[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 175 (Monday, December 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H12748-H12749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING JUDGE HERBERT CHOY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COX. Mr. Speaker, today, in San Francisco, the Ninth Circuit 
Court of Appeals is going to honor one of its most distinguished judges 
by hanging his portrait in historic Courtroom One in the courthouse on 
7th Street in San Francisco. That jurist is Herbert Y.C. Choy. I am 
very privileged to have worked for him in my first job upon graduation 
from law school as his law clerk.
  Today, some 31 generations of Choy law clerks will honor him, along 
with Chief Judge Mary Schroeder of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; 
Richard Clifton, the successor to Judge Choy in the Ninth Circuit 
courthouse in Honolulu; and also one of his law clerks, John McCuckin, 
who is now executive vice president of Union Bank, and many, many 
others from around the country who honor and treasure and respect Judge 
Choy and his wife, Helen.
  Judge Choy is the first Asian American ever appointed to the Federal 
bench. He is the first Asian American not only on an article 3 court, 
but on any court. He is the first Korean American to be appointed to 
the Federal bench, and he is the first Hawaiian ever to be appointed to 
serve representing the State of Hawaii on the Ninth Circuit Court of 
Appeals.
  Judge Choy is the son of immigrants who came to Hawaii, came to the 
United States from Korea, as part of a great wave to work on Hawaii's 
sugar plantations. The Hawaiians of Korean

[[Page H12749]]

ancestry are celebrating their centennial of that great immigration 
wave this year. As someone who was part of the immigration experience, 
Judge Choy always paid particular attention, he said, to immigration 
cases to make sure they were decided fairly, and on the Ninth Circuit 
Court of Appeals, immigration cases are a significant portion of the 
total caseload.
  When he graduated from the University of Hawaii, Judge Choy blazed 
another trail. He went back East to Boston to attend Harvard Law School 
where he distinguished himself as a scholar. When he graduated in 1941, 
as a Hawaiian on the East Coast of the United States of America, he was 
horrified, as were all Americans, when 6 months later, an anniversary 
that we recognized last week, on December 7, 1941 saw the attack on 
Pearl Harbor. Judge Choy, who had just graduated from law school, 
joined the United States Army, and served this country with 
distinction. He joined the Judge Advocate General Corps, prefiguring 
his work in private practice, beginning in 1946 at the end of World War 
II, as a lawyer. He became the Nation's first Korean American attorney, 
and practiced with the firm of Fong & Miho, later known as Fong, Miho, 
Choy & Robertson. Hiriam Robertson, a distinguished Member of this 
Congress, was his law partner.
  He went on to serve Hawaii as attorney general, beginning in 1957, 
and he was nominated by the President of the United States in 1971, 
elevated to the Federal bench, to the United States Court of Appeals, 
the largest and busiest of the Nation's appellate courts.
  When he became the first Asian American on the Federal bench, it was 
not remarked upon in that way. Rather, people recognized that this was 
a first of another sort, this was one of the most remarkable people 
from any background nominated to the Federal bench, and as his law 
clerk and as so many of his law clerks gathering to honor him can 
attest, he was unique, and remains unique, in his capacity to inspire 
others through a quiet dignity, through leadership, scholarship that is 
not intimidating, but compassionate. He is scrupulously honest. I have 
known honest people in my life who have been examples for me, certainly 
my own parents, but never have I seen someone who is so scrupulously 
honest as Judge Choy.
  Mr. Speaker, we honor today a man whose life in the United States of 
America symbolizes the importance of the rule of law and that vital 
pillar of our American republic depends upon people of character. There 
is no finer example of honesty, integrity, impartiality, and equality 
before the law than this man, Judge Choy, whom we honor today here in 
this Congress and in the courthouse in San Francisco. To Judge Choy, to 
his wife, Helen, and all of the Federal family, as he is want to call 
them, congratulations. This is a wonderful occasion to honor a 
wonderful man.

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