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>> president biden recognized asian american native hawaiian and pacific islander heritage month with a reception at the white house, joined by vice president harris and actress lucy lu. this is about 20 minutes. ♪ vice president harris: good afternoon, everyone. please have a seat, those who can. those who have a chair. [laughter] what a beautiful day and it is so good to be here with so many dear friends and extraordinary leaders.

and of course the most important of our leaders today, president joe biden. he is welcoming everyone to the white house. joe biden as everyone knows is a leader of courage and conviction and a fighter for freedom, justice and equity for all americans. yes. and to the first second gentleman of the united states who i know is here but i don't see him at the moment, my husband, doug emhoff, to the members of our administration, the members of congress including the members of kpax and all of the distinguished guests, including some i welcomed last week to the first aanhpi night market, it is an honor to gather with all of you. the story of asian-americans, native hawaiians, and pacific islanders is the story of america herself.

during aanhpi heritage month, we honor the leaders who shape the earliest days of our nations history from the 1800s when , chinese-americans laid the tracks of the transcontinental railroad to the south asian americans who worked in farms and lumber mills and strengthened the agricultural base of the pacific coast, from the japanese americans who have the 442nd combat team who defended our freedom and liberty during world war ii, to the filipino-americans who helped lead the historic delano strike resulting in more fair pay and basic workplace protections for agricultural workers. and then fast forward to today, the leaders here and across our nation who continue to make history every day. this month and every month, we honor and celebrate the heroes

upon whose broad shoulders we all stand. as many of you may know, my mother arrived in the united states from india when she was 19 years old, by herself, never having been to america. my mother had two goals in her life, to raise her two daughters, my sister and me, and to end breast cancer. she was a breast cancer researcher. my mother never asked anyone's permission to pursue her dream. and it is because of her character, strength and determination that within one generation i stand before you as vice president of the united states. [cheering] like so many we were raised, all of us, to understand the value of hard work, the importance of community and the duty we all have to have some level of concern and care about the well-being of other people and our duties to do something about it.

there has been something quite perverse happening in our nation the last several years were some people would suggest that the measure of strength is based on who you beat down instead of what we know, the true measure of strength is based on who you lift up. in this moment we see extremists who are trying to divide our nation. we see so-called leaders with the biggest pulpits and the biggest bully pulpits who encourage and incite xenophobia and hate. including anti-asian hate. we see a full on assault state by state on our most fundamental freedoms and rights, the freedom to vote, the freedom to live safe from gun violence. the freedom to learn and acknowledge our true and full

history and the freedom of women to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do. and so in this moment, i'll close by this, i am reminded of the words of one of my dearest friends and a mentor to me, secretary norm manetta. norm often said "you have two arms, one to climb the ladder of success and one to reach down and pick someone up and pull them up behind you." this aanhpi heritage month, let us all celebrate those who have lifted up our nation and to honor their memory, let us renew our commitment to lift as we climb. and now it is my great privilege to introduce a leader who has inspired people around the world and who has fought for years with such courage for equity and justice. please welcome lucy liu.

lucy: good afternoon. i am deeply honored to have been introduced by vice president kamala harris, a trailblazer a , beacon of hope for women and people of color everywhere. [ applause ] her historic election as the first female black and asian american vice president of the united states is a testament to the limitless possibilities of the american dream. thank you for your leadership and your inspiration. i was born and raised in new york with parents who both immigrated from china.

while we commemorate aanhpi heritage month here today, our household proudly celebrates it every month. my son rockwell possesses a deep awareness of our roots, exuding a profound confidence in his identity. this is truly remarkable to me, especially considering the contrast of my childhood where i felt i had to keep things secretive and distance myself from my heritage in order to have a stronger sense of belonging. now as we gather to honor this heritage and in the rose garden at the white house, i am struck by the irony that once inhibited my own path towards fearlessness. our journey as asian-americans is deeply rooted in history,

marked by resilience, perseverance and the relentless pursuit of justice. from the struggles of our ancestors who first set foot on american soil to the generations that followed, we have contributed to the rich tapestry of this nation, shaping its history and its future. throughout history we have faced formidable challenges in exerting our right including the right to vote and be counted. when chinese immigrants arrived during the california goad rush -- gold rush we battled against discrimination and practices like the chinese exclusion act of 1882 aimed at disenfranchising us. despite these obstacles asian americans have persisted in their fight for equality and representation. in 19 43 there was a significant victory when this exclusion act

was repealed. subsequent decades saw the gradual dismantling of other discriminatory policies. today as we confront the ongoing challenges of voter suppression and intolerance, we remain steadfast in our commitment to democracy. inspired by the sacrifices of those who came before us and fueled by the hope of a brighter future. it is against this backdrop of struggle and progress that i have the privilege of introducing a leader who embodies the values of equality, unity and progress, a president who is a devoted husband, father , and grandfather, and believes, like we do, in the bond of family and the pride of our immigrant heritage. mr. president, all of us here, including my son rockwell stand united with you, with open hearts and minds, to continue

this journey of collaboration to celebrate aanhpi excellence. esteemed guests, the 46th president of the united states, president joe biden. [cheering] president biden: my name's joe biden, i work for kamala harris. i asked her to be my vice president because i knew i needed somebody smarter than me. folks, happy asian-american, native hawaiian, pacific islander month. thank you, lucy, for your introduction and all you do for the community on and off the screen. kamala, our historic vice president who represents the

community with such great pride. doug, i know you're here somewhere but wherever you are, doug, he's back there? anyway, our first second gentleman, he's here along with so many of our friends. mazie and tammy, two leaders in the united states senate. there you are. and chair of the congressional asian-pacific american caucus representative judy chu. there you are, judy. and other members who represent the community in growing numbers in each election. as kamala mentioned, that includes the family of the late norm manetta who is a great friend and leader. this year marks the 25th anniversary of the creation of the white house initiative on aanhpi. and norm supported it. by the way, i was educated by a guy, one of the first when i first got here i didn't want to be here because i just lost my family in an accident.

and there was a guy named danny who came along. he had more grit and determination than anyone i ever knew. he stood tall. this is a guy who, anyway, i don't want to get started but he taught me an awful lot. some commission members are here. kamala and i are committed to having an administration that looks like america and it does. we do. we have members of every community. so many of them are here today. trade representative catherine taught. acting labor secretary julie su. above all, thanks to all of you, leaders of labor, business perfection philanthropy, civil rights, so much more, all you represent a simple truth. there's no singular asian-american native hawaiian

pacific islander identity and diversity in those cultures , the breath of achievement and shape the strength and fabric of this country but it is not all the same. fastest growing demographic in the united states represent how we are the nation of immigrants, nation of dreamers, nation of freedom. that's the america we share. we made incredible progress together. 15 million new jobs and records, historic low levels of unemployment, small business creation. loans from our small business administration with the aanhpi small business is up 44% compared to, by the way, cheer for that. that was the dog. he is all for it. he is employed. [laughter] look, because we expanded the child care tax credit during the pandemic and by the way not one

republican voted for it, we cut asian-american child poverty by nearly 25%, record low, lower costs across the board. we finally beat big pharma and got medicare the ability to negotiate lower drug prices. we capped insulin down from $400. only costs them ten bucks to make it. and seniors on medicare are beneficiaries. not only save lives but it's a fact around my republican friends, it saves the budget $160 billion, 160 billion. medicare no longer has to pay those exorbitant fees. we're now making college more affordable. make relieving student debt for so many in the communities. increased the largest pell grants in a decade. 40% of aanhpi students rely on pell grants to get to college.

nearly 40%. more people have health insurance today than ever before in the history of this company, including in this community. i'm proud my administration announced daca recipients will finally get access to health care through the affordable care act. [applause] by the way, i proposed the most comprehensive you have immigration reform bill in decades. it includes a pathway to citizens for dreamers and expands the number of green cards so more families can build the american dream together. and now congress has to act, do the right thing. going to keep pushing forward. thank you -- thanks to decades of advocacy by so many of you i'm proud of our administration , released major changes to how federal government collects and reports federal data on race and ethnicity. by disaggregating data on the community that's so deserved, we can better serve the entire community, individual community, -- individual communities. after all our government didn't

really see who created americans distinctly from filipino americans. we are changing that. we are also making historic investments to rebuild roads and bridges, lead the world in science and innovation, that includes the biggest investment in climate in the history of the world. [applause] i signed the most significant gun safety laws in nearly 30 years. as i mourned with you in atlanta, montgomery park, or half-moon bay, been there to meet the families. together we won't stop until we finally ban assault weapons as well. [applause] i could go on. the point here is we're lowering costs, expanding opportunities and protecting freedom. that's in stark contrast to my predecessor's view of americans -- america and his view of all of you. never forget him lying about the pandemic, the rise of anti-asian hate crimes during the pandemic.

i'm proud to have signed the covid-19 hate crimes act. with your support. we have also provided historic funding for safety in local communities. we're seeing a 50 year low in violent crime in america. san francisco, for example, anti-asian hate crimes are down. 75% in the last two years. when trump was in office his tax cut overwhelmingly benefiting the super wealthy had exploded the federal deficit. his administration added more to the federal deficit than any other previous presidential term in history and now his friends want to do it again. at the same time, i love his terminology, he wants to "terminate" the affordable care act, taking millions of you and your families off of insurance, taking away protections for preexisting conditions, affecting millions of people.

social security and medicare my predecessor says "there's a lot we can do in terms of cutting." not on our watch. he brags about cutting roe v. wade making sure it's , overturned. kamala and i are going to fight to restore roe v. wade until it's the law of the land again. [applause] while we fight for comprehensive immigration reform, he calls immigrants rapists and murderers. he says they are not people, they are not people. he says immigrants are quote "poisoning the blood of our country." folks, my predecessor wants a country that's for some of it. -- that is just for some of us. we want a country for all of it. let me close with this. two years ago i signed a landmark law to pave the way for the creation of the national museum of aanhpi. [applause] it matters.

there are those who want to erase this but together you're making history, we're making history. what i see in all of you including some incredibly special people here today. born in the philippines, they came to america to follow her dreams. she started working at a restaurant at an airport before working her way up to becoming one of the best chefs in the world. now the first woman asian-american executive chef of the white house. [applause] she is incredible. as a matter of fact, i was 20 pounds lighter when i came here. [laughter] you deserve it. i love you, too. thank you. she's been here for over two decades serving presidents of

both parties, prepared dinners for heads of state, celebrities, to everyone from super bowl champions and every day heroes. above all she's a world class , culinary leader who leaves you with a sense of wonder about americans as a forever nation of immigrants. look, all of you represent one form or another. maybe your family's been here for generations. or you're the first one here. maybe you never thought you'd be here at the white house. but you are here at the white house, the people's house, your house, your house. we see you. there's always been a competing set of values and visions in america. but never as starkly as today. the one held by my predecessor revenge and retribution. ,the other, what we all share. honestly, decency, faith, fairness, that's the future we're building together. it's because of you, i mean it

sincerely, it is because of you that i have never been more optimistic about america's future in my entire career. just remember who we are. we're the united states of america and there's nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we act together and that's what we have to do and that's what we are doing. god bless you all and may god protect our troops. [applause] ♪

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