CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Andy Kim

Interview

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Andy Kim is a Democratic congressman from New Jersey and a former diplomat who is now speaking out about the obstacles he faced in the State Department.

Congressman, great to have you.

REP. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: So, you were a diplomat and had top-secret security clearance. You worked as an adviser to General David Petraeus in Afghanistan.

But you were banned from working on issues pertaining to Korea. Why and by whom?

KIM: That's right. I remember, one day, you know, this was after I came back from working in Afghanistan, showed up at my desk one day at the State Department and there was an envelope on the desk.

And I opened it and read it and it was a letter telling me I was banned on working anything related to Korea.

Which was so confusing in so many ways. I wasn't even applying to work on anything related to Korea.

This was pre-active and preemptive. The government decided to tell me that I was banned. I felt like they were saying that they didn't trust me. That there were limits to what they thought my loyalty to this country was about.

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CAMEROTA: And we should mention, you were born in Boston, correct?

KIM: That's right. I was born in the United States. I don't even speak Korean very well. It was just so confusing to me why this would be triggered.

Again, even when I wasn't trying to work on something related to Korea. It just worried me about whether or not I could actually have a career at the State Department.

CAMEROTA: You weren't alone. We're hearing this from other Asian- American diplomats.

So, did anybody explicitly say that they challenged your loyalty and questioned if you would be able to work on Asian affairs?

KIM: Well, the letter itself gets that across.

You know, when they're saying that I can't work on something simply because of my last name and my heritage, they're telling me that they worry that, if I'm doing something related to Korea, that I might not be acting in the best interest of America.

That's what that restriction was about. And I tried to appeal it. Wasn't able to.

I tried to talk to higher-ups at the State Department. A lot of them just told me, look, just let it be, let it pass.

I just felt they were not taking seriously the disrespect that was shown towards me, as someone who put myself in harm's way to work in Afghanistan, that endured numerous security clearances before.

What was the problem? They just wouldn't tell me, wouldn't be up front.

CAMEROTA: Your experience was during the Obama administration. Is it your impression that things have gotten worse for Asian-American diplomats since then?

KIM: I don't know. I mean, I've heard from different Asian-American diplomats about the challenges they're facing.

What I went through is something that others are facing. Others have had experiences in a much more difficult way where they actually were trying to get assignments or posts working in Asia or working on Asian issues and were banned. That is certainly something that has affected them.

I have had conversations with the senior leadership at the State Department recently. They are aware of this and they are digging into this. But I don't think we know just yet how deep of a problem this is.

So, certainly for me, I'm on the Foreign Affairs Committee in Congress. I'm doing my best to shine a light on this and come up with a real plan to address it.

CAMEROTA: And explain how this discrimination does impact national security of the U.S., particularly as it competes with China?

KIM: Well, one thing that I keep thinking about id just how, when I was working at the State Department, they kept saying our diversity is our strength. I think a lot of people around the country would say that.

But in actuality, sometimes our diversity, you know, demonstrated by that experience I had, can be seen as a threat and seen as a concern.

And so when we're looking at the United States and we're thinking about, what is it we want to project to the rest of the world, how do we want to showcase what America is, certainly, for an organization like the State Department, which literally is our face to the rest of the world.

So that's part of it. But also, we should be drawing upon that. We should be proud of having so many different cultures, so many different experiences, so many different people that know the world in different ways.

That can make for a stronger foreign policy. And that's something we need to be thinking about, especially as we're ramping up our relationship and competition with China. We need to be very mindful about how our actions, our words that we

use, when it comes to China, could very much impact and affect the Asian-American community here at home.

CAMEROTA: I mean, at the same time that's happening, then as we started this segment, we're seeing increased physical assaults on Asian-Americans, in public.

Meaning that people -- these suspects are not ashamed to do this in sometimes broad daylight.

How does this end? When will this end?

KIM: There's a connection here between the different elements and stories we're talking about, which is the question of, what does it mean to be American, and whether or not Asian-Americans, whether or not we can truly be seen as 100 percent American.

And over the course of my life and my career, I just had this -- what I call a shadow of foreignness that continues to hang over me.

And whether it's a questioning of my loyalty to this country or something else that Asian-Americans face, it's this question of, do we belong here.

And I know that one of the attacks against an Asian-American woman in New York, literally, the attacker said, you don't belong here.

That's what we're fighting against. We want to say, we do belong here. This is our country. And we are as much in love with America as anybody else. And our loyalty should not be questioned. And we just ask for respect to be seen as others are.

That's what this is about. And this is what we're trying to push towards and address when it comes to the heartbreaking violence that you were showing earlier.

CAMEROTA: Congressman Andy Kim, we really appreciate you coming on to speak with us about all of this. Thank you.

KIM: Thank you.

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