[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H9572-H9573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California is recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of California. Mr. Speaker, I hope that we can pause for a 
moment from the policy issues which divide us at this particular time, 
and they are extremely important issues, and move on to something that 
I think we can find a great deal more unanimity about.
  I have taken the time this evening to say a few words in praise of 
our colleague, the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. 
Mineta], and before I make my own remarks on this matter, I would like 
to yield to the distinguished gentleman from California [Mr. Matsui] 
for a few words on this subject.
  Mr. MATSUI. I would like to thank the distinguished dean of the 
California delegation for yielding to me and also setting up this 
special order tonight on behalf of our dear colleague, the gentleman 
from California [Mr. Mineta], 

[[Page H 9573]]
from San Jose, CA. I am only going to take a few moments.
  But I would like to just say on behalf of the people of the State of 
California, certainly my colleagues in the U.S. Congress and certainly 
the Asian-American community and people of color generally that we are 
losing in this institution in the next few weeks truly one of the 
champions and one of the leaders that, in my opinion, will go down in 
history as truly an outstanding legislator.
  When I decided to run for Congress in 1978, one of the first 
individuals that called me was Norm Mineta to offer his assistance, 
even though I was going to be engaged in a very, very difficult 
Democratic primary. I cannot tell you how much that moment meant to me 
when that phone call came in, and from that time on I have looked upon 
Norm Mineta as really not only a colleague and a dear friend but as a 
mentor, as somebody that I would look to in terms of a rule model for 
leadership, for values of what it is to be a legislator.
  I think that all of us, as a result of Norm's leaving this 
institution and going in the private sector, will miss him truly, 
dearly.
  As many know, he was born in 1931 in San Jose, CA. One of the great 
achievements, I believe, of this institution over the last 20 years was 
the passage of House bill 442, which was the bill to provide 
compensation to Americans of Japanese ancestry, a bill that Norm Mineta 
introduced and which Norm was really the singular most important leader 
in moving that legislation through this institution.
  Norm was 10 years old in 1942, 11 years old. He was a member of the 
Boy Scouts in San Jose, Cub Scouts in San Jose. His father was in the 
insurance business, and his mother and other brothers and sisters were 
living in San Jose. As I mentioned, he was born in San Jose, 11 years 
earlier, in 1931.
  In 1942, in April, Executive Order 9066 was passed, which asked that 
Americans, Americans of Japanese ancestry, be interned for the duration 
of World War II. As I said, Norm was 11 years old. No charges were 
filed against him, although he was an American citizen. No trial was 
had. But Norm was incarcerated, along with his parents, brothers and 
sisters, and 120,000 other Americans of Japanese ancestry for a period 
of 4 years.
  Some 40 years went by before Americans of Japanese ancestry were even 
able to talk about this, and one of the real problems that we had was 
the fact that to talk about the incarceration by your own Government 
raised the specter of disloyalty, and so it was something that we had a 
very difficult time discussing. It was better to hide it than to bring 
it out. I remember when I was in junior high school and we were 
discussing World War II, and one of my teachers, very well-intentioned, 
said to me, ``Bob, weren't you in one of those camps?'' I was a 6-
month-old infant when I was interned, and I recall looking around my at 
my classmates, and I denied it, because it was easier to deny it than 
to explain why you were jailed by your own Government because that 
would raise the issue of whether or not you were loyal or not.
  Well Norm Mineta, when he came to Congress, decided that he was going 
to rectify that wrong, that injustice. Over the years, Norm introduced, 
as I mentioned, House bill 442, which would provide an apology by the 
U.S. Government to those surviving Americans of Japanese ancestry, 
66,000 at the time, about a half of the 120,000, and also token 
compensation of $20,000 per surviving internee, and as everyone knows, 
on September 17, 1987, the 200th anniversary of the signing of the 
Constitution of the United States, and that date was picked by then 
Speaker Jim Wright after Norm Mineta requested that he pick that date, 
the House of Representatives, by an overwhelming majority, passed that 
legislation. It went to the Senate, and Senator Inouye, Senator 
Matsunaga, and a number of others were very instrumental in having that 
legislation passed, and then President Reagan, in August of 1988, 
signed that legislation.
  I have to say that if that were Norm's only feat, he would go down, 
in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of many, as a giant, a 
legislative giant, because in the middle of a period of austerity, to 
pass that kind of legislation, in my opinion, most people would have 
thought was impossible.
  Norm is now known only for those kinds of achievements. Norm, as many 
recall, was the chairman of the House Public Works and Environment 
Committee. He was the leader in moving the legislation, which later was 
known as ISTEA, a bill that provided sums of money to localities to 
build up and repair the infrastructure of this country, which, in my 
opinion, still in America is so sorely needed, but with Norm's 
leadership we were able to do this in a very, very important, 
environmentally secure way.

  I will not take any more time, I say to the gentleman from California 
[Mr. Brown], but I would like to just close by making one final 
observation, if I may. There is so much that one can say about my 
colleague, Norm Mineta, but I would like to just close by making this 
one final observation about him. I think that if one looks back at 
history 50 years from now and one looks at this period, one will find 
that the legislation that he led and sponsored to provide compensation 
to Americans of Japanese ancestry will go down in history as one of the 
most monumental legislative feats that has occurred in the last 25, 
maybe 30 or even 40 or 50 years.
  The reason I say this is because it is not often when a government 
can admit it is wrong. It is not often when a government is willing to 
say to its own citizens, ``We made a mistake, and we want to provide an 
apology and some minor token redress to you.'' I think what Norm's 
career in this institution and as a legislator represents is that one 
person, one person in this great country of ours, can indeed make a 
difference.
  I would just like to say to Norm and his wife, Danny, and his 
children, thank you for your dedication, your commitment, and your 
courage of being a legislator in this great country of ours.
  Mr. BROWN of California. I thank the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Matsui] very much for those extremely eloquent remarks.
  As I indicated, we are here to take note of Norm's departure and to 
say farewell to him.
  I think we are all aware that he has announced that he will be 
leaving us early in October to take a position in the private sector 
with one of the Nation's largest firms in an area in which Mr. Mineta 
has achieved nationwide, if not worldwide, recognition as a leader in 
the field of intelligent transportation systems and related activities, 
which I think will provide him with an opportunity, if it is possible 
to say this, for even greater public service than the opportunities 
that he has had here in Congress for more than 20 years.
  I said, and I was not being entirely facetious, that this was an 
offer that would be hard to refuse and that I would be making the same 
decision that he made if I had received an offer such as that.
  Norm has been a leader, a voice of reason and a voice of conscience 
since he was first elected to this House in 1974.
  I would say that, in addition to the things that the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Matsui] has already indicated about Norm's career, that 
he has already more than justified a position in American politics 
which will be very difficult to match. The fact, as has already been 
mentioned, that he suffered the indignity of incarceration in a so-
called relocation camp, and that this did not affect his commitment to 
public service, his love of his country and his desire to excel in 
providing leadership in this country is remarkable in itself. But he 
has been a community leader all of his life. He has a record of 
community activity in his home city of San Jose which is unexcelled. He 
has risen in the political hierarchy there as a member of the city 
council and then as mayor of that city, which, I am sure, will be 
remembered.
  I had the pleasure of participating in the dedication of the portrait 
that he will have and has had mounted in the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure, a marvelous portrait, I might say, 
but I am inclined to predict that that will be only one of many 
memorials that will be created in his honor over the next few years.

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