[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 20 (Monday, May 17, 2004)]
[Pages 882-885]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13339--Increasing Economic Opportunity and Business 
Participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

May 13, 2004

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, and for the purpose of 
providing equal economic opportunities for full participation of Asian 
American and Pacific Islander businesses in our free market economy 
where they may be underserved and thus improving the quality of life

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for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, it is hereby ordered as 
follows:

    Section 1. (a) There is established in the Department of Commerce 
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 whom 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 business enterprise sector; 
(iii) are from civic associations representing one or more of the 
diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander communities; (iv) are from 
the fields of economic, social, and community development; or (v) have 
such other experience as the President deems appropriate.

    (b) The Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) shall designate 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 executive 
branch efforts to improve the economic and community development of 
Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses through ensuring equal 
opportunity to participate in Federal programs, and public-sector, 
private-sector partnerships, and through the collection of data related 
to Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses; and

    (b) ways to increase the business diversification of Asian Americans 
and Pacific Islanders, including ways to foster research and data on 
Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses including their level of 
participation in the national economy and their economic and community 
development.

    Sec. 3. (a) The Secretary shall establish within the Department of 
Commerce an office known as the White House Initiative on Asian 
Americans and Pacific Islanders (Office). The Office shall provide 
support for the Commission and the interagency working group created in 
section 3(b) of this order.

    (b) The Secretary shall also create an interagency working group 
(Working Group) whose activities shall be coordinated by the Department 
of Commerce. The Secretary shall designate the executive departments and 
agencies that shall serve on the Working Group (executive departments 
and agencies) and the heads of those departments and agencies shall 
select the officials that shall serve as their respective 
representatives on the Working Group. The Executive Director of the 
Commission shall also serve as the Director of the Office and the 
Working Group, and shall report to the Secretary or the Secretary's 
designee. The Director of the Working Group shall advise the Secretary 
or the Secretary's designee on efforts by the Federal Government to 
improve access to economic opportunities, through equal access to such 
opportunities, for Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses where 
they may be underserved and thus to improve the quality of life of Asian 
Americans and Pacific Islanders.

    Sec. 4. The head of each executive department and agency on the 
Working Group shall designate a senior Federal official responsible for 
management or program administration to report directly to the agency 
head on activities implementing this order and to serve as a liaison to, 
and representative on, the Working Group. The Secretary may designate 
additional Federal officials, with the concurrence of the head of the 
designated executive department or agency, to carry out functions of the 
Working Group. To the extent permitted by law and to the extent 
practicable, each designated executive department and agency shall 
provide appropriate information requested by the Working Group, 
including data relating to the eligibility for and participation of 
Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses in Federal programs. 
Where adequate data are not available, the Working Group shall suggest 
the means of collecting such data.

    Sec. 5. Each designated executive department and agency shall 
prepare a plan for, and shall document, its efforts to support economic 
opportunities for Asian American and Pacific Islander businesses. This 
plan shall address, among other things, executive branch efforts to:


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    (a) increase participation in Federal programs for Asian American 
and Pacific Islander businesses through equal access to such programs;

    (b) ensure nondiscrimination in Federal contracts and procurement 
opportunities;

    (c) provide equal opportunity for public-sector, private-sector 
partnerships for the community and economic development of Asian 
American and Pacific Islander businesses; and

    (d) foster research and data collection on Asian American and 
Pacific Islander businesses. Each plan shall be submitted through the 
working group and the Commission to the Secretary at a date to be 
established by the Secretary.

    Sec. 6. The Secretary shall review the plans of the designated 
executive departments and agencies and develop for submission to the 
President for his approval an integrated Federal plan (Federal Plan) to 
increase the participation of Asian American and Pacific Islander 
businesses in executive branch programs through equal access to such 
programs where such organizations may be underserved. Actions described 
in the Federal Plan shall address improving access by Asian American and 
Pacific Islander businesses to Federal programs and fostering advances 
in relevant research and data as it pertains to community economic 
development. The Secretary shall disseminate the Federal Plan, to the 
extent the Plan is approved by the President, to appropriate members of 
the executive branch. The findings and recommendations in the Federal 
Plan shall be followed by the designated executive departments and 
agencies in their policies and activities, to the extent permitted by 
law and as practicable.

    Sec. 7. Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 
U.S.C. App.) (the ``Act''), may apply to the administration of any 
portion of this order, any functions of the President under the Act, 
except that of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the 
Secretary in accordance with the guidelines issued 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, executive departments and 
agencies shall, upon request by the Secretary, provide assistance to the 
Commission and to the Working Group, and the Department of Commerce 
shall provide administrative support and funding for the Commission.

    Sec. 9. The Commission shall terminate 2 years from the date of this 
order, unless renewed by the President.

    Sec. 10. For the purposes of this order, the term: (a) ``Asian'' 
includes persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the 
Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent; and the term (b) 
``Pacific Islander'' includes persons having origins in any of the 
original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

    Sec. 11. The Secretary of Commerce shall consult the Attorney 
General as appropriate on the implementation of this order to ensure 
that such implementation affords the equal protection of the laws 
required by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the 
Constitution.

    Sec. 12. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any 
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in 
equity, by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, 
entities, officers, employees or agents, or any other person.
                                                George W. Bush
The White House,
May 13, 2004.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:17 a.m., May 14, 
2004]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on May 
17.

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