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.