APAICS Celebrates its 20th Anniversary at the Annual Gala Awards

By Aurora de Peralta

Photos credit: Will Kim
On the warm spring evening of May 6, 2014, many of the AAPI community’s most influential members gathered for the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) 20th annual Gala Awards Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
The founder of APAICS, the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, was present to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary. Secretary Mineta founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) for members of Congress in 1994, along with the formation of APAICS. The organizations are dedicated to promoting AAPI participation at all levels of the political process, including elective office.

The husband and wife pair Dr. Paul Song and Lisa Ling served as the master and mistress of ceremonies for the Gala. Among the many featured speakers were Senator Mazie Hirono, APAICS Chair Susan Jin Davis and APAICS President and CEO S. Floyd Mori. Broadway singers Christine Toy Johnson and Raymond J. Lee partook in the event as well, providing attendees with musical entertainment.

D.C.’s AAPI community gave a warm welcome to keynote speaker and renowned actor George Takei, who paired his poignant life events—including his family’s incarceration during World War II and his trials as a member of the LGBT community—with the youth’s cynicism regarding American democracy. He spoke of how his father taught him that the U.S. democracy is a people’s democracy. It can be as great as people can be, Takei said, but it can also be as fallible as people are. For this reason, Takei stressed the importance of the engagement of good people in the U.S. participatory democracy.
“We have the challenge of winning over these young people who are distrustful of other human beings. They distrust their sincerity. They distrust their integrity. We need people like [Secretary Norman Mineta] and the late Senator Daniel Inouye as examples and role models,” Takei said. “And so, together, you, me, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, and the supporters—we will work together, because our democracy is a dynamic work in progress. Two steps ahead, perhaps one step back, but we are continuing moving forward.”

Following Takei’s address, Congresswoman Grace Meng awarded the APAICS Community Award to the Asian Real Estate Association. Congressman Michael Honda awarded the APAICS Corporate Achievement Award to Southwest Airlines.
Admiral Harry Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was presented the APAICS Lifetime Achievement Award. He thanked organizations such as the Japanese American Veterans Association and the Japanese American Citizens League for their support, and cited Major General Antonio Taguba and APAICS president and CEO S. Floyd Mori as mentors.
“I stand on the shoulders of giants,” Harris Jr. said. “I would not be here were it not for all of you and for the organizations that you represent, and for the mentorship and leadership that you provide for all Asian Pacific Americans.”

The Honorable Norman Mineta presented Congresswoman Judy Chu with the Pioneer Award. Chu began her acceptance speech with an anecdote about how, despite her newsworthy 2001 election to the California State Assembly, was still mistaken for news anchor Connie Chung by members of the public.
“There was a time when the only Asian Americans that the mainstream American public knew were Connie Chung and Bruce Lee. How different things are today,” Chu remarked.
Chu outlined the many triumphs of the AAPI community in recent years, such as President Obama’s meeting with Asian Pacific American leaders—including Congressman Michael Honda and Chu—to discuss how to best move forward with comprehensive immigration reform.
“And I thought to myself, as I sat in that room next to the Oval Office in the White House: finally, finally. Asian Pacific Islanders literally do have a seat at the table where decisions are being made,” Chu said.

The remarks of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, honored guest and speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, mirrored Chu’s statements about AAPI political representation. The congresswoman applauded the efforts of CAPAC and APAICS to make the voices of the AAPI community heard across the country. She affirmed that AAPI participation will make a difference in U.S. politics. “I will make sure that you can see on a day-to-day basis the difference in Congress that our AAPI numbers make,” Pelosi said.
“I would be so proud…to be able to say we saw the change in the making,” she added.  “We saw the emergence of this great community in our country, with its commitment to family, to community, to its commitment to academic excellence, with its commitment to the future, with its commitment to America. With your commitment, you have all made America more American and we are grateful to you for that.”