President Obama celebrates Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release May 24, 2010 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT RECEPTION CELEBRATING ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH East Room 3:50 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. It is wonderful to see all of you -- some of you back for the second time. Some of you work for me, so you’re here all the time. (Laughter.) I want to, before I start off, acknowledge that we’ve got just some outstanding members of Congress who are always fighting the good fight for the AAPI community. It starts at the top, though, and I want to give a huge welcome and big round of applause for somebody who will go down as one of the greatest Speakers in our history -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Applause.) I want to thank Father Vien for his introduction. He’s led Mary Queen of Vietnam Church in Louisiana through some pretty hard days. After Katrina, he served not only as a spiritual advisor but also as a community organizer, making sure his parishioners got the help that they needed. In fact, shortly after returning to New Orleans, when much of the city was dark, he convinced the utility company to divert electricity to the neighborhood around his church. So nobody messes with Father Vien. (Laughter.) He tends to get what he wants.