News

Federal Agencies Tasked to Create and Implement Plans to Solve Problems Facing Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities

Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders appointed by President Obama presented a report to the White House with recommendations on how 23 federal agencies and offices can improve the everyday lives of AAPIs. The report addresses problems uniquely facing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, such as linguistic isolation, health problems that disproportionally affect AAPIs and bullying and other civil rights issues.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, who serves as the White House Initiative’s co-chair   noted that each federal agency worked hard to identify hurdles preventing the AAPI community from achieving their full potential.

Details outlined in the report were submitted by each agency to address priorities established by the White House Initiative -- creating healthy communities and sustainable neighborhoods, expanding educational opportunities, increasing economic growth and improving civil rights.

Recommendations in the report include:

--Early identification of chronic Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations that don’t know they have the virus. Hepatitis B chronically infects about 1.5 million people in the U.S., and AAPIs account for over half of all the cases.

--Strengthening of Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions programs to increase college graduation rates for AAPI students. While educational attainment among East Asian and South Asian groups is high, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders have lower high school graduation rates.

White House Youth Program

White House has started an initiative to get more youth involved in governmental affairs. PAKPAC encourages its youth members to participate in these activities, below is a list of activities initiated by White House.

The Big News: Host a Roundtable! The President announces 100 Youth Roundtables happening around the country. Click here for more info and to host a roundtable in your community!

A New Voice for Students As the cost of college continues to rise; you may be one of the increasing number of students turning to debt to pay for your education. Many are relying on loans from private lenders that often lack the clear terms, fixed rates, and flexible repayment options of federal student loans.

According to the Project on Student Loan Debt, nearly 1.5 million students now graduate with student loan debt each year, leaving school owing an average of $24,000 – a debt increase of about 25 percent since 2004. You can get involved right away by visiting our main National Consumer Protection Week page, or using the #NCPW hashtag on Twitter to talk about what you’re doing this week to become a more informed consumer.

Great Outdoors Initiative Invitation Join us on Thursday March 17th at 2:00 p.m. EST as Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar answer your questions about President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. To check it out, click here.

Submit your questions in advance on the YouthGO YouTube page here or send them to YouthGO@ios.doi.gov. You can also watch and ask your questions live on the White House facebook page.

Here’s a link to the youth report they recently released and a link to the Youth Fact Sheet.

International Women's Day First Lady Michelle Obama and women from around the world to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day

Young Vets: Schools Encouraged to Join VA’s Yellow Ribbon Program Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki is encouraging interested colleges and universities to join the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in participating in the Post-9/11 GI Bill Yellow Ribbon Program for the upcoming 2011-2012 academic year.  More info is available here. For a complete listing of the schools presently participating, click here.

VA Reaching Out to Veterans on Campus Through VetSuccess New Agreements Recently Reached to Ease Transition from Active-Duty Military The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is making a concerted effort this Spring to reach out to student Veterans at eight VetSuccess on Campus sites to make them aware that VA counselors are standing by to help ease their transition from active-duty military to college life.  For more information on VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation Program and VetSuccess, click here and here, or call 1-800-827-1000.  

Ambassador Susan Rice Speaks to Young Women Leaders in East Harlem
Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, marked the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8th in East Harlem, New York. There she urged tomorrow’s strong woman leaders, the 11th and 12th grade classes of The Young Women’s Leadership School (TYWLS) of East Harlem, to continue to win their future through education. Read more here

West Wing Week: "Law School in 15 Seconds" This week, President Obama focused on education, visiting some innovative classrooms in Miami and Boston, and dropping in on a US History class in Arlington, Virginia with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. To watch the video, click here.

For more info visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/young-american-updates

President Obama promotes anti bullying Campaign

President Obama and the First Lady are hosted a White House Summit on the topic of bullying, following the release of a video earlier about how preventing bullying is a responsibility we all share.  President Obama and the First Lady talk about bullying and the growing movement, led by young people, to make our communities places where young people can thrive. While it may not always be in the headlines, bullying is an issue that affects every young person in America, and we all have a responsibility to do something about it.  A new site was also launched that houses bullying prevention materials from many agencies across the federal government. You can access this new site at www.stopbullying.gov.

USAID $13 million Grant for Infant Health Programs

USAID, Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and The World Bank have joined together to launch Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development. Together, we are calling for groundbreaking prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in poor, rural communities around the time of childbirth. We are particularly interested in investing in approaches that incorporate the latest scientific, technological, behavior change and information and communication advances into radical solutions with substantial impact. In addition, there is a need to understand how best to scale up innovations in each of these domains so that they reach their target populations, which may draw upon private sector expertise and engagement in deploying and sustaining solutions. Innovation in these areas will complement other existing efforts and calls for action to strengthen health systems and to target broader determinants of health including poverty, inequity (including gender), and access to water and sanitation resources. We are calling on for-profit companies, non-governmental organizations, academic/medical research institutions, faith-based organizations, civic groups and foundations—together or in partnership—to take up this challenge. These investments in high-risk, potentially high-return projects are aimed to identify and support transformational approaches to women’s and newborns’ health that can be scaled up to dramatically – and sustainably – reduce deaths and poor birth outcomes for millions of women and newborns in the hardest to reach communities of the world. For more info visit the link below

A Grand Challenge for Development  http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=77438

Events & Activities

Representative King Hearings – two steps backwards

Pakistan American Public Affairs Committee (PAKPAC) is gravely concerned about hearings convened by Congressman King (NY) titled The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community’s Response., in the House Homeland Security Committee. PAKPAC applauds all House Homeland Security Committee members who raised voices of legitimate reason and stood up for what is right The hearing evoked immense emotion from members of the Committee as well as panelists. As the hearing convened, it became clear that the purpose was not to uncover facts or resolve conflicts. While there has been much controversy surrounding this hearing, it seemed to have begun and ended without accomplishing anything other than stigmatizing and profiling the American Muslim community. Some Committee members repeated that this hearing was not against a singular faith or ethnic group, yet through their opening remarks and cross-questioning all that came across was fear mongering and an escalation of hatred for American Muslims. No good can come from needlessly targeting an entire religious community.

Radicalization is a legitimate target for a congressional panel charged with homeland security, but the hearings appear to put the onus on the American Muslim community as the source of the problem, whereas the American Muslim community itself is part of the solution, not the sole problem of increased radicalization. The most effective counter-weight to radicalization is to ensure that American Muslim feel welcome and vested in our pluralist and free society. The hearings target the American Muslim community specifically - and inherently accuse the American Muslim community of not being proactive in preventing terrorism. Representative King is using his powerful post as head of the House Homeland Security Committee to subject the entire American Muslim community to public scrutiny through discriminatory hearings based on prejudicial ideas. Congressman King asserted without any supporting evidence that Law Enforcement Officials have complained to him about lack of cooperation from American Muslims, a charge that was clearly refuted by the only Law Enforcement Officer at the hearing Sheriff Baca from Los Angeles County.  Baca repeatedly defended the regular outreach program he has with American Muslim Community, and that Muslim leaders have worked well with law enforcement in Los Angeles County.

PAKPAC believes that the King hearings are creating a false narrative with the use of collective guilt. First - naturalized Muslims in the United States are Americans first – period.  Second, hundreds of Muslims died on 9/11 - we were all attacked, Congressman Ellison talked about Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a Muslim-American paramedic who lost his life on 9/11 trying to save victims.  Third - the largest single source of initial information on planned terrorist attacks by Muslims in the United States involved tips from the American Muslim community itself. – the very community that Congressman King is singling out.  Fourth, it is correct that Faisal Shehzad, the Time Square Bomber was an American Muslim – but so was Alioune Niass, the street vendor who first alerted authorities to the smoking car in the middle of Time Square, while Faisal Shehzad was mentioned by many at the hearings, efforts of Alioune Niass went unnoticed.

Finally, PAKPAC recognizes that American Muslims are not free of any misconduct and are certainly not immune to radicalization. We are living at a juncture of history when we need to be active and vigilant in order to maintain the peace and freedom we desire. This involves thwarting the work of all those who intend to do us harm. And it equally involves zealously guarding the values that our peace and freedom rest upon. This is a time for cultivating understanding and building relationships, and for recognizing that encouraging suspicion of the other only pushes us further away from achieving our collective goals. Continued cooperation between the American Muslim community and law enforcement is essential – a cooperation that is based on mutual trust and respect. 

PAKPAC sends Letter of Thanks

PAKPAC has sent letter of thanks to the following Representatives for their stand at Representative King Hearings

Congressman Andre Carson (IN)

Congressman Hanson Clarke (MI)

Congressman Keith Ellison (MN)

Congressman Al Greene (TX)

Congressman Mike Honda (CA)

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)

Congressman Bill Pascrell (NJ)

Congressman Cedric Richmond (LA)

PAKPAC opposes Representative King’s hearings

A coalition letter opposing Representative King’s hearings on the “radicalization” of the Muslim community and “homegrown terrorism” was initiated by ACLU, this letter focused on First Amendment freedoms at stake in these hearings. PAKPAC was one of the signatory to this letter sent to Representative King. Mr. King has largely ignored requests from advocacy groups, community leaders, and fellow congressmen to expand the focus of the hearings to examine acts of domestic terrorism generally.  Mr. King has failed to distinguish between the First Amendment protections accorded political and religious belief systems and the violent actions of those seeking to achieve political goals.  Instead, his rhetoric has continued to target the American Muslim community for special attention even though such rhetoric is factually inaccurate and counterproductive to shared homeland security goals. Read Coalition Letter.

Young Jewish, Muslim Leaders Join On Immigration Issue

While Rep. Pete King was getting ready to launch his congressional hearings today - which seem designed to stoke the flames of prejudice and fear - young Muslims and Jews gathered together in Manhattan on Monday evening in a demonstration of mutual respect and solidarity. PAKPAC Board Member Dr. Faiz Bhora represented PAKPAC at this event, his wife Immigration Attorney Naveen Bhora helped give the 30 or so Jewish leaders a picture of how the nation’s broken immigration system has hurt members of the Muslim community, thousands of whom have been detained and deported in the past decade. Bhora, who came to this country as an infant from Bangladesh, told her audience that the Muslim community received a “wake-up call” after 9/11, when the government began using immigration law to harass and deport Muslim immigrants “under the rubric” of national security. As Bhora described it, the violations have taken place under the National Security Entry/Exit Registration System (NSEERS), which required all men who had entered the country before September 2002, who had come from a predominantly Muslim country and weren’t citizens, permanent residents or those granted asylum, to register themselves with their local immigration office.

Of the 80,000 people who complied with those instructions, hundreds were detained or deported, Bhora said — the vast majority for violations that had nothing to do with terrorism or criminal activity. And since all those deported were men, she said, their wives and children had to fend for themselves, some of them winding up in homeless shelters. Read More

Additional Coverage

Community Action

Write to Congress to counter anti Muslim rhetoric

SAALT has initiated a petition drive to gather support for a resolution introduced by Congressman Conyers. In the past week, over 50 members of Congress as well as the Congressional Asian Pacific American, Black, and Hispanic Caucuses sent letters asking Congressman King to reconsider the focus of the hearing. Congressman John Conyers of Michigan will be introducing a Sense of Congress resolution stating that the government should take steps to counter rhetoric and violence against our communities; and future hearings should focus on individual criminal behavior, not constitutionally protected beliefs and activities. It is crucial that the South Asian community takes action and gets involved in efforts promoting diversity, tolerance, and religious freedom.

·                     Urge your Representative to become an original co-sponsor of the Sense of Congress resolution.  

·                     Is Congressman King your representative? Send a message straight to his office objecting to this hearing.

Immigration

Proposed H-1B Electronic Registration System to Reduce Costs for U.S. Businesses

USCIS is publishing a proposed rule that could save U.S. businesses more than $23 million over the next 10 years by establishing an advance registration process for U.S. employers seeking to file H-1B petitions for foreign workers in specialty occupations. The proposed electronic system would minimize administrative burdens and expenses related to the H-1B petition process—including reducing the need for employers to submit petitions for which visas would not be available under the statutory visa cap. Read the News Release.

Viewpoint

Covering and Countering Extremism in Pakistan’s Developing Media - Hannah Byam, Christopher Neu

With a rise in terrorist activity spreading fear through highly publicized • attacks, Pakistan’s media landscape has increasingly been used as a battleground between those seeking to promote violent conflict and others seeking to manage or deter it.

• Pakistan’s media community has not yet developed an adequate or widely accepted strategy for responding to this context of persistent extremism and conflict.

• The rapid rise of extremist radio stations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provinces has paralleled an increase in terrorist attacks, facilitated by affordable access to FM radio, loose government regulation of broadcast media and militant control of pockets in KPK and FATA.

• Negative media attitudes toward the Pakistan-U.S. relationship often reflect national political differences and market incentives for sensationalist coverage. These attitudes can be transformed through changes in the diplomatic relationship between the countries based on open communication rather than institutional media reform. Read Complete report

Spotlight

Zarrar Sehgal – Clifford Chance Global Leader and Humanitarian

Zarrar Sehgal is a partner and the global head of the Transport & Logistic practice at Clifford Chance, one of the world's premier law firms.  Born in Karachi and educated at Karachi Grammar School, Zarrar later moved to the United States and graduated with honors from both Boston University and Georgetown University Law School.  Although still in his 30s, his list of accomplishments to date would be a source of pride for someone twice his age.

In 2009, Zarrar was named a World Economic Forum (WEF) "Young Global Leader."  His WEF classmates that year included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, actress Jessica Biel, golfer Tiger Woods and rock star Chris Marin of Coldplay, among others.  And while Zarrar's track record as one of the leading asset finance lawyers in the U.S. is impressive enough to merit his induction into the Young Global Leader group, it's his contributions away from work that most people find themselves marveling at. 

As President of TCF USA, Zarrar has been involved in the remarkable effort to build more than 650 schools that are now educating more than 90,000 underprivileged children in Pakistan. 

In addition to his humanitarian efforts, Zarrar has helped develop one of the world's leading aircraft financing practices at Clifford Chance in New York (www.cliffordchance.com.)  In fact, each year he advises clients on financing for approximately 80 commercial jets, a few small cargo jets, and an occasional defense-related aircraft.  In 2009, when Zarrar was inducted by WEF, he and his fellow attorneys at Clifford Chance participated in every major aircraft finance deal, with several of them being recognized as "Deal of the Year" by leading aviation trade magazines – including the $4.2 billion financing for American Airlines.  When capital streams dried up during the recent economic downturn, Zarrar helped spearhead a revitalization of the esoteric securitization market when he advised underwriters on a unique security that generates reliable cash flows from the use of U.S. cell phone towers. 

Zarrar spends a good amount of time on the road these days, meeting with and advising clients, and continuing to participate in WEF programs around the globe.  Earlier this year, he chaired a WEF session on Pakistan that focused on the role economic imbalance plays in creating unrest in different countries.

Additional Write-up

Upcoming Seminars at Think Tanks

To get information about future seminars and events relating to US-Pakistan relations, please visit the following websites

Atlantic Council

Brookings Institution

Council on Foreign Relations

Heritage Foundation

Middle East Institute

SAIS

Woodrow Wilson Center