Subject: For approval: 1 more AAPI Heritage Month script: Rep. Chu
From: "Christopher, Rebecca" <[email-masked]>
To: Video-Vetting_d <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Bagchi, K.J." <[email-masked]>, "Wei, Shu-Yen" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2016 15:41:38 -0700

Hi everyone,
Below is one final short script for AAPI Heritage Month, this time for Judy Chu. Please let me know if you have any flags or changes, and thank you!

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REP JUDY CHU
Q: What inspired you to seek public office?
Growing up, I never actually thought I would be in elected office.  It is because I never saw anyone like me in such positions, so it never occurred to me that it was a possibility.
It wasn’t until I took an Asian American Studies in college that a light went off in my head. I learned about the history of injustices in the United States, and I learned how important it was for communities to organize if they were to get anything done.

Not long after that, something terrible happened in the city I was living in, Monterey Park, California. We experienced a wave of anti-immigrant backlash and the city council passed an English-only ordinance.

That’s when people said enough was enough.  I joined a multiethnic coalition to fight back. Together, we gathered thousands of signatures on petitions. The pressure was enough to get the resolution was overturned.
That fight showed me what power our community has when we stand together against injustices. And it’s what emboldened me to start on a difficult but successful path to public office. I went from city council all the way to becoming the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress in history.

I am proud to now serve as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, or what we call CAPAC. Our purpose is to make sure that the voices and the priorities of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are heard throughout Congress, the federal government and throughout this country.