[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 153 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A TRIBUTE IN RECOGNITION OF THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASIAN PACIFIC 
              AMERICAN LEGAL CENTER OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 25, 2008

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Asian 
Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, an organization 
based in Downtown Los Angeles in my 34th Congressional District, on the 
occasion of its 25th Anniversary.
  The Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California 
(APALC) is Southern California's leading organization dedicated to 
providing the growing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) 
community with multilingual, culturally-sensitive, legal services and 
education.
  APALC was founded in 1983 by civil rights attorney Stewart Kwoh. In 
founding APALC, Mr. Kwoh envisioned an organization that would be an 
effective regional progressive voice and organizational leader focused 
on solving the problems of racial discrimination and exploitation of 
low-income workers in certain employment sectors such as the garment 
industry. In addition to increasing access to legal services and 
education for the poor, his mission also included improving inter-group 
relations within the diverse AAPI community as well as among other 
ethnic groups to address common problems and concerns.
  With this vision and under his leadership, APALC has become a key 
advocate for poor and limited-English proficient (LEP) AAPIs, 
immigrants, and other community members in Southern California and 
throughout the state. Over the past 25 years, APALC has assisted more 
than 200,000 individuals and organizations through its direct services, 
impact litigation, policy and advocacy, and leadership development.
  In the area of direct services, APALC offers the multilingual intake 
of information through its Asian language hotline. The center offers 
legal counseling, education and representation in the areas of family 
law and domestic violence, employment, consumer law, immigration, 
government benefits and housing. As a member of the Appropriations 
Committee, it has been my pleasure to assist APALC in obtaining federal 
funds for technology upgrades in its domestic violence services unit.
  In the area of policy and advocacy, APALC has been involved in a wide 
range of civil rights issues, including hate crimes monitoring, police/
community relations, voting rights and immigrant rights. Through 
statewide collaborations, APALC has helped secure key victories such as 
welfare programs for elderly immigrants as well as translated contracts 
and bilingual ballots for LEP Asians. APALC also conducts demographic 
research, including data collection and analysis, to make data more 
accessible to the growing AAPI community and the organizations that 
serve it.
  In its ``impact litigation'' area, APALC has achieved key legal 
victories. A notable landmark APALC victory resulted in a federal 
decision establishing retail and manufacturer liability for the wages 
and working conditions of garment workers hired by contractors and 
subcontractors in the case of dozens of Thai garment workers who were 
enslaved in a garment sweatshop in El Monte. APALC has also led or 
participated in other important civil rights cases, involving English-
only workplace policies and city ordinances, education inequality at 
state universities, redress payments for World War II Japanese American 
internees, racially discriminatory employment and promotion practices, 
and unfair business practices.
  Finally, APALC's leadership development efforts include more pro-
active programming designed to develop and strengthen community 
advocates who can identify and find resolutions to community concerns. 
This programming includes the Leadership Development in Inter-ethnic 
Relations (LDIR) program, which equips community and student leaders 
with skills to collaborate across racial and other boundaries. APALC 
also conducts leadership development programs focused on AAPI youth 
through its Preparing Asian Pacific American Youth Advocates (PAPAYA), 
an afterschool program at high schools in the San Gabriel Valley. The 
youth program also works to develop parent leaders to become advocates 
in their children's education.
  Madam Speaker, on the occasion of APALC's 25th Anniversary, I join 
today with fellow leaders throughout my state in recognizing Stewart 
Kwoh and APALC for their commendable accomplishments advocating on 
behalf of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, and 
I wish them many years of continued success ahead.

                          ____________________