[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1377 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1377

  Honoring the accomplishments of Norman Yoshio Mineta, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2010

Mr. Honda (for himself and Ms. Chu) submitted the following resolution; 
      which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Honoring the accomplishments of Norman Yoshio Mineta, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas, in 1931, Norman Yoshio Mineta was born in San Jose, California, to 
        Japanese immigrant parents, Kunisaku and Kane Mineta;
Whereas, in 1942, during World War II, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 
        signed Executive Order 9066, branding individuals of Japanese descent as 
        ``enemy aliens'' solely on the basis of their ancestry and authorizing 
        the relocation and incarceration of 120,000 individuals of Japanese 
        descent, Norman Yoshio Mineta and his family were forced to leave their 
        home and live in the Santa Anita racetrack paddocks for 3 months before 
        they were sent to their permanent assignment for the following years, 
        the Heart Mountain internment camp near Cody, Wyoming;
Whereas, in 1953, upon graduation from the University of California Berkeley's 
        School of Business Administration, Norman Yoshio Mineta joined the 
        United States Army and served as an intelligence officer in Japan and 
        Korea;
Whereas, in 1967, Norman Yoshio Mineta was appointed to a vacant seat on San 
        Jose's city council, making him the first minority and first Asian 
        American city council member in San Jose, and he was subsequently 
        elected to that seat;
Whereas, in 1971, Norman Yoshio Mineta was elected mayor of San Jose, making him 
        the first Asian American mayor of a major United States city, during 
        which time he provided leadership for all communities of San Jose, 
        including minority communities, strengthening community relations 
        between racial and ethnic minorities and the city, including the San 
        Jose Police Department;
Whereas, from 1975 to 1995, Norman Yoshio Mineta was elected to the House of 
        Representatives to represent California's 15th District in the heart of 
        Silicon Valley, serving as chairman of the Committee on Public Works and 
        Transportation of the House of Representatives, the Committee's Aviation 
        Subcommittee, and the Committee's Surface Transportation Subcommittee, 
        where he was a key author of the landmark Intermodal Surface 
        Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, taking politics out of funding 
        for transportation and infrastructure by creating a new collaborative 
        approach to planning;
Whereas Silicon Valley is the home of the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose 
        International Airport;
Whereas, in 1977, Norman Yoshio Mineta, along with Frank Horton, then a 
        Republican Member of Congress from New York, introduced into Congress a 
        bipartisan resolution that established the first 10 days of May, the 
        month when the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States in 
        1843 and when Chinese laborers completed the transcontinental railroad 
        in 1869, as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, which later was made 
        into an annual event;
Whereas, in 1990, the entire month of May was proclaimed to be Asian Pacific 
        American Heritage Month;
Whereas, in 1978, under the leadership of Norman Yoshio Mineta, Congress 
        established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of 
        Civilians and passed the most important reparations bill of our time, 
        H.R. 442, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, by which the United States 
        Government officially apologized for sending families of Japanese 
        descent to internment camps and redressed the injustices endured by 
        Japanese-Americans during World War II, including by making available a 
        total of $1,200,000,000, which included the creation of the Civil 
        Liberties Public Education Fund to educate the public about lessons 
        learned from the internment;
Whereas, in 1994, Norman Yoshio Mineta founded and chaired the bicameral and 
        bipartisan Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), 
        comprised of Members of Congress who have strong interests in promoting 
        Asian American and Pacific Islander issues and advocating the concerns 
        of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders;
Whereas CAPAC continues to advance the full participation of the Asian American 
        and Pacific Islander community in our democracy, particularly in the 
        arena of public policy;
Whereas, in 2000, Norman Yoshio Mineta became the first Asian American to hold a 
        post in a Presidential Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce under President 
        William J. Clinton and, in 2001, he became the first Asian American to 
        serve as Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush, 
        again displaying his honor and ability to serve his country in a 
        bipartisan manner;
Whereas Norman Yoshio Mineta has founded, served as a board member of, or been a 
        key supporter of many community organizations critical to the 
        infrastructure of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, 
        including the Japanese American Citizens League Norman Y. Mineta 
        Fellowship Program, the Asian Pacific American Institute for 
        Congressional Studies, the National Council for Asian Pacific Americans, 
        the APIA Vote's Norman Y. Mineta Leadership Institute, the Asian 
        American Action Fund, the Asian Academy Hall of Fame, the Asian Leaders 
        Association, Nikkei Youth, Organizing for America, the United States 
        Asia Center, and the America's Opportunity Fund;
Whereas Norman Yoshio Mineta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 
        highest civilian award in the United States, in 2006 from President 
        George W. Bush, and the Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun from the 
        Japanese Government, which was the highest honor bestowed upon an 
        individual of Japanese descent outside of Japan; and
Whereas after experiencing one of the worst examples of Government-sanctioned 
        racial discrimination in our Nation's history, Norman Yoshio Mineta 
        dedicated the greater part of his working life to the service of his 
        community and his country, and carried out his service with exemplary 
        dignity and integrity: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) honors the accomplishments and legacy of a great 
        American hero, Norman Yoshio Mineta, for his groundbreaking 
        contributions to the Asian American and Pacific Islander 
        community and to our Nation through his leadership in 
        strengthening civil rights and liberty for all and for his 
        dedication and service to the United States; and
            (2) memorializes the sacrifices and suffering that many 
        Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and others like Norman 
        Yoshio Mineta endured so that we may unite with compassion and 
        pursue truth, liberty, justice, and equality for all in the 
        United States and the world.
                                 <all>