[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 90 (Wednesday, July 12, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MR. NORMAN MINETA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM COLE

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 12, 2006

  Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to 
an article written by my good friend and colleague Les Francis that 
pays tribute to Norman Mineta, the longest serving Secretary of 
Transportation in U.S. history. Mr. Francis has rightly drawn attention 
to the bipartisan nature of Mr. Mineta's political style and his 
efforts to work across party lines to achieve common goals. I have 
known Les Francis for almost 20 years, dating from the early 1990s when 
we both ran the House Republican and Democratic congressional campaign 
committees. Les is not only a highly skilled and effective campaigner 
for the Democratic Party, he is also a man who is devoted to Congress 
as an institution and to our Nation. He learned those values and 
beliefs working for Secretary Mineta early in his career.

        Mineta Is Able To Rise Well Above Political Affiliation

                 [From the Mercury News, San Jose, CA]

                            (By Les Francis)

       Tonight, when U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman 
     Mineta leaves office, it will mark the end of one chapter in 
     a remarkable career, and no doubt the advent of another.
       Mineta's dedication to public service was forged by a 
     searing childhood experience: In the spring of 1942, as a 10-
     year-old American boy of Japanese ancestry, Norm was hauled 
     off and locked up in an American internment camp.
       Thirty years later, while vacationing in the Grand Tetons 
     and Yellowstone, the Minetas and Francises made a pilgrimage 
     to nearby Heart Mountain, WY, and we visited the site where 
     the Mineta family had been incarcerated. Norm told us of that 
     experience, how it shaped his life, and how it led to his 
     deeply held views on civil rights and civil liberties.
       Once, as mayor of San Jose, Norm presided over a city 
     council meeting where a crowd protested an exhibit at San 
     Jose's art museum that included one photograph protesting the 
     Vietnam War, and which some thought to be in poor taste. The 
     protesters wanted the offending item removed or the exhibit 
     closed. After listening patiently and without emotion, Norm 
     said, ``I understand what you are saying, but it is that kind 
     of thinking that got me and my family put in camp in 1942.'' 
     His remark ended the debate. And I knew Norm was speaking 
     from the very pit of his soul when he said it.
       A Democrat, Mineta was elected to the U.S. House of 
     Representatives in 1974 largely because of two factors: the 
     public's anger at President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon 
     after his role in Watergate hurt Republican candidates, and 
     Norm's record as a nonpartisan, pragmatic municipal leader, 
     which appealed to many independent, ``ticket splitter'' 
     voters.
       Although his district was always competitive, based on 
     party registration, Norm never received less than 60 percent 
     of the vote in every subsequent re-election, and he was 
     actively supported by Democrats and Republicans throughout 
     his career in Congress.
       Eventually, Mineta was appointed secretary of commerce by 
     President Bill Clinton, thus becoming the first Asian-
     American to ever serve in a Cabinet position. After the 
     bitterly contested presidential election of November 2000, 
     when he learned that he was being considered for the top spot 
     at the Department of Transportation in the incoming Bush 
     administration, Norm pulled together a group of friends and 
     advisers to discuss--and debate--the upsides and downsides of 
     such an appointment.
       As the conversation developed, I knew that the only thing 
     that mattered was Norm's belief that, if the president asks 
     for your help, unless it's a request for something illegal or 
     immoral, the only answer is, ``Yes, Mr. President.''
       That belief helps explain the relationship between Norm 
     Mineta and George Bush, two individuals with profoundly 
     different political ideologies. When they first met, on Jan. 
     2, 2001, the then president-elect wasted no time getting down 
     to business by saying, ``Dick [Cheney], Andy [Card] and my 
     dad all tell me that you are the best man for the job.''
       As he recounted the conversation to me later that evening, 
     Norm then reminded the president-elect that he had campaigned 
     extensively on behalf of his opponent, Al Gore, throughout 
     the fall. Norm wanted to know if Bush was troubled by that, 
     to which the president-elect replied, ``No, I know all about 
     that, Norm, but you never made it personal.''
       The bond between the president and his secretary of 
     transportation was assured in the terrible early hours of the 
     Sept. 11 tragedy, when to prevent any further attacks Norm 
     commanded the immediate and safe landing of thousands of 
     commercial flights. In the days after Sept. 11, as a 
     volunteer ``utility infielder'' of sorts, I had a ringside 
     seat at the Transportation Department, from which I watched 
     Norm, under enormous pressure, perform steadily and ably, 
     leading the department in a way that quickly restored its 
     operational and emotional balance.
       Norm Mineta has served the president and his country well 
     and honorably for the past 5\1/2\ years, and in so doing has 
     validated the president's early and continued confidence in 
     him.
       Even so, Norm's tenure in the Bush administration has 
     frustrated and angered some Democrats, who oppose any such 
     collaboration. Those critics would be well-advised to 
     contemplate what Norm wrote in his letter of resignation to 
     President Bush, which became effective today:
       ``There is much talk these days about a lack of civility in 
     our political discourse and of deep ideological and partisan 
     divisions at every level of government, most especially here 
     in Washington, D.C.--I like to think that you and I have 
     demonstrated, even in a small way, that different political 
     affiliations do not have to translate into opposing views on 
     the value of public-policy issues and the nobility of public 
     service.''
       Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for a job well done.

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