INCREASING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND BUSINESS PARTICIPATION OF ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS
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 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:
(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.
# # #
Executive
Order 13339 is an amended version of Executive Order 13126, signed
by President George W. Bush. This amendment
gave the Executive Order a new title and a new date
for the termination of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders.
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