"Did you get to visit Paris before the virus shut down international travel? The architect who designed the Louvre's iconic glass pyramid was actually an American--an Asian American named I.M. Pei. By the time of his death at age of 102, Pei had designed many famous buildings on US soil, including the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. "Pei was one of millions of Asian Americans whose talents have helped make America an exceptional nation, made up of exceptional people who take advantage of all the opportunities our nation has to offer. President Joe Biden is absolutely right to denounce the recent attack in Atlanta, which took the lives of six Asian-American women, and he isn't alone. The nation's capital grieves with our Asian-American friends and neighbors. "Sadly, however, Biden's rhetoric in defense of the Asian-American community isn't matched by respect for their right to enjoy the fruit of their gifts and grit. The Biden administration has shown, right out of the gate, a determination to stick its head in the sand, while America's top universities actively discriminate against Asian Americans. "Last year, the Department of Justice sued Yale University, claiming the school rejected many qualified Asian-American applicants on the basis of their race. The decision came two years after several Asian-American organizations filed a complaint with the DOJ and the Department of Education, accusing the New Haven Ivy of discrimination. Yet only a few weeks after Biden set up shop in the Oval Office, the DOJ withdrew its own lawsuit against Yale. "Harvard University also seems bent on discriminating against Asian-American applicants. In 2014, Students for Fair Admissions sued Harvard, claiming the school was using an application system that reduces the number of Asian-American students through evaluations that are subjective and potentially racially biased. "When Harvard considers an applicant, the admissions team often looks past objective indicators like grades and test scores to a student's "personal ratings.' These personal ratings claim to measure traits like "humor,' "sensitivity,' "helpfulness' and "courage.' The problem is that Harvard has consistently granted lower personal rating scores to Asian Americans than it has to white students and those of other ethnic groups. "The judge in the Students for Fair Admissions' lawsuit wrote that "the data demonstrates [sic] a statistically significant and negative relationship between Asian-American identity and the personal rating assigned by Harvard admissions officers, holding constant any reasonable set of observable characteristics.' "It might sound smart for Harvard to look for well-rounded applicants--until you realize that these personal ratings aren't just subjective, they're subversive. The scores are value judgments that minimize the accomplishments of Asian Americans in particular. "Harvard's admissions scores work on a scale from 1 to 6. When it comes to the personal-ratings dimension of the application process, only 17.6 percent of Asian-Americans receive top scores of 1 or 2, compared with 21.3 percent of white applicants. In fact, Harvard gives Asian Americans the weakest personal ratings of any ethnic group. "Harvard admissions officials have reportedly handed out these low scores without even interviewing some candidates in person. These officials admitted in 2013 that if the school only considered "academic achievement,' then the class' proportional Asian-American representation would have more than doubled. "A federal judge ruled against the plaintiffs in 2019, notwithstanding her acknowledgment that Harvard grants lower personal rating scores to Asian-American applicants, and the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld that decision last November. But there's still hope for justice for Asian-American students. The Supreme Court could take up the case, and the White House could defend the cause of meritocracy against Harvard's racial discrimination. "The DOJ has historically supported the Students for Fair Admissions lawsuit. The department filed a statement of interest in the case in 2018 and an amicus brief last year. If Biden is committed to fighting racial discrimination against Asian Americans, it's not hard to see how countering racist policies within the privileged halls of Harvard--a school that receives federal dollars--must be part of that commitment. "I.M. Pei graduated from Harvard in the 1940s. Who knows if the Cambridge, Mass., Ivy would even admit him today? That's a shame, and it shouldn't stand. The new president should contend for the rights of Asian Americans to be treated fairly by America's schools. His Department of Justice should support, rather than ignore, their lawsuit against racial bias."

By John Kennedy At a time when the national debt is $27 trillion--the largest it's ever been--the least we can do is make sure that government relief payments are going to people who need them most. Unfortunately, too much of that money is ending up in the hands of fraudsters who capitalize on the deaths of their fellow Americans. The problem isn't new. Every year, the federal government sends taxpayer dollars to dead people. Ghosts can't cash checks, but fraudsters can, using the bank accounts of deceased friends and relatives as their own personal ATM machines. Just last spring, the government sent coronavirus relief checks worth nearly $1.4 billion to deceased Americans. Congress has since acted to try to limit the damage, but many people who died in 2020 still likely got a $600 check from December's round of coronavirus payments. The struggle is perennial. In 2018, the Social Security Administration (SSA) sent checks worth $40 million to dead people in Maryland, Michigan, and Texas. Who knows how much more was lost in the other 47 states? Sadly, the IRS is very limited in what it can do to claw back improper payments. It can ask politely for the money back, but it's unlikely that people who mistakenly believe the money is due them or those who are comfortable committing fraud will return the payments. Recovering the money legally can be a pricey pursuit in itself, and that process could add to the grief of families who have lost loved ones and now find themselves in a bureaucratic mess of the government's making. Specifically, the government's incredibly flawed bookkeeping and administration are to blame. Social Security keeps a database of all deceased Americans, but the SSA refuses to share it with most federal agencies, including those that write checks. Most federal agencies just rely on their own incomplete, outdated list. It's no wonder the Treasury sends money to the dead: They simply don't know any better because one government agency won't talk to another. Fortunately, the Senate took decisive action to fight back against this practice by passing the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act unanimously, and President Trump signed an improved version of this bill into law this December. A result of bipartisan, bicameral agreement, this new provision of law requires the SSA to share comprehensive death data, including the most up to date state-reported list, with the Treasury's Do Not Pay Program. When they no longer have to rely on incomplete data supplied by the SSA, federal agencies that interface with the Treasury will have the information they need to avoid sending improper payments to Americans who are no longer living. Rare opportunity for Biden These measures will save taxpayers billions of dollars, but we should do more. The SSA relies on contracts with states to receive and share each state's death data. Before this new law can be truly effective, the current contracts will have to expire. That means the bill's full effects will not come into play for about three years. Absent executive action to void and renegotiate these contracts, billions of dollars will continue flowing into dead people's pockets--at the expense of American workers and families who are still suffering under a pandemic. President Joe Biden has said he wants to be a unifying president. Well, now's his chance to make the most of a winning issue. No taxpayer, regardless of party, is likely to support sending taxpayer money to dead people. The president has a rare opportunity to act now to fix this problem ahead of schedule, saving billions of dollars over the next few years. Millions of Americans have lost their livelihoods during the coronavirus pandemic. If the Biden Administration's top priority is to save lives and jobs, it must stop playing into the hands of fraudsters. Even in a polarized political climate, we can all agree that government shouldn't be redistributing wealth to the dead. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is on the Senate Banking, Budget and Small Business committees, and is the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

By John Kennedy Bipartisanship, like common sense, is rare in Washington, D.C. But every now and then, the stars align and both sides find common ground. At the end of last year, the president signed into law landmark legislation that lowers greenhouse emissions and defends American jobs all at once--and the solution came from Louisiana. Our state is home to tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs. It is also ground zero for the hostile storms and coastal erosion that some link to a changing climate. Our jobs and our coasts took particularly hard licks in 2020, so it's no surprise that Louisiana drew on our unique experience to give Washington a gift that protects both: the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act. Many reported that the AIM Act was historic, "arguably the most significant climate legislation to head to President Trump's desk during his administration." It shouldn't shock anyone that Senate Republicans led the charge to protect jobs and the planet by getting the AIM Act over the finish line. Democrats in both chambers found their way to "yes" on this agreement after months of negotiations with GOP leaders. I know because I introduced the AIM act and led those negotiations. The AIM Act will not just reduce the impact of greenhouse gases, however. As a lifelong Louisianian, I introduced this legislation to protect Louisiana jobs. For some time, Louisiana workers have produced chemical compounds known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These chemicals are coolants that make air conditioning, refrigeration, medical inhalers--and more--possible. Unfortunately, these outdated coolants can have a negative impact on the environment that is thousands of times worse than carbon dioxide's. So, industries around the globe are phasing out HFCs in favor of next-generation coolants that hurt the environment less. The markets that adapt to producing refrigerants with smaller environmental footprints will not only survive once HFCs are obsolete, but they'll also have a global competitive advantage. So will the markets that make the appliances that use these new coolants. That's a big deal for Louisiana, which currently has several plants that produce HFCs. Because of the AIM Act, plants in Geismar, Baton Rouge, and St. Gabriel have the chance to save hundreds of jobs and add new ones by transitioning to safer coolants over time. Honeywell's Geismar plant has already opened a $300 million expansion to make more of the eco-friendly coolants, and the AIM Act protects such efforts from the heavy-handed regulation that states like California have tried to impose on the rest of the country. The AIM Act also supports downstream manufacturing jobs that depend on products that use coolants. Take, for example, the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) industry. The HVACR industry employs over 500,000 Americans and is worth tens of billions of dollars. However, the HVACR industry now relies on outdated HFCs, which are falling out of favor worldwide. To solve this problem, the AIM Act will help American factories transition to making appliances and goods that use the new HFC coolants. These are exactly the kinds of goods developing countries could buy from the U.S. since the international HVACR market is expected to more than double over the next decade. Thanks to the AIM Act, Louisiana companies that produce, service, or sell HVACR equipment will not shut their doors. They now have the time and space to innovate in an emerging market, and that will enable America to export these new coolants and the products that depend on them. That's why the AIM Act is expected to create 150,000 American jobs. Now more than ever, America must lead the global economy. In recent years, China has been accused of violating U.S. trade laws to flood our homes with HFCs that are older and more harmful than American-made chemicals. Communist China's leadership is happy to profit by hurting American consumers and workers, but Louisiana is helping pave the way forward for our country even though 2020 was not easy on our state. We've been battered by a historic hurricane season and economic hardships from the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, when it comes to coastal conservation and key production sectors, Louisiana may have more skin in the game than any other state. As a result, Louisiana has shown America that protecting the environment and supporting manufacturing jobs can go hand-in-hand. The AIM Act has become law just in time to empower Louisiana workers and our industries as we begin a new year.