[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 176 (Wednesday, December 7, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H7283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              PEARL HARBOR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Hawaii (Ms. Hanabusa) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. HANABUSA. Mr. Speaker, 75 years ago, the Imperial forces of Japan 
attacked Pearl Harbor and other bases in Hawaii. This unforgivable act 
thrust our country into the war in the Pacific. On this day, 2,403 
Americans died, 1,177 of them on the Arizona, and 1,178 were wounded.
  Today, to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, there will be 
services here in D.C., throughout the Nation, and particularly at Pearl 
Harbor. This is where Pearl Harbor, the symbol of World War II and the 
attack, is found. That, of course, is the USS Arizona Memorial.
  Designed by Alfred Preis, it was controversial when first unveiled 
because people could not understand the significance of it. They said 
it kind of looked like a squashed milk carton. But when you really 
understood what went behind it, it made sense.
  The middle part that looks like it is sagging represented the defeat 
of December 7; however, the two proud, strong sides represented the 
victory that our country faced. Think about it. There is a portion of 
it that is open to the ocean. That is where leis like this were thrown 
in to honor those who were buried below.
  In addition, there is a wall with the names of all those who 
perished. But there is another wall--and this is very significant--with 
the names of those who survived the attack but chose to return to be 
buried with their colleagues. A Navy diver takes their ashes down and 
puts them on the USS Arizona. There are seven large windows on one side 
representing December 7. There are 21 windows altogether, representing 
a 21-gun salute.
  When Mr. Preis designed it, he said he wanted the memorial to be 
everything to anybody as they looked at it, but, most importantly, he 
wanted it to be serene. You have to ask yourself: Why?
  What very few know about Mr. Preis is, like the Japanese Americans, 
he was detained because he was Austrian. In Hawaii, there were 
internment camps, not only of Japanese Americans but of Germans of 
American descent, as well as Italians. Mr. Preis was one of them.
  World War II created the Greatest Generation of all time, and we must 
never forget them. We must honor them. But we must always remember that 
ultimate sacrifice they made. They made it for all of us so we would 
appreciate and enjoy civil liberties.
  Remember, in February of the following year is when President 
Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 putting Japanese Americans, whose 
only crime was that they were Japanese Americans, into internment 
camps. This group fought the fight to prove their loyalty to this 
country.
  Let us not forget them, the Filipino World War II veterans who also 
served, and everyone who served in World War II. Let us not forget why 
they served and why they did that ultimate sacrifice. It was so that we 
would be the greatest country on this Earth and we would provide people 
with civil liberties.
  So let us not, as we move forward, forget that. Let us not forget 
what it means to be a country that welcomes all and has protected the 
civil liberties. As we look and hear about things like the Muslim 
registry or building walls, would those brave men of the Greatest 
Generation really think they fought for that? Is that what they want 
this country to become? I contend that they do not.
  On this day, Mr. Speaker, as we honor those who gave that ultimate 
sacrifice, let us not forget why we are the greatest country on the 
face of this Earth and why they are the Greatest Generation.

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