[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 9, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S6813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           NOMINATIONS OF GENERAL SHINSEKI AND GENERAL JONES

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, the Armed Services Committee met yesterday 
under the advise and consent role with respect to General Shinseki to 
be Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and General Jones to 
become Commandant of the Marine Corps. I want to say with the deepest 
personal reverence that in my 21 years in the Senate, I cannot recall 
ever being moved as strongly by the remarks of a fellow Senator as I 
was yesterday when the senior Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Inouye, 
addressed the Armed Services Committee and introduced General Shinseki.
  While I would like to read these remarks, it is better that they just 
be printed in the Record. I urge all Senators to examine these remarks. 
They are extraordinary. They come from the heart of a Senator who has 
served his country with the greatest distinction, and his praise for a 
fellow Hawaiian who came up under circumstances not unlike his, 
although removed by a generation or so.
  I ask unanimous consent to have the remarks of Senator Inouye printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

   Statement of Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. Senator From Hawaii

       Senator Inouye. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for this 
     opportunity to say a few words in behalf of our President's 
     nominee for the 34th Chief of Staff of the United States 
     Army. General Shinseki began his military career as a 
     commissioned officer 34 years ago, almost exactly, on June 9, 
     1965. He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant after 
     receiving a baccalaureate degree from the United States 
     Military Academy at West Point.
       After a few weeks of preparation, he was sent to Vietnam. 
     On his first tour of duty there he distinguished himself, and 
     he received his first purple heart. He was sent back to the 
     States to be hospitalized, and a few years later he was back 
     in Vietnam. On his second tour of duty there as a captain he 
     once again distinguished himself, but he was wounded very 
     seriously, losing part of his foot.
       Notwithstanding that, he applied for a waiver and requested 
     that he be given the opportunity to continue his service to 
     our Nation. This was granted, and he continued his 
     illustrious career, and in 1997 became a four-star General. 
     As Chairman Warner indicated, in March of 1994 he was made 
     Commanding General of the First Cavalry Division.
       In July 1997 he became Commander-in-Chief of the United 
     States Army in Europe, and Commander-in-Chief of the Seventh 
     Army. He was also Commander of the Stabilization Force on 
     Bosnia.
       As indicated by Chairman Warner, there is no question that 
     General Shinseki is eminently qualified for this, and if I 
     may at this juncture be a bit more personal, this is a 
     special day for many of us in the United States. In February 
     of 1942, the United States Selective Service System, because 
     of the hysteria of that time, that all Japanese, citizens or 
     otherwise, be designated 4C. 4C, as you know Mr. Chairman, is 
     the designation of an enemy alien.
       It was a day of shame for many of us, although it was not 
     deserved, and we petitioned the Government to permit us to 
     demonstrate ourselves and a year later President Roosevelt 
     declared that Americanism is a matter of mind and heart. 
     Americanism is not, and has never been, a matter of racial 
     color, and authorized the formation of a special Japanese-
     American combat unit, and the rest is history.
       But what I wish to point out is that this young man sitting 
     to my right was born in November of 1942. At the time of his 
     birth he was an enemy alien, and today, to the great glory of 
     the United States, I have the privilege of presenting him as 
     the 34th Chief of Staff, Army nominee. This, Mr. Chairman, 
     can happen only in the United States. I cannot think of any 
     other place where something of this nature can happen.
       He is the grandson of a Japanese laborer from Hiroshima who 
     arrived in Hawaii in the late 1800's, about 1888, raised his 
     children, and raised his grandson to love America, and I 
     believe he succeeded eminently.
       Mr. Chairman, on this day the shame that has been on our 
     shoulders all these years has been clearly washed away by 
     this one action, and for that I am very grateful to this 
     Nation. I am grateful to the President, and I believe that we 
     have before us one of the great illustrious warriors of our 
     Nation. And I hope that this committee will vote to approve 
     his nomination as the 34th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
       It is my pleasure, Mr. Chairman, to present to the 
     Committee, General Shinseki.

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, this afternoon, the Senate Armed Services 
Committee reported out favorably the nominations of General Shinseki 
and General Jones, and I anticipate tomorrow the Senate will move on 
those nominations.
  As chairman, I designated Senator Roberts, a former U.S. Marine, to 
place the nomination by the committee, as approved, of General Jones to 
the Senate; and Senator Cleland of Georgia, an Army veteran of great 
distinction and an officer who served in Vietnam, will place before the 
Senate the nomination of General Shinseki.
  Once again, I close by saluting the Secretary of Defense, the men and 
women of the Armed Forces of the United States, and our allies for 
their courage and perception in meeting the challenges proposed in 
Kosovo. I wish them well in the future.

                          ____________________