[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 14884-14885] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY ______ HON. JIM RAMSTAD of minnesota in the house of representatives Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to submit an article on promoting civic responsibility that was brought to my attention by a [[Page 14885]] constituent, Gopal Khanna. Mr. Khanna knows a great deal about civic responsibility, having served as a community and business leader, as well as Chief Financial Officer of the Peace Corps. This article outlines the very significant work being done to promote civic responsibility among immigrants, citizens and institutions in America. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Cherian Pushes Civic Responsibility as Medium For Change [From the India Abroad, May 19, 2006] (By Aziz Haniffa) Dr Joy Cherian has embarked on yet another mission, and discovered another outlet for his social activism. The man who, 25 years ago, founded the Indian American Forum for Political Education, the first ever Indian American political organization, and went on to become the first Indian American to hold a sub-cabinet level rank position in the US government when he served as Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush administrations, signaled his latest direction when, last month, he convened a roundtable conference of the Association of Americans for Civic Responsibility. Following his stint at the EEOC, Cherian had started his own company, J Cherian Consultants, Inc, which blossomed into a highly successful international government and public relations firm based in Washington, DC. A year ago, he wound that company up and founded the AACR, in conjunction with Syracuse University's School of International Affairs. The conference, at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of International Relations in Washington, DC, touched on topics as varied as `The American Immigrant Community and US Immigrant Organizations' and `The Role of Small and Midsized Enterprises in Promoting Civic Responsibility by Immigrants'. Panelists included Dr Michael Schneider, director, Maxwell School of International Relations, who is also chairman of AACR's Advisory Committee; Alysia Wilson, Senior Policy Adviser, US Department of Commerce; Tess Scannell, Director, Senior Corps, Corporation for National and Community Services in Washington, DC; Chad Tragakis and Pavlina Majorosova, vice president and account executive respectively of Hill & Knowlton, Washington, DC; Jennifer K Woofter, president, Strategic Sustainability Consulting, Washington, DC; Mahadeva (Matt) Mani, director, Strategic Markets, AT & T, Oakton, Virginia; Joseph Melookaran, member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders and Dr Piyush C Agrawal, national coordinator, Global Organization of People of Indian Origin. While acknowledging that there are no rules and regulations or even informal encouragement of civic responsibility in the federal government, Wilson noted that several agencies have taken their own initiatives in this direction. Wilson said that it is likely the Administration would soon start a program to train `private and public sector decision- makers in other countries on ethical issues and on how lack of transparency in their own countries impedes growth and progress.' Agrawal, who kicked off the immigration panel discussion, spoke of the `socio-political climate' in the United States, `which for the most part has created an extremely conducive environment for the immigrants to prosper and become whatever they wanted to be,' and argued that in this process the nation has also progressed to be the affluent superpower that it is. But, he said, `it must be pointed out that the history of immigration, as well as the assimilation in this country has not been smooth, Every wave of migrants has paid its dues, going through various types of suffering and discrimination, and even the laws enacted in this country of immigrants have not always been fair and equitable despite the claim of liberty and justice for all.' Agrawal said the oldest immigrant organization, the Association of Indians in America, established in 1967 `when the USA opened its borders for the first time for legal migration from India,' was an exemplar of communities organizing to fight for their rights. Such organizations, he said, `usually take their civic responsibility seriously', and by way of example pointed to the activist role played by the community's various bodies following disasters such as 9/11, the tsunami in South Asia, the Gujarat earthquake, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. `Besides raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for these causes, we continue to serve the daily needs of the poor, the indigent and the downtrodden here in the US through helping out in homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, medical clinics and other civic activities, including but not limited to, voter registration and `get the vote out' campaigns,' and `Be Counted' operation for the US Census.' Melookaran said that small and medium enterprises' (SME) involvement in corporate civic responsibility (CCR) is a vast untapped potential that could dramatically change the face of our communities. He said that corporate social responsibility or corporate civic responsibility is often built into the strategic planning of big corporate entities. However, `If you ask a small business owner about his CCR initiatives, you will draw a blank.' These, he said, was not because such small businesses did nothing in this area, but because big business did not view the work as corporate initiatives, or dignify such efforts by terming them CCRs. The flip side, he said, was that many SMEs did nothing in terms of CCR, and said such films needed encouragement and guidance. He suggested that the MCR should serve as a clearinghouse for activities and training of CCR for such businesses. A significant majority of employees in the US are SMEs, and therefore a broad-based effort to stimulate CCR initiatives among this group could have a tremendous impact, and be the vehicle for change in communities across the country. Mani expanded on the theme, from his perspective of a diversity initiative that is an integral part of AT&T in its CCR activities, while Majorosova talked about charity and volunteerism from a Central and East European perspective from the experiences she has had. She distinguished how volunteerism is abused under repressive regimes and compared it to how it finds a sense of purpose in free and civic-minded societies. Scannell, who was the featured luncheon speaker, emphasized the importance of the pool of baby-boomers `who will be ready to share their civic responsibilities if the activities are tailored to their skills and tastes.' Cherian told India Abroad that his philosophy in founding AACR was to ``educate and encourage all individuals and institutions in the United States to advance the public good of all the people by engaging in civic responsibilities such as volunteerism, social involvement and community service.'' He said the mission statement of AACR, which he authored, holds that this civic responsibility, that ``springs from one's ethical and moral obligations, is more than just a `social responsibility,' because `civic responsibility' requires all members of all sectors of life in the United States to give back to the country based on their privilege or living, working, learning, or doing business in the United States. ``The essence of democracy is the participation of the very people and entities that benefit from its fruits,'' Cherian said, adding that consequently, ``the active performance of civic responsibility is essential for the continuance of the democratic process in tile United States.'' To this end, he said, AACR seeks to foster understanding of the concept of civic responsibility among American citizens, non-citizen US residents, institutions of all kinds. Admitting that critics see the vision as utopian, Cherian said this was no new thought, but the very philosophy that had guided his founding of the IAFPE more than two decades ago. He carried that same philosophy over to the Asian American Voters Coalition, which he chaired, and later during his tenure as Commissioner of the EEOC. ``This is something I believe is vital for the future generations of Indian Americans, including my children and grandchildren and everyone else who came here and have made America their home,''he said. ``All of our children and grandchildren will benefit if we give back to society,'' he said. ``We have only to see some of the incidents and historical antecedents of immigrants, including Indians in various parts of the world when they isolate themselves and don't integrate and become part of the mainstream.'' Cherian said the conference ``will be a sort of historic conference because it's the first conference ever exclusively focused on immigrants and civic responsibility.'' ____________________