Chirinjeev Kathuria of MirCorp fame speaks..

Sify has this interview with Chirinjeev Kathuria, the primary investor behind Mir-corp which sent Dennis Tito into space in 2001...
[quote:f08c29c176]'I'm a Sikh, but an American first'

By Nitish S Rele
Thursday, 08 July , 2004, 09:44

Chirinjeev Kathuria has co-founded and built several companies. There's the X-Stream Networks Inc, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) of which he is a director. And who can forget MirCorp, which became the world's first company in 2000 to privately launch and fund manned space programs.
Kathuria also co-founded Medical Oasis Inc/American Teleradiology & Nighthawks and Vimani Wireless which builds, operates and owns broadband wireless local area networks using 802.11a and 802.11b technology, i.e., Wi-Fi in the healthcare and residential and commercial high-density unit markets.

As if this weren't enough, Chirinjeev Kathuria of Chicago is excited about running for the US Senate race in Illinois. He lost the primary on March 16 to Jack Ryan. However, Ryan recently withdrew from the race.

Kathuria is also mulling a run for the 9th Congressional District in Illinois. Also on the agenda is a possible run for lieutenant governor of Illinois in 2006.

Kathuria has been in Illinois since he was eight months old. He graduated valedictorian of Downers Grove North School. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and specialised in US Health Care Policy and Administration and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Brown University. He also holds a Masters in Business Administration from Stanford University.

Before co-founding companies, he helped set up Morgan Stanley's Investment Banking operations in India. He has extensive experience in the health care industry and has consulted to a broad range of organisations in the US, Europe, and Asia. He helped develop Arthur D Little biotechnology and health care policy practice in Europe.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Sify.com:

What are some of the first steps you will take if elected as senator from Illinois?

First and foremost, our country is suffering from economic distress. I totally support the Tax Job Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 and I applaud the President for giving money back to the people. I also would have backed the full $700 billion-plus plan originally proposed by the President. But we also must curb the spending side. | Discuss: US will soon have an Indian-American President |

Tough choices have to be made. Pet projects have to be eliminated; wasteful use of taxpayer money must end. Unemployment is high and I have experience creating jobs for small and large businesses. I will use this knowledge to help create jobs by giving incentives to small businesses.

My solution to grow the economy is to stimulate small businesses. Small businesses account for the majority of the new job creation in the United States. Small businesses are paying higher premiums for their employees and there need to be ways to pool small businesses into larger buying groups, thereby bringing down the cost of insuring employees.

Thus, I will not simply talk about job growth and creation; I will share real life knowledge of how to do it so that others in our wonderful society will have the opportunity and the assistance to prosper in ways they never imagined. For example, we are in the process of acquiring a company and reengineering the company to make it nationwide wireless broadband carrier. This will save over 500 jobs.

However, even with a job our citizens still feel a threat because the war on terror is not over. I will stand with President Bush -- and most importantly -- our brave fighting men and women for a fully funded and supported military.

Because I am a medical doctor, I thoroughly understand the threat of biological and chemical warfare. I have a strong understanding of how to better prepare our hospitals and cities for such a threat.

The US Senate needs another senator who is a physician, like Senate Majority leader Dr Fritz, with policy background to solve one of the most important issues: affordable high-quality health care through private systems. I helped Sweden redesign its healthcare system based on the US HMO model and, while at Stanford, I worked on the managed care proposals.

Education is another fundamental issue in my campaign. I fully comprehend the benefit of education because I could not have reached where I am without a phenomenal education. Because Illinois educational scores in reading dropped this year, I support financial incentives that will make schools accountable for their funds, achievements and teaching strategies. I also support putting computers in every school and library with Internet connections that will open the knowledge floodgates to all students.

One of the reason Asian kids do well is the strong emphasis their parents place on education. In our minds, we should continually remember that every child deserves a proper education, this is their birthright. This is also what it means to be an American.

Do you think being a Sikh will affect your election outcome?

What is America? America is a country that would allow a man as distinguished-looking as myself to rise and become a leader because of my dedication and education.

It is natural that my appearance has invoked curiosity. Don't let this turban and beard fool you. I am an American first and foremost. I was brought here from India when I was eight months old, and I was raised in this tolerant and accepting country. I was raised to believe in the American Dream, and with hard work and diligence I managed to live the American Dream.

My father came to this country with a few dollars. His son graduated from Downer Grove North High School 20 years ago and had the privilege of earning undergraduate and medical degrees from Brown, and an MBA from Stanford and now owns several business ventures, ranging from medical to technological to space exploration that have generated a considerable amount of shareholder wealth and jobs.

However, any success that I have achieved I owe to the opportunities and freedoms that America has given me. Now, it's my turn to give back to this nation that has endowed me with enormous personal growth. Because of my background, the issue of technology will be a major plank in my campaign platform.

I am sure not many people are aware of the fact that the first Sikhs arrived in North America in the late 1890s. The first settlers were generally men who served in the British army and they came to North America to make money to send home. They got work building railroads and chopping down trees before settling down as migrant farm workers, and then eventually as farm owners.

As Sikhs, we understand the value of the farming community. With global competition opening up from Argentina and Brazil for soybeans, an important crop in Illinois, farmers are finding it harder to compete at the lower prices. New markets must be opened for Illinois farmers to expand, markets which want high quality foods produced by Illinois farmers.

Do you believe that Indian Americans have finally realized that they have a bright future in US politics?

As Mahatma Gandhi said, there is no Hindu, no Sikh, and no Muslim. We are all Indians. We are the richest ethnic minority in the USA. And yet we have no political representative at the federal level. No Indian has ever run for senate before. Who better the representative and be responsive to Indian and Asian issues than me? It will be the Indians who help put me in office, so I will remember them. I hope my candidacy encourages other Indians to run for public office. I hope when I get old that I see the first Indian Supreme Court Justice or even one day the first Indian American President.

How are you doing as far as fundraising is concerned?

I contributed about $700,000 of my own money to my campaign. The fundraisers so far have brought in about $100,000.[/quote:f08c29c176]
Source : http://sify.com/news/nri/fullstory.php?id=13516777