Hello everybody, my name is Austin Huang. I am a sophomore at Alpharetta High School, and I served as the head reporter for the Georgia Chinese American Republicans Asian Community Outreach Event last month. I helped cover the event for GCAR, writing an article that you guys can read on our website, chineseamericanrepublicans.org. Being able to write about this event and cover it in detail allowed me to gain a greater understanding of the work and effort that went into throwing such a successful meeting. First of all, I want to extend my gratitude to Sunny Wong, without whom all of this (gesture towards everything) would be impossible. I had the opportunity to witness her hard work and dedication in planning and executing both the outreach event and in building up this enormous organization. Let’s give her a round of applause. (Claps) The time and effort that she has put into assembling this grassroots organization is astounding, and we need more people like her if we want to make this organization successful. Next off, I want to thank you guys! Without your help volunteering and ensuring that everything went smoothly, our event would have been nowhere near as successful. So give yourselves a round of applause for your hard work! Anyways, back to the event. For those of you who didn’t know, we had some amazing figures in attendance. From Attorney General Chris Carr to Danielle D’Souzah Gille, we heard from some wonderful and inspiring speakers who talked about the importance of conservative values. I was especially inspired by Esther Lu, a member of the Army Reserve who serves as the RNC’s Director of Asian and Pacific American Engagement. For the past year or so, she has been crisscrossing the country and attending Asian community outreach events such as ours, working hard to bring the Republican Party’s message to Asian communities. Being able to talk to and interview her was an amazing opportunity that this organization has given me. I also had the opportunity to chat with Karen Handel, who is running for her old congressional seat in the 6th district. She told me a little about how her campaign was going and what she plans to do if she is elected, and even offered me the chance to volunteer on her campaign. Again, without this organization I would never have had the opportunity to meet and interview a Congresswoman. I am truly grateful to the Georgia Chinese American Republicans for giving me such wonderful opportunities. Besides organizing events like our community outreach meeting, GCAR also does several important things for the Asian community. Our primary goal is to ensure that Asian Americans stay involved in the political process. Asian Americans are notorious for having one of the lowest voting rates in the United States, which is something that must change if we want to ensure that the laws passed and the actions taken by government at the local, state, and federal levels reflect our interests. One of the most important things we do is help advocate for politicians at the local and state level. I’m sure many of you remember Brian Kemp’s election and the support that we gave him, and our organization has also helped campaign for many politicians, as well as local initiatives. GCAR not only represents Asian interests, but also works to ensure that we can learn the necessary skills to better fight for ourselves. That is why I admire this organization so much. We will consistently fight to make sure that Chinese and Asian voices are heard in government, and guarantee that Asian American youth like yourselves can learn how to best get involved and affect change in your own lives. We will have plenty of opportunities for you guys to become more politically involved, from community outreach events to voter registration drives, and even campaigning for Republican candidates up and down the ballot. This year, the 2020 election cycle, is a prime opportunity for all of you to get involved. Georgia might have been a Republican guarantee in the past, but in recent years the red grasp on Georgia has gotten weaker. Governor Kemp won his election by a mere few points, while in the 7th Congressman Woodall won by just a few hundred votes. Republicans will have to fight tooth and nail to ensure that Georgia stays red, and that means GCAR must fight as well. By educating Asian voters about the Republicans Party’s platform and helping make sure they understand the importance of being involved in the political process, we can ensure success at the ballot box. However, none of that is possible without you guys, our valiant student volunteers who help smoothly run our events. Without you, we don’t stand a chance. So I urge you to take this opportunity and become more involved. I guarantee you won’t regret it. Thank you everybody.
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Austin Huang
President
