Committee of 100 Urges President Clinton to Counter Growing Racism in the Espionage Controversy
March 19, 1999

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of the undersigned Asian American organizations, we implore you to speak out forcefully and clearly against the reckless and racist media attacks against the supposed "disloyalty" of Americans of Chinese descent arising from the current controversy at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Please use your upcoming weekly radio address and issue an official White House statement to counter these negative comments.

In the long history of nations, including our own, covert intelligence operations may be directed by one nation against another. It would simply be naïve and foolish to think otherwise. Accordingly, legitimate, individualized measures can clearly be justified to protect U.S. national security interests, and we would support a vigorous, thorough and fair investigation and prosecution of any national security breaches at Los Alamos or elsewhere.

But it is reprehensible to label and viciously stereotype an entire ethnic group in America, which comprises millions of loyal, hard-working, law-abiding citizens, permanent residents and non-immigrants, who are making positive contributions to this society. You must not allow all Americans of Chinese descent or any other Asian Americans to be singled out and tainted by this current smear campaign. Political leaders who failed to speak out in 1941 allowed 110,000 loyal Americans of Japanese heritage to be incarcerated behind barbed wire for years. Courage and common sense both require your voice, now, to calm these unfounded fears and to reassure all Americans that the protection of our common national security does not require tainting all Chinese Americans, particularly those who are scientists and engineers in government, industry and academia.

Furthermore, if left unchecked, this sort of media misinformation may eventually warp our domestic political dialog to the detriment of our nation's ability to conduct a thoughtful, bipartisan foreign policy toward China. Your leadership is needed now to assure that, in the longer run, America can effectively manage its critical bilateral relationship with China to maintain world peace and regional stability in Asia.

We pledge our collective support to you and to all of our leaders in Washington to combat racism and to strengthen our national security without violation of the civil rights of Asian Americans. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Henry Tang, Chairman Committee of 100
George Ong, President Organization of Chinese Americans
Herbert Yamanishi, National Director Japanese American Citizens League
Nancy Gee, President Chinese American Citizens Alliance
Peter M. Suzuki, President National Asian Pacific American Bar Association

cc:

Sandy Berger, National Security Advisor
Jim Steinberg, Deputy National Security Advisor
Marybeth Cahill, Office of Public Liason