Neera Tanden, an Indian-American public policy expert, who will soon succeed Susan Rice as the White House domestic policy advisor, has said that she is excited about her new role in the administration.

Tanden, 52, is the first Asian-American to be appointed to this high-level position in the White House.

She is now President Joe Biden’s top advisor and staff secretary.

While addressing the AANHPI Women’s Celebration organized by the AAPI Victory Fund on Wednesday, Tanden said, “I am so excited for my new role at the White House, and I am thrilled to be part of an administration that has so many AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders) leaders, so many AANHPI women leaders, … so many leaders who represent the great diversity of our community”.

Tanden, a Democrat, told a crowded Kennedy Center auditorium, composed of distinguished AANHPI leaders, including Indian Americans, that when she worked at the White House during the Clinton Administration, there were only a handful of AANHPI people.

Tanden further said, “Twenty-five years later under the Biden Administration, there is hardly any branch of the government where there are no AANHPI at eminent positions”.

“We have leaders in every agency. And I am incredibly proud that we have three AANHPI leaders leading policy councils in the White House. And that is a historic accomplishment for our community”, she continued.

Tanden has held positions in Obama and Clinton administrations, as well as presidential campaigns and think tanks.

She most recently served as President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Tanden also alluded to current events, in which many unresolved issues are being addressed.

Tanden went on to say, “But it is also a bit of a paradox because at this moment when our voices are heard at every table in Washington, it is also the case that our politics have grown uglier. And that in many ways our country is debating issues that we haven’t really debated. We weren’t debating this 25 years ago”.

She stated, “Right now, we are having ugly conversations about who our country is really for; whether it is for all of us or just a few of us. What does it really mean to be an American? Who is American? I see this as a paradox because I see, as we have grown stronger in our representation, there is also a real backlash against a vision of the country that is for all of us”.

“That is really why I am so incredibly proud to be part of an administration where our voices are everywhere. I was at a … two weeks ago with the president and, in the room just for a briefing on an issue, half the people in the room were Asian-Americans. The president turned to us and said, you know, this is what America is”, she continued.

At the same time, Tanden told the audience that they should be really aware that their representation and voices are not uncontested.

“There is a debate in this country, a real debate as to whether our politics should really include all of us. …And what I’m so proud of is to be part of an administration and to serve a president and vice president who recognize that this is a fight for the soul of the country. At the heart of that fight is a fight about ensuring America represents all of us; that we have the right to be leaders in every field, and that our politics and our policies have to address all of our needs”, Tanden added.

(With input from PTI)

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