[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 155 (Friday, October 6, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1899-E1900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA

                                 ______



                               speech of

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 27, 1995

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my colleague, my 
neighbor Congressman, and my friend, Norman Mineta.
  His departure from Congress is not only a tremendous loss to his 
district and the great State of California, but also to this Nation. 
Many people have served in the U.S. Congress. Norm's election was 
history. He was the first and only native-born Japanese-American forced 
into an internment camp to be elected to the United States Congress.
  During his youth in the Santa Clara Valley, he was surrounded by 
orchards and vineyards. San Jose has since grown to be the third 
largest city in California. His lifetime experienced the switch from an 
agricultural center to a center of Silicon Valley; from his Boy Scout 
troop days to the days of a major league hockey team, the San Jose 
Sharks.
  Perhaps history will show that no other Member of Congress did more 
to help those who were wronged by our Government. From being interned 
to authoring the 1988 Japanese-American redress bill, which officially 
apologized for the internment and provided a $20,000 payment to each 
surviving member of the camps, Norm always tried to help those less 
fortunate than him.
  Norm's love for aviation not only found him in the jump seat of most 
flights to the west coast, but also led him to marrying a flight 
attendant, his lovely wife, Danealia. He became chair of the House 
Committee on Public Works and Transportation and was able to achieve 
major policy changes in transportation planning and policy, including 
the historical passage of the Surface Transportation Act of 1991 which 
for the first time shifted the decisionmaking power for proposed 
projects to local governments.
  I will miss Norm not only for the leadership he has provided in the 
House and for the role model he is to Asian-Americans but most of all 
for his passion for justice and compassion for people. Norm brings 
every young child he meets to the floor; instills them with a sense of 
belonging to the House of the people, and tells them that they, too, 
may someday serve here. 

[[Page E 1900]]

  Norm has wit and humor. Our staffs have been playing softball in a 
joint team for the past 2 years. Our team is called, Farr from the 
Norm. My predecessor, Leon Panetta and Norm had a softball team called, 
The Sign of the Rising Pizza.
  Norm has never forgotten how to give back to his community from being 
mayor of San Jose, serving on the board of regents at Santa Clara 
University, and being a member of the board of directors of Smart 
Valley, Inc. In Washington, he has been chair of the visitors committee 
for the Freer Gallery, an active member of the board of regents of the 
Smithsonian Institution and a member of the board of directors of the 
Kennedy Center.
  Norm's energy, enthusiasm, wit, and compassion will be missed. His 
ability to explain every detail about cross country jet travel, his 
knowledge of the transportation industry, and his ability to know the 
name of everyone and introduce them is remarkable. The northern 
California teammates George Miller, Anna Eshoo, Peter Stark, Tom 
Lantos, Nancy Pelosi, Zoe Lofgren, and me will carry on in your 
tradition, but Congress will never be the same without you.
  Good luck and goodnight but never goodbye. You have left your mark. 
God bless you. Thank you, Norm, for making this country a better place 
in which to raise our children.

                          ____________________