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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release June 7, 1999

EXECUTIVE ORDER 13125

              INCREASING PARTICIPATION OF ASIAN AMERICANS
               AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), and in order to improve the quality of life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased participation in Federal programs where they may be underserved (e.g., health, human services, education, housing, labor, transportation, and economic and community development), it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. (a) There is established in the Department of Health and Human Services the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (Commission). The Commission shall consist of not more than 15 members appointed by the President, one of which shall be designated by the President as Chair. The Commission shall include members who: (i) have a history of involvement with the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities; (ii) are from the fields of health, human services, education, housing, labor, transportation, economic and community development, civil rights, and the business community; (iii) are from civic associations representing one or more of the diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander communities; and (iv) have such other experience as the President deems appropriate.

(b) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (Secretary) shall appoint an Executive Director for the Commission.

Sec. 2. The Commission shall provide advice to the President, through the Secretary, on: (a) the development, monitoring, and coordination of Federal efforts to improve the quality of life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased participation in Federal programs where such persons may be underserved and the collection of data related to Asian American and Pacific Islander populations and sub-populations; (b) ways to increase public-sector, private-sector, and community involvement in improving the health and well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and (c) ways to foster research and data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including research and data on public health.

Sec. 3. The Department of Health and Human Services shall establish the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (Initiative), an interagency working group (working group) whose members shall be appointed by their respective agencies. The Executive Director of the Commission shall also serve as the Director of the Initiative, and shall report to the Secretary or the Secretary's designee. The working group shall include both career and noncareer civil service staff and commissioned officers of the Public Health Service with expertise in health, human services, education, housing, labor, transportation, economic and community development, and other relevant issues. The working group shall advise the Secretary on the implementation and coordination of Federal programs as they relate to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across executive departments and agencies.

Sec. 4. The head of each executive department and each agency designated by the Secretary shall appoint a senior Federal official responsible for management or program administration to report directly to the agency head on activity under this Executive order, and to serve as a liaison to the Initiative. The Secretary also may designate additional Federal Government officials, with the agreement of the relevant agency head, to carry out the functions of the Initiative. To the extent permitted by law and to the extent practicable, each executive department and designated agency shall provide any appropriate information requested by the working group, including data relating to the eligibility for and participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Federal programs. Where adequate data are not available, the Initiative shall suggest the means of collecting such data.

Sec. 5. Each executive department and designated agency (collectively, the "agency") shall prepare a plan for, and shall document, its efforts to improve the quality of life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased participation in Federal programs where Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders may be underserved. This plan shall address, among other things, Federal efforts to: (a) improve the quality of life for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased participation in Federal programs where they may be underserved and the collection of data related to Asian American and Pacific Islander populations and sub-populations; (b) increase public-sector, private-sector, and community involvement in improving the health and well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and (c) foster research and data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including research and data on public health. Each agency's plan shall provide appropriate measurable objectives and, after the first year, shall assess that agency's performance on the goals set in the previous year's plan. Each plan shall be submitted at a date to be established by the Secretary.

Sec. 6. The Secretary shall review the agency plans and develop for submission to the President an integrated Federal plan (Federal Plan) to improve the quality of life of Asian American and Pacific Islanders through increased participation in Federal programs where such persons may be underserved. Actions described in the Federal Plan shall address improving access by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to Federal programs and fostering advances in relevant research and data. The Secretary shall ensure that the working group is given the opportunity to comment on the proposed Federal Plan prior to its submission to the President. The Secretary shall disseminate the Federal Plan to appropriate members of the executive branch. The findings and recommendations in the Federal Plan shall be considered by the agencies in their policies and activities.

Sec. 7. Notwithstanding any other Executive order, the responsibilities of the President that are applicable to the Commission under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, except that of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary in accordance with the guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services.

Sec. 8. Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707). To the extent permitted by law and appropriations, and where practicable, agencies shall, upon request by the Secretary, provide assistance to the Commission and to the Initiative. The Department of Health and Human Services shall provide administrative support and funding for the Commission.

Sec. 9. The Commission shall terminate 2 years after the date of this Executive order unless the Commission is renewed by the President prior to the end of that 2-year period.

Sec. 10. For the purposes of this order, the terms: (a) "Asian American" includes persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent; and

(b) "Pacific Islander" includes the aboriginal, indigenous, native peoples of Hawaii and other Pacific Islands within the jurisdiction of the United States.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

                                 THE WHITE HOUSE,
                                 June 7, 1999.

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