[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 23 (Monday, June 14, 1999)]
[Pages 1056-1058]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13125--Increasing Participation of Asian Americans and 
Pacific Islanders in Federal Programs

June 7, 1999

    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

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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 groups 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 designated 
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

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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.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., June 9, 1999]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on June 
10.