC family…for your brilliance, your strength, your resilience, your work ethic, your commitment, your heart and soul on behalf of the AA & NH/PI community and all Americans,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “I am thankful for your commitment to making sure we can bring the great American Dream to life for the AA & NH/PI community throughout America and for every community across this great land.”
“We now have enough AA & NH/PI elected officials at all levels of government to be able to fight back [against anti-Asian hate crimes]. According to the U.S. Census, the AA & NH/PI population is the largest growing ethnic group in America for two straight Census reports. The AA & NH/PI population has more than doubled since 2000,” said Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and Whip of CAPAC Ted Lieu. “Now is an exciting time to be part of the community, and I am so honored to be here with all of the amazing members of CAPAC. All of us are looking forward to working with you to make America an even better place to live, work, and pray.”
“As chair of CAPAC, I am thrilled we have 21 AA and NH/PI members of 118th Congress and over 70 members of CAPAC,” said CAPAC Chair Judy Chu. “I am proud to lead this Caucus where we leverage our community’s power on Capitol Hill to advocate for the needs of AAs & NH/PIs across this country.”
“The 118th Congress continues to maintain an all-time high of 21 AA & NH/PI members of Congress,” said Madalene Xuan-Trang Mielke, president & CEO of APAICS. “These elected leaders inspire the next generation of public servants and encourage us to participate in civic engagement. I applaud them for their work in continuing our representative democracy.”
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The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) is a national non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting Asian Pacific American participation and representation at all levels of the political process, from community service to elected office.