Elaine Chao: Asian Americans are becoming more influential

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During an exclusive interview with CGTN's Wang Guan, US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said that Asian Americans are having both a growing presence and influence in today’s United States.

Chao pointed out that nearly six percent of the US population is Asian Americans which has grown from less than one percent 50 years ago.

She said that the US is not a black-and-white-only country anymore, but a more diverse place where an Asian American like her could become a cabinet official in the federal government.

Elaine Chao is the first Asian American in US history to be appointed to a President's Cabinet/VCG Photo

Chao is the first Asian American in US history to be appointed to a President's Cabinet. She served as the 24th US Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, and as Deputy Secretary of Transportation and Director of the Peace Corps under President George H. W. Bush in 1989 - 1993.

She is currently serving as the 18th US Secretary of Transportation of Donald Trump’s administration. The longtime Washington resident is married to US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Chao said that Donald Trump’s one-trillion infrastructure plan which released its principles on May 23, would probably be taken to the Congress by the end of the third quarter or at the end of the year, depending on the speed of the legislative process. She noted the direct injection funding by the government would be 200 billion dollars at minimum.