Miami, Florida: May 09, 2003 The President of the United States of America George Bush invited the Asian community to the White House on Thursday, May 8, 2003 to celebrate the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. The event took place in Room 450 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. More than 100 guests were in attendance.

Among the invitees were: Dr.& Mrs. Piyush C. Agrawal, National President, The Association of Indians in America (AIA), Adil S. Zainulbhai of the McKinsey & Co., Varghese Chacko of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce, Dr. & Mrs. Durga P. Agrawal, Houston Indian Community Leader, Dr. & Mrs. Ved P. Aggarwal of Texas, Dr. Suvas K. Desai of Kentucky. Dr. Ramesh Appareddy from Chattanooga, TN. Rathna Reddy from Austin, TX , and Indian American Republican Council members Mr. Narayan Keshavan from NYC, Dr. Akshay Desai from Florida , and Dr. Venkat Rao Emandi. The young generation was appropriately represented by Ajay Kuntumukkala, Esq., and Ash Jain, Esq.

In her remarks, Elaine Chao, Labor Secretary outlined various programs she has initiated at the Labor Department to assist the Asian Community. Under her direction, the Bureau of Labor Statistics would report the data related to unemployment of Asian Americans.

Presenting the President, Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta drew a parallel between the events leading to Pearl Harbor and sufferance of Japanese Americans as a consequence 62 years ago and the events of September 11, 2001 and the consequence of that attack suffered by Arab Americans, Muslims and Sikhs (he forgot to mention Hindus). He emphasized that things have changed since 1941 and under the leadership of President Bush there is heightened sense of sensitivity of protecting the rights of Americans.

President Bush in his remarks praised America's Diversity and credited it for the success of USA. He talked about compassion, Iraq, United Nations, freedom & democracy and love for diversity.

The President received a thunderous applause for appointing 152 people of Asian origin to various posts under his administration. "It is unfortunate that the Indian Community has failed to take advantage of President's Open Door policy on recruiting people of diverse background" observed Dr. Piyush Agrawal of AIA.

Mr. Bush invited Interior Secretary Ms. Gale Norton for the event at the end of which he signed the Executive Order on Interagency Group on Insular Areas.

The event was attended by several ethnic groups including Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and Guamanions.

For more information, contact Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal at the numbers/address given below.