Tag: capac

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NAPABA Congratulates Rep. Grace Meng as CAPAC Chair-Elect and Honors the Leadership of CAPAC Chair Rep. Judy Chu

For Immediate Release:
Date: December 10, 2024		Contact:
Rahat N. Babar, Deputy Executive Director

WASHINGTON – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) congratulates Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06) on her election as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) for the 119th Session of Congress and Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) as she assumes the role of Chair Emerita.

“NAPABA extends its heartfelt congratulations to CAPAC Chair-Elect Grace Meng,” said Thy Bui, President of NAPABA. “Chair-Elect Meng has paved a path to public service for so many as the first Asian American elected to Congress from New York. We look forward to her tenure and continuing our close partnership with CAPAC under her leadership.”

“Chair Judy Chu’s leadership, both within the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community and for our Nation, is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Priya Purandare, Executive Director of NAPABA. “From fighting against anti-Asian hate and racial profiling in all their forms to standing up for immigrant communities and families, our community has immensely benefited from Chair Chu’s zealous and unrelentless advocacy.”

“Chair Chu’s contributions to our community and our country extends well beyond her steadfast leadership of CAPAC for the past 14 years,” continued Executive Director Purandare. “We are incredibly humbled to call Chair Chu a friend of NAPABA. We honor her service and extend our deepest gratitude.”

NAPABA congratulates the newly elected leadership of CAPAC: First Vice Chair-Elect Rep. Mark Takano (CA-39), Second Vice Chair-Elect Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Whip-Elect Rep. Ami Bera (CA-06), and Freshman Representative Rep.-elect Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10).

Finally, NAPABA congratulates all newly elected and reelected AANHPI members of the 119th Congress, who are a part of the record number of AANHPI candidates from both parties who ran for state and federal offices throughout the United States and its territories. They are: Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI), Sen. Andy Kim (NJ), Rep.-elect Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Rep. Ami Bera (CA-06), Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), Rep. Vince Fong (CA-20), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), Rep. Young Kim (CA-40), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthy (IL-08), Delegate-Elect Kimberlyn King-Hinds (Northern Mariana Islands), Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36), Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-07), Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06), Rep.-elect Dave Min (CA-47), Congressman James Moylan (Guam), Congresswoman Aumua Amata Radewagen (American Samoa), Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-03), Rep. Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Rep.-elect Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Rep. Mark Takano (CA-39), Rep.-elect Derek Tran (CA-45), Rep. Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-02).

To learn more about AANHPI candidates in the 2024 General Election, please visit the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS).

To learn more about CAPAC and its history, please visit its website.

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NAPABA Congratulates Its Former Communications Manager Nisha Ramachandran on Her Appointment as Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

For Immediate Release:

Date: July 22, 2021

Contact: Edgar Chen, Policy Director

WASHINGTON – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) congratulates Nisha Ramachandran who was named as the new Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). Ms. Ramachandran will be the first South Asian American to serve in this role. Ms. Ramachandran has extensive experience both on Capitol Hill and with the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) advocacy community, including serving as Policy Director for the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Congressman Ami Bera, and previously as interim Communications Manager for NAPABA. “Nisha Ramachandran brings over a decade of legislative, advocacy, and policy experience dedicated to advancing the interests of AAPIs, and has been an invaluable resource for NAPABA,” said Priya Purandare, Executive Director of NAPABA. “More importantly, Nisha has earned the trust, confidence, gratitude, and friendship of so many who are working to improve the lives of AAPI communities in this country. NAPABA applauds CAPAC Chair Representative Judy Chu for making this historic appointment at a critical moment for the AAPI population.”

CAPAC is a non-partisan, bi-cameral congressional caucus comprised of Members of Asian and Pacific Islander descent and members who are committed to promoting the well-being of the AAPI population. NAPABA has worked closely with CAPAC to strategically reach key AAPI stakeholders in Congress on issues of legislative and policy importance to the AAPI community. Ms. Ramachandran holds both a B.A. and a Masters in Public Policy from the George Washington University. To view the announcement by CAPAC, click here.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.

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NCAPA Community Briefing on COVID-19

On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), a coalition of 34 national Asian Pacific American organizations, held a community briefing call over Zoom on the topic of increased anti-Asian rhetoric in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Community leaders on the call were joined by legislators serving on the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) including Representative Judy Chu (CA-27), Representative Mark Takano (CA-41), Representative Ted Lieu (CA-33), and Senator Kamala Harris of California. 

Mr. Gregg Orton, the National Director of NCAPA, began by addressing efforts undertaken by NCAPA to address the increasing prevalence of anti-Asian rhetoric. Mr. Orton addressed NCAPA’s creation of a COVID-19 Task Force which aims to aggregate community resources online for the Asian American community in addition to building an emergency response network. NCAPA is also currently developing an online health form with crowdsourced in-language community health resources. 

Legislators serving on CAPAC spoke at-length about the alarming rise of xenophobic attacks and racist sentiment directed against members of the Asian American community. All four legislators condemned the rhetoric of top administration officials such as President Donald Trump and Secretary Mike Pompeo in labeling COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus” or the “Wuhan Virus” as the use of these terms only exacerbate concerns of discrimination. In fact, Representative Chu, the Chair of CAPAC, addressed recent high profile incidents of physical attacks directed against Asians and estimated roughly 1,000 reports of hate crimes in the last five weeks alone. 

Moreover, all four legislators pointed to the efforts that were being undertaken in Congress to stand in solidarity with the Asian American community such as Representative Grace Meng’s (NY-6) recent resolution “Condemning all forms of Anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19” which has already garnered 130 co-sponsors. Senator Harris underscored the importance of cancelling ICE raids and following in Los Angeles and New York’s footsteps in setting up hotlines for reporting on hate crimes directed against Asian Americans. Representative Lieu addressed the problem of phone scams taking advantage of the elderly during this time and pointed to the FCC’s online guidelines for preventing these scams. 

Additionally, Representatives Chu and Takano spoke extensively about the recent stimulus package that was passed and certain benefits that Asian business owners could make use of. In particular, they highlighted Small Business Administration (SBA) loans for companies with less than 500 employees in addition to direct cash assistance provisions sent to qualifying families. However, Representative Lieu noted that the recently passed stimulus package will likely not be enough and that a second bill is in the works. In that bill, Representative Chu hopes to focus on translating federal COVID-19 resources into AAPI languages and assisting both undocumented and legal immigrants who were not eligible for certain benefits in the initial stimulus package. 

Finally, community leaders in the NCAPA network also addressed efforts that they have undertaken in light of COVID-19. Ms. Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, Executive Director of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), elaborated on how AAJA has issued guidelines to major newsrooms across the country on responsible reporting regarding the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, Ms. Chiling Tong, President of the Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship addressed the financial risks faced by its 2 million members. She encouraged Asian American members and businesses to apply for the FCA economic injury fund online. 

Overall, multiple steps are being taken at the legislative, business, and grassroots level in order to combat xenophobia and support the Asian American community in this time of need. In order to see a full recording of the call, please click here. For additional ways you can help and get involved, please look below.

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), founded in 1996, is a coalition of 34 national Asian Pacific American organizations around the country. Based in Washington D.C., NCAPA serves to represent the interests of the greater Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities and to provide a national voice for AA and NHPI issues. You can get in-touch with NCAPA by clicking here here.

For additional resources, please refer to NCAPA’s COVID-19 Response Toolkit, which includes sample social media graphics and posts, press coverage, and resources within and outside of our coalition. The resources include in-language resources for wellness and health, and various hate crime reporting tools. You can make a direct impact in your own respective circles and communities by regularly distributing and sharing NCAPA’s Toolkit.

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