[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 9 (Friday, January 30, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E83]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E83]]
                  HONORING THE SERVICE OF PAUL IGASAKI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 30, 2004

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the eight years of 
service Paul Igasaki provided to the United States Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
  Mr. Igasaki's tenure as a commissioner and Vice Chair of the EEOC 
started in 1994, when he was nominated by President Clinton and 
confirmed by the United States Senate, and his second term began in 
1998. During his nearly 1 year as acting Chair, Mr. Igasaki convinced 
Congress to pass one of the largest increases in funding for the EEOC. 
This increase allowed the perpetually underfunded agency to fill 
staffing needs throughout its regional offices, implement mediation 
programs, extended outreach to underserved communities and begin 
creating a national networked information system.
  At the EEOC, Paul Igasaki was one of the architects in creating the 
EEOC's more strategic approach in taking on cases, which prioritizes 
the most egregious cases as well as those that may prevent future cases 
of employment-related discrimination. Mr. Igasaki's recommendations to 
overhaul the EEOC's case processing system and create the National 
Enforcement Plan helped reduce the agency's backlog of cases by 70 
percent.
  The EEOC was extremely fortunate to have someone with Paul Igasaki's 
experience serve on the Commission. As executive director of the Asian 
Law Caucus in San Francisco, one of the Nation's premier Asian American 
and Pacific Islander legal advocacy organizations, Mr. Igasaki spent 
several years handling issues such as employment discrimination and 
sexual harassment cases, as well as wage and hour issues, hate crimes, 
voting rights, housing, immigration and immigrant rights and other 
civil rights concerns. Litigating these issues at the Asian Law Caucus 
prepared him for the work that he would do with the EEOC.
  Mr. Igasaki enhanced his Congressional advocacy skills with the 
Japanese American Citizens League serving as their Washington, D.C. 
Representative. Clearly, the major legislative victory for the Japanese 
American community was the passage and signing into law of H.R. 442, 
the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. This measure provided an apology and 
symbolic payments from the U.S. government to Japanese Americans for 
the wrongful deprivation of their civil liberties during World War II.
  Serving as Washington Representative, Mr. Igasaki advocated for the 
appropriations to fund payments promised in the Civil Liberties Act of 
1988. Without these symbolic payments to individuals who suffered the 
loss of their civil liberties, many would view the Civil Liberties Act 
as a hollow gesture. Among other critical issues, Mr. Igasaki also 
worked with Congressional offices, the Department of Transportation and 
the White House to resolve unequal enforcement of antiquated maritime 
law against Vietnamese American fishermen in California.

  While I think of my friend Paul Igasaki as a Californian, he truly 
learned the art of politics and its role in improving people's lives in 
his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. In the Windy City, he served as 
executive director of the Commission on Asian American Affairs; prior 
to that position, he was legal counsel and advisor to the Mayor on 
Asian American community affairs.
  After receiving his Juris Doctor, from University of California, 
Davis and his Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University, Evanston, 
Mr. Igasaki was the first staff director of an American Bar Association 
project that increased private sector civil legal services to poor 
clients in Chicago. This service came at a time when federal funding 
for such services was greatly reduced.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to my good friend Paul 
Igasaki for his great service to this nation and look forward to his 
continued success in the fight to protect our civil rights and civil 
liberties.

                          ____________________