Francesca Seta/The Hoya Congressman David Wu (D-Ore.) speaks in Riggs Library. Wu told of the life that led him into politics.
Congressman David Wu (D-Ore.), the first and only Chinese-American to serve in Congress, shared anecdotes of his experience in government and encouraged students to become involved in politics in a speech held yesterday in Riggs Library.
Wu began his talk by first dispelling any common notions related to the effectiveness of the U.S. political system and citing the benefits of being a part of this system.
“If there is one thing that I want to leave with you here today it is this,” Wu said. “You hear all kinds of good, bad, indifferent things about the political process. I’m here to tell you that many of you want to do this. And you can do this. From my perspective, the good far outweighs the bad.”
Because of restricted immigration quotas, Wu and his family were unable to move to the United States from Taiwan until he was six years old, even though his father already lived in the country.
Only after President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order updating these quotas in 1961 was it possible for Wu to join his father.
Wu attributes this childhood experience as the source of his interest in politics.
Though President Kennedy’s decision to sign the law which increased the immigration quota for Taiwanese was relatively insignificant to most Americans, Wu stated that it was extremely important to him. Throughout his speech, Wu stressed the power of small decisions.
“I do my job every single day, despite the frustrations, with the faith that it makes a difference to somebody,” Wu said. “And if it doesn’t make a difference today, maybe it’ll make a difference tomorrow, or a year from now, or a decade from now. You can make a difference whether it is in the nation, in the community or in your school.”
On a broader scale, Wu also stressed the importance of spreading democracy and human rights to other countries. He expressed his belief, however, that change within a country should result from the actions of its people rather than from exterior involvement.
“You can’t recreate a country from the outside in,” Wu said. “But I do believe that you can create breathing space for indigenous forces. Trade is one tool. Another tool is shining a light on bad practices. I am convinced that if enough people of good will try, over a long period of time to change things, it will make a difference.”
When asked about any sort of prejudice which he encountered as a result of his ethnicity during his career, Wu stated that discrimination was unavoidable although he never let it affect him.
“Maybe [discrimination] has happened to me but I haven’t really focused on it,” Wu said. “There are some things that you can’t change, but there are some things that you can. So why worry about the things that you can’t change.”
At the end of his speech, Wu also emphasized the importance of crossing social barriers.
Citing that less than five percent of Oregon is comprised of Asians, Wu instructed students to interact with people of other ethnicities and backgrounds in order to find “common cause”.
Wu said that these shared views between people who normally would not interact with one another are the keys to creating change in the world.
After Wu finished his speech and answered questions from students, Grace Tse (SFS ’05), secretary of the Asian American Student Association, presented Wu with a gift from the organization.
Many who attended the event felt that Wu was extremely effective in motivating students to enter politics.
“I thought he was an incredible speaker,” Yunnie Ahn (COL ’05) said. “I thought he was inspiring, especially for Asian-American students. I also really liked his story about rising into politics. I think he’s really down-to-earth. He still has an intimate relationship with his constituents.”
In the House of Representatives, Congressman Wu serves on the Education and Workforce Committee which has sole jurisdiction over the nation’s education policy. On this committee, Wu has strongly advocated increasing student financial aid. Wu also serves on the Science Committee, which has jurisdiction over NASA has well as the nation’s research and technology policy. Congressman Wu is the first and only Chinese-American to serve in the House. He is the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Congressman Wu is also a member of the New Democratic Coalition.
