Washington, D.C.— To mark the start of the 2008 presidential campaign and the annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May, the Board of the Asian American Action Fund (AAA-Fund) invited the leading Democratic Presidential candidates to post a 600-word statement to the Asian Pacific American community (along with five links to their websites or favorite videos) on the AAA-Fund website.

As of May 31, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had sent statements and links. These statements and links are reproduced on a new Presidential Candidates page, and will be supplemented with other statements as they are sent by other candidates.

"We appreciate the statements made by Senators Clinton and Obama, and wish them well in their campaigns," said AAA-Fund Executive Director Alex Nguyen. "Other presidential hopefuls who wish to post a statement to the Asian American community on our website are welcome to contact us. While we do not have an official endorsement at this stage of the campaign, we want to encourage greater participation by Asian Pacific Americans in the presidential races, and greater awareness of our community's concerns by presidential hopefuls."

The AAA-Fund is a national Democratic political organization whose goal is to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in local, state and federal government, by encouraging AAPIs to volunteer on campaigns, raise money for candidates, and run for political office.