#251 5/6 Monthly Meeting; Rally Against FL SB846; FISA in 2 Years; AANHPI Heritage Month; +

In This Issue #251

• 2024/05/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

• Organizer Report on Florida Rally Against SB 846

• Expanded FISA Authorized for Two Years

• May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

• News and Activities for the Communities

2024/05/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

The next APA Justice monthly meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, May 6, 2024, starting at 1:55 pm ET.

In addition to updates by Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); Joanna YangQing Derman, Director, Advancing Justice | AAJC; and Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF),

Two speakers will describe an upcoming forum with the Asian American and academic communities and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in Houston, which will be co-hosted by TMAC and the Science and Technology Policy Program, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Office of Innovation at Rice University.

• Nabila Mansoor, President, Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition (TMAC); Executive Director, Rise AAPI

• Kenneth M. Evans, Scholar in Science and Technology Policy, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University

In addition,

• Rebecca Keiser, Chief of Research Security Strategy and Policy, National Science Foundation (NSF), returns to update us on the JASON report on Safeguarding the Research Enterprise, MacroPolo's Global AI Talent Tracker 2.0, and related activities and development at NSF.

The virtual monthly meeting is by invitation only. It is closed to the press. If you wish to join, either one time or for future meetings, please contact one of the co-organizers of APA Justice - Steven Pei 白先慎, Vincent Wang 王文奎, and Jeremy Wu 胡善庆 - or send a message to contact@apajustice.org.

Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition

The Texas Multicultural Advocacy Coalition (TMAC) is a coalition of multicultural groups in Houston that is dedicated to promoting justice and progress for marginalized communities. Comprising a diverse range of organizations, the coalition works to raise awareness about issues affecting communities of color, advocate for policy changes, and promote collective action to achieve greater equity and social justice. By bringing together different communities and organizations, TMAC aims to create a more inclusive and equitable society for all.

Baker Institute for Public Policy, Office of Innovation, at Rice University

The Science and Technology Policy Program, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Office of Innovation at Rice University provides a space for policymakers and scientists to engage in substantive dialogue on critical scientific issues facing the U.S. and the world. Through this program, scholars address a broad range of policy issues that affect scientists and their research, as well as the application of science for the public good.

Organizer Report on Florida Rally Against SB 846

During the APA Justice monthly meeting on April 8, 2024, Professors Jiangeng Xue 薛剑耿, Zhong-Ren Peng 彭仲仁, and Chenglong Li 李成龙 reported on their organization and observations of the rally against a state law known as SB 846 in Gainesville on March 26, 2024. Professor Xue, Peng, and Li are President, Board Member, and President-elect of the Florida Chinese Faculty Association (FCFA) respectively. FCFA was created about 10 years ago with the original goals of developing collaborations among the faculty members and mentoring the younger members.

National and local media including NBC News, AsAmNews, WUFT, and Alligator had wide coverage of the rally.

Professor Xue began by outlining the history and current challenges faced by FCFA, emphasizing their shift towards addressing campus influences. During the China Initiative, FCFA met with the provost, the vice president for research, and the president and talked about issues of concern such as compliance and outside activity reports that led to some regulations that may be less intrusive.

The SB 846 bill came out of the 2023 legislative session to target academic exchange and collaborations. Despite assurance about SB 846 that students would not be affected, the Board of Governors – the governing body for all state universities in Florida – put out more restrictions including those on hiring graduate students and scholars in October 2023. This has become the focal point of the FCFA fight, prompting FCFA's response, including a rally and media engagement with help from national and local organizations such as the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF).

Over 200 participants, including faculty, students, and national organization representatives, joined the rally, raising awareness and advocating for academic freedom and non-discriminatory hiring practices. FCFA expressed gratitude for the support received, including the Graduate Assistants United, AASF, Advancing Justice | AAJC, APA Justice, UCA, ACLU Florida, and the Brennan Center.

FCFA outlined three key requests: restoring faculty hiring rights, upholding academic freedom, and depoliticizing education.

Positive outcomes included media attention and strengthened connections between local and national groups. Though direct feedback from the Board of Directors was limited, FCFA remains optimistic about potential amendments.

Professor Peng highlighted the establishment of a supportive relationship with the faculty union and participation in a public comment session at the Board of Governors meeting. Professor Li emphasized the importance of national support, a well-structured platform, and individual responsibilities in achieving a successful rally.

A summary for the April APA Justice monthly meeting has been posted at. https://bit.ly/3vVMsif. We thank these speakers for their reports and updates:

• Nisha Ramachandran, Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, nisha.ramachandran@mail.house.gov

• Joanna YangQing Derman, Director, Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights & National Security Program, Advancing Justice | AAJC

• Gisela Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director, Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF), gpkusakawa@aasforum.org

• Professors Jiangeng Xue, Zhong-Ren Peng, and Chenglong Li, Florida Chinese Faculty Association (FCFA)

• Robert Underwood, Commissioner, President's Advisory Commission on AA and NHPI; Former Chair, CAPAC; Former President, University of Guam

• Yvonne Lee, Commissioner, USDA Equity Commission

David Inoue, Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League, was not able to join the meeting.

Expanded FISA Authorized for Two Years

Authority of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was expanded and extended for two years under the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act. This is the text for P.L. 118-49: https://bit.ly/3WbyNOH

According to Forbes on April 24, 2024, more than 10 years have passed since Edward Snowden revealed the worst surveillance scandal of the FBI and the NSA in U.S. history. His revelations sparked a vivid discussion—one that can be looked at with more precision now that the heated debate that started one decade ago has settled for the next two years: How can we balance the security and privacy requirements of our modern societies?

Snowden brought some of the most intrusive surveillance programs of U.S. authorities to light, the most prominent ones being PRISM, XKeyscore and Boundless Informant. Once the public started to understand how much of their private data they willingly share online is being siphoned off, analyzed and scanned, the question arose whether this form of surveillance is required to keep citizens safe or violate citizens' privacy rights without measurable benefit.

Regarding the Snowden leaks, there is only one solution to balancing security and privacy requirements: Privacy rights are indisputable. Governments and authorities must (and can) find ways to combat terrorists and other threats to national security with targeted surveillance measures—not by monitoring the entire population of a country.

If we submit to general mass surveillance out of false fears of terrorists, we give up not just our privacy but also our freedom. 100% security is never possible—whether we allow mass surveillance or not. But the best possible security can only be achieved with maximum privacy because the encryption that makes our online life private also protects us from terrorists, such as malicious attackers on the web, as well as state-sponsored surveillance by autocratic countries.

Read the Forbes report: https://bit.ly/49ZUWT7

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month originated in June 1977 when Representatives Frank Horton (New York) and Norman Y. Mineta (California) called for the establishment of Asian/Pacific Heritage Week. Hawaii senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Both bills passed, and in 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed the resolution. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush expanded the celebration from a week to a month.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is celebrated to commemorate the arrival in May 1843 of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States and the role of Chinese laborers in the completion of the first transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869.

We celebrate the contributions that generations of AANHPIs have made to American history, society, and culture.

This year's theme set by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center is "Bridging Histories, Shaping Our Future."

The Census Bureau produces these facts about the AANHPI populations in 2024: https://bit.ly/3ITFME7.

Here is a sampling of activities across the country:

• Chicago

• East Bay Regional Park

• Houston

• Library of Congress

• New York City arts and culture

• Orlando

• Philadelphia

• Seattle

• U.S. Government

News and Activities for the Communities

1. APA Justice Community Calendar

Upcoming Events:

2024/04/30 Understanding Implicit Bias and How to Combat It

2024/05/02 AAGEN 2024 Executive Leadership Workshop

2024/05/04 Corky Lee's Asian America: Fifty Years of Photographic Justice Book Tour

2024/05/05 Rep. Gene Wu's Town Hall Meeting

2024/05/06 APA Justice Monthly Meeting

2024/05/13-14 2024 APAICS Legislative Leadership Summit

2024/05/14 Serica Initiative: 7th Annual Women's Gala dinner

Visit https://bit.ly/45KGyga for event details.

2. Heritage, Culture, and Community: The Future of America's Chinatowns

WHAT: Heritage, Culture, and Community: The Future of America's Chinatowns

WHEN: May 22, 2024, 5:00 pm ET

WHERE: Hybrid event; 901 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20001

HOST: US-China Education Trust

Moderator: Jen Lin-Liu, author

Panelists:

• Grace Young, cookbook author, culinary historian, and activist

• Di Gao, senior director of research and development, National Trust for Historic Preservation

• Penny Lee, documentary producer, director, and film editor

DESCRIPTION: The panel will examine the importance and preservation of America’s Chinatowns today and delve into DC Chinatown and Chinese food’s unique and evolving role in the nation’s capital.

REGISTRATION: To be announced