Recently, Bincheng Mao sat down with Congressman Joseph Cao, the only House Republican to vote for the 2009 Affordable Health Care for America Act, to discuss minority inclusion, public service, and bridging America's political divide.
Congressman Cao with Barack Obama, Mike Pence
(by Pete Souza/The White House, Leo Chiang)
Our guest today is former Congressman Joseph Cao. The first Vietnamese American elected to Congress, he came to the US at the age of 8 as a refugee from Saigon. In 2008, he defeated 9-term incumbent William Jefferson, becoming the first Republican to represent his New Orleans-based district since 1890. His victory was regarded as the biggest political upset in the 2008 election cycle. During his tenure, he was the only Republican to vote for President Obama's draft Affordable Health Care for America Act. During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, he pushed to hold BP America executives accountable.
Bincheng Mao moderates this interview with Mr. Cao. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Inclusion Advocate and founder of the East Coast Coalition for Tolerance and Non-Discrimination (ECC). Under his leadership, ECC has mobilized young volunteers from across the country to serve minorities struggling to access health care and other social services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Inclusion Advocate - Unscripted is an interview series produced by the East Coast Coalition for Tolerance and Non-Discrimination (ECC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting inclusion and equity for marginalized minorities.