March 11, 2005: Headlines: Directors - Chao: Asian Week: Elaine Chao is a leading and living example of Asian American achievement and contributions to this nation
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March 11, 2005: Headlines: Directors - Chao: Asian Week: Elaine Chao is a leading and living example of Asian American achievement and contributions to this nation
Elaine Chao is a leading and living example of Asian American achievement and contributions to this nation
Elaine Chao is a leading and living example of Asian American achievement and contributions to this nation
Asian America’s Leading Lady
Mar 11, 2005
We write today to acknowledge one of the outstanding leaders in the history of Asian America. Significantly, the person is not a “he” but a “she.” Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao is the first Asian American woman ever to serve in the presidential Cabinet. Significantly, when President Bush cleaned house at the beginning of his second term, he had the foresight to retain Chao.
In fact, Chao is an emblem of the American dream for all. For us specifically, she is a leading and living example of Asian American achievement and how we contribute to this nation.
Critics may dub her the “head cheerleader” for Bush and say that she re-enforces the model-minority stereotype. But that is all such narrow thinking.
The reality is there may be no more well-rounded person than Chao serving our country at the highest levels.
She has international experience as the Peace Corps director, having worked with different nations and emerging governments.
She served all communities of America when she reformed the United Way, encouraging the national organization to be more attuned to local needs.
She kept America moving, working the roadways and ports as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation and chair of the Federal Maritime Commission.
Her financial and economic prowess is above reproach, as she has applied her skills in this world's largest banking institutions.
She has even fought for pensioners, hauling the mighty and despised Enron to court.
These days it is fashionable to talk about a constitutional amendment to allow an immigrant to run for president. But perhaps that “first” should not go to the governor with the most male hormones but rather the poised and powerful secretary of labor, who arrived in America at the age of 8 and proved herself to be up for every challenge before her.
Why have we decided to write this week about Elaine Chao? Simply because her quiet effectiveness deserves it. And it is nice to pause sometimes and appreciate one of the leading citizens not only of Asian America but of all America and even the world.
When this story was posted in March 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state. |
| RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter. |
| March 1: National Day of Action Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went. |
| Coates Redmon, Peace Corps Chronicler Coates Redmon, a staffer in Sargent Shriver's Peace Corps, died February 22 in Washington, DC. Her book "Come as You Are" is considered to be one of the finest (and most entertaining) recountings of the birth of the Peace Corps and how it was literally thrown together in a matter of weeks. If you want to know what it felt like to be young and idealistic in the 1960's, get an out-of-print copy. We honor her memory. |
| Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week. |
| Peace Corps Calendar: Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments. |
| WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service. |
| Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
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Story Source: Asian Week
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