Irene Bueno
Special Assistant to the President
for immigration and civil rights issues 

2) legislation increasing penalties for hate crimes. Many APA's favor the passage of laws increasing the penalties for crimes motivated by racial animus.

America cannot tolerate hate crimes. It is almost beyond belief
that Republicans in Congress have blocked our efforts to take
needed action. I support a vigorous federal role in preventing,
investigating and prosecuting hate crimes. Therefore, I
strongly urge Congress to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention
Act to expand the definition of hate crimes to include gender,
sexual orientation, and disability, and allow prosecution of
these crimes under federal law.  October 20 - October 26 AsianWeek.com

Gore called for passage of a federal bill toughening penalties for hate crimes.   7/29/99 Dallas Morning News, p. 34A, 8/10/99 DMN, p. 15A.

3) immigration

a) decreasing the backlog of applicants for citizenship.  Many APA's favor increasing the budget of the Immigration and Naturalization Service or making it more efficient in order to reduce the backlog of applicants for citizenship.

1/19/02 Dallas Morning News (Washington Post): The number of immigrants granted permanent legal residence increased 31% between fiscal 1999 and fiscal 2000, the INS said.  A reduction in the backlog of pending cases caused the increase.  The backlog began several years ago when the agency redeployed staff to reduce a backlog in citizenship applications.  In early 1999, it took 33 months to get a decision on an application for permanent residence.  Now the wait is down to 12-15 months, and officials are developing a plan to cut the backlog to 6 months by September.

I support addressing the growing backlog of applications for
citizenship applications and for individuals waiting to reunite with their families. As president, I would work with Congress to ensure adequate resources for the INS.  October 20 - October 26 AsianWeek.com

During this time of economic prosperity, with unemployment at its lowest in thirty years, we must ensure that this expansion is not slowed by a shortage of highly skilled workers. I understand how companies that depend upon a well-skilled work force have benefited from the H1-B visa program, and I supported legislation that increased the number of visas for skilled immigrants from 65,000 to 115,000.  I also support providing additional resources to educate and train U.S. workers, while increasing the number of H1-B visas to 200,000 for fiscal years 2001 through 2003.  October 20 - October 26 AsianWeek.com

Clinton administration proposes to keep the Immigration and Naturalization Service intact while instituting separate staffs and chains of command for services and enforcement.  6/27/00 Dallas Morning News, p. 1A.

On March 30, Gore announced an Administration proposal to offer legal residency to more than 500,000 illegal immigrants who were left out of the sweeping federal amnesty program of 1986.

If approved by Congress, the proposal, would affect about 8% of the estimated 6 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., administration officials said.

The proposed legislation would alter immigration law that offers legal residency to all immigrants who have lived continuously in the United States since 1972 and who are deemed to be of good moral character. The measure would change the date of eligibility to 1986.

The proposal is an attempt by the administration to resolve class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of an estimated 350,000 immigrants who claim that they were wrongly discouraged from applying for the 1986 amnesty program because of short-term absences from the U.S.  It also would apply to an estimated 150,000 immigrants who are not plaintiffs in the suits.  4/12/00 Los Angeles Times

b) maintaining family reunification immigration.  Many APA's favor retaining current law which allows American citizens to sponsor their relatives for immigration to the U.S.

I urge Congress to allow families to remain together in the United States while immigration applications are pending, rather than force them to return to their home country, and to permit qualified long-term migrants who have lived in the United States since 1986 to become lawful permanent residents and retain their substantial tie to this country.  October 20 - October 26 AsianWeek.com

Supports allowing visits to U.S. by relatives of permanent residents.  6/27/00 Dallas Morning News, p. 1A. 

4) government benefits, such as welfare, for legal immigrants.  Many APA's favor the restoration of government benefits, such as welfare, for legal immigrants, especially the disabled and elderly.  Legal immigrants, unlike illegal immigrants, pay taxes and serve in the armed forces.

"Under pressure from [the Clinton Administration], the GOP-controlled Congress since 1997 has restored about half the dollar value of the benefits for legal immigrants it eliminated in 1996."  7/25/99 Dallas Morning News, p. 5J.

"Gore announced the administration plans to restore another $1.3 billion in food, disability and health care benefits to legal immigrants."  7/25/99 Dallas Morning News, p. 5J.

5) voting rights and providing ballots in different languages.  Many APA's favor retaining current law which requires that ballots be printed in different languages.

Gore speaks Spanish to Hispanic audiences during his campaign, and his website has a Spanish version.  Presumably he supports printing ballots in different languages.

6) making English the official language of the U.S.  Many APA's oppose proposed laws making English the official language because they fear such laws would make it easier to unfairly discriminate against APA's.

Gore speaks Spanish to Hispanic audiences during his campaign, and his website has a Spanish version.  Presumably he would not support making English the official language of the U.S.

7) confirmation of Bill Lann Lee as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.   Some APA's support affirmative action.  Other APA's have doubts about affirmative action but realize that the Clinton Administration will pursue the same policies no matter who holds the office of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, so it might as well be an APA.  Many APA's believe the Senate Judiciary Committee’s refusal to allow a vote on Mr. Lee's nomination is another sign of APA's status as second-class citizens.

8) ceilings or quotas limiting the number of APA's at universities.  Many APA's oppose any such ceilings or quotas.  When affirmative action at universities was banned in California and Texas, the number of APA students admitted to universities in those states increased by 20-40%.

Gore has denounced efforts such as Proposition 209 in California and Initiative 200 in Washington State that have attempted to eliminate affirmative action programs.  Gore 2000: Asian Pacific Americans For Gore.  15 Feb 2000 http://www.algore2000.com/apafg/apa_letter.html
Therefore, Gore evidently favors policies which result in reverse discrimination against Asian-Americans  

9) the Department of Education's proposal to abolish the use of standardized tests for admission to college.  Some APA's believe this proposal may lead to reverse discrimination against APA's.

10) employment discrimination, such as "glass ceilings".  Many APA's are opposed to employment discrimination and want more resources devoted to combating it, particularly "glass ceilings" which prevent APA's from being promoted.

11) discrimination against APA's in wake of Los Alamos spying scandal.  Many APA's are opposed to illegal discrimination based on race or national origin.

a) should the U.S. link trade policy to the human rights record of China?  Some APA's believe that revoking China's "most favored nation" trading status is counterproductive because doing so would hurt Hong Kong, the most democratic and capitalist area of China.

I believe that it is in the best interests of the United States to
make a determined effort to support Chinas accession to the
WTO. China has made commitments that, over time, will do
much for human rights and the rule of law. However, I support
and reserve the right to use trade sanctions if aspects of the
trade agreement are broken in order to ensure that American
companies are protected.   October 20 - October 26 AsianWeek.com

Favored permanent normal trade relations with China, which provided "most favored nation" trading status 

b) should the U.S. use force  to defend Taiwan against aggression?  Unlike mainland China, Taiwan is a free market democracy.

"We also have concerns over tensions building between China and Taiwan.  We need to maintain our commitment to the One China policy, but urge China and Taiwan to intensify their dialogue and to resolve their problems by peaceful means.  The Administration is honoring its obligation to make defensive weapons available to Taiwan.  But I am deeply concerned that those in the Congress who are pushing the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act are blind to its consequences: a sharp deterioration in the security of the region."  Speech before International Press Institute.  Boston, MA, April 30, 2000  

c) does the candidate support the IMF's handling of the Asian economic crises in countries such as South Korea?

"Since the onset of the crisis last summer, we have worked with the international community to mobilize unprecedented support for countries in crisis. The IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank have committed $65 billion to the affected countries in the region. To date, some $44 billion of this has been disbursed to the countries in crisis. These strong reform programs, backed by financial support from the international community, have helped to restore stability and lay the foundation for recovery in the region.  We are seeing progress: for example, interest rates in Korea and Thailand have now returned to -- and in some cases even fallen below -- their pre-crisis levels. Governments have begun the hard task of reforming financial systems and restoring banks to health. There are real signs that both output and demand may be bottoming out."  Speech before APEC Business Summit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nov. 16, 1998  

"That is why we need the IMF -- to work with countries that are at risk, before the risk spreads to us. The IMF needs reform of its own -- of that there is no doubt. But to cut off IMF support now is like shutting down the Fire Department when the house next door is on fire."  Speech before Economic Club of Detroit, May 8, 1998  

d) How should the U.S. discourage North Korea from building nuclear weapons?

GORE AGENDA: On July 23, 1999, President Clinton signed into law the National Missile Defense Act of 1999, establishing that it is the policy of the United States to develop and deploy an effective NMD system as soon as technologically possible. The Administration has been developing a system that could counter the emerging ballistic missile threat from North Korea or Iran. The Administration has spent approximately $6.1 billion (FY 1994-2000) on NMD, and budgeted an additional $10.3 billion in FY 2001-2005 to support possible deployment of the initial NMD architecture. The President is scheduled to decide later this year whether to commence deploying such a system." White House Release, 6/26/2000.  Posted on www.algore2000.com as "Gore 2000 Prime Time Rebuttal: George W. Bush -- Rhetoric vs. Reality.  Nashville - August 3, 2000." 

e) how should the U.S. assist Japan to pull out of its recession?

"With almost a third of our exports going to Asia, we have a lot at stake. But the hardest work must be done by the nations of Southeast Asia themselves.  And the place to start is Japan, which must jump-start its economy -- so it can lift up its neighboring economies, and buy more American products again.  The Japanese government has put forward a positive proposal to stimulate its economy; they must implement it quickly. But that is not enough to solve Japan's problems. Japan must do more to strengthen its financial system and open and deregulate its economy, in order to build long-lasting, demand-led growth."  Speech before Economic Club of Detroit, May 8, 1998  

f) Does the candidate support building a missile defense system to protect Japan? Taiwan? South Korea?

GORE AGENDA: On July 23, 1999, President Clinton signed into law the National Missile Defense Act of 1999, establishing that it is the policy of the United States to develop and deploy an effective NMD system as soon as technologically possible. The Administration has been developing a system that could counter the emerging ballistic missile threat from North Korea or Iran. The Administration has spent approximately $6.1 billion (FY 1994-2000) on NMD, and budgeted an additional $10.3 billion in FY 2001-2005 to support possible deployment of the initial NMD architecture. The President is scheduled to decide later this year whether to commence deploying such a system." White House Release, 6/26/2000.  Posted on www.algore2000.com as "Gore 2000 Prime Time Rebuttal: George W. Bush -- Rhetoric vs. Reality.  Nashville - August 3, 2000."