[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 6, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E139]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





   GIVE BACK, LOOK FORWARD--HONORING THE 89TH BIRTHDAY OF DR. EDISON 
                           HIROYUKI MIYAWAKI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. COLLEEN HANABUSA

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 6, 2018

  Ms. HANABUSA. Mr. Speaker, today, when the hallowed words inscribed 
on the Statue of Liberty seem to disappear into the fog of debate over 
immigration, I proudly rise to recognize and honor Dr. Edison Hiroyuki 
Miyawaki of Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Miyawaki, an American healthcare 
executive and graduate of George Washington University School of 
Medicine, is a pioneer in Hawaii's skilled nursing industry. He is 
President of Pali Corporation, one of the largest privately-held 
healthcare businesses in Hawaii, whose facilities serve patients 
needing continuing, complex care after acute illness. In addition to 
his work in healthcare, Dr. Miyawaki's dedication to, influence on, and 
contributions to education and athletics have touched Americans of all 
ages, ethnicities, and social strata.
   Dr. Miyawaki's story began over 100 years ago when his father, 
Kazumi Miyawaki, immigrated to Hawaii from Hiroshima, Japan. The son of 
farmers, he sought new opportunities and found them in real estate. He 
built a successful general contracting business and paved a path that 
his son, born February 6, 1929, to Kazumi and his wife Fujiko, has 
walked for 89 years, 51 of those years with his late wife Sallie. 
Simply as the result of one person who responded to the Statue of 
Liberty's entreaty and came to Hawaii to start a new life, America has 
reaped a plethora of unanticipated, valuable gifts.
   Born on Oahu and a son of Hawaii in every sense, Edison Miyawaki 
witnessed the horrors of World War II that impacted his family. These 
included the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, his parents' 
birthplace where many relatives lived and where he spent the majority 
of his early years, and the federal government's threat to Japanese-
Americans of internment despite their U.S. citizenship. While someone 
of lesser character might have turned inward because of those events, 
Dr. Miyawaki has followed his heart and applied his resources to make a 
difference to individuals, the State of Hawaii, and the people of the 
United States.
   Millions throughout the country have enjoyed the entertainment Dr. 
Miyawaki has brought them through his support of professional football, 
baseball and basketball. He is the first Japanese-American to purchase 
an ownership interest in a National Football League (NFL) franchise, 
having been a co-owner of the Cincinnati Bengals since 1994. He has 
added to his sports portfolio through subsequent investments in the 
Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Celtics. As a member of the NFL Pro Bowl 
Committee, he was instrumental in convincing the NFL to keep the Pro 
Bowl in Hawaii for more than thirty years.
   But his avid interest in sports and his largesse has extended beyond 
the professional arena, encompassing Hawaii high school student-
athletes. His generosity is grounded in his belief that participation 
and competition in high school sports can enable student-athletes to 
develop character and leadership skills and learn the values of 
sportsmanship and teamwork, thus opening doors to higher education and 
successful careers. Dr. Miyawaki has provided Hawaii student-athletes 
with countless opportunities to receive university scholarships, 
including via the Miyawaki Scholarship Fund at Loyola Marymount 
University (LMU), his alma mater, where he served as a trustee for 13 
years and which has named him a Distinguished Alumnus. To help those 
aspiring to play professional football, Dr. Miyawaki established an NFL 
training camp, opening doors and advocating for Hawaii players to gain 
tryouts with NFL teams for over three decades. Among the players who 
have successfully entered those ranks are Arnold Morgado (Kansas City 
Chiefs) and Paul Dombroski (Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, 
Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
   Dr. Miyawaki also values and provides financial support to a wide 
range of educational institutions and specialties. He is well-known for 
his generosity as a philanthropist in making educational opportunities 
available to young people in Hawaii and across the country. Among his 
major philanthropic projects are scholarships and research awards 
(Miyawaki ``Trainee in Neuroscience'' Award Endowment at University of 
Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine; Edison H. and Sallie Y. 
Miyawaki Gifts for Teaching in Neurology at Harvard Medical School; 
Miyawaki Scholarship Fund at Temple Medical School), teaching chairs 
(Robert H. Taylor, S. J. Chair in the Department of Philosophy at LMU), 
and structures (Miyawaki Hall at the Middle School of Punahou School; 
Miyawaki Library at LMU; Miyawaki Law Journal Center at Loyola Law 
School in Los Angeles).
   Dr. Miyawaki has volunteered liberally to help his community, state, 
and country. He has served on the Hawaii Criminal Justice Commission 
and on the boards of numerous organizations (Japanese-American National 
Museum in Los Angeles; Japanese Cultural Center in Hawaii; the Mid-
Pacific Institute). He has been honored by many in Hawaii for his 
extensive contributions spanning decades. Hawaii alone has inducted Dr. 
Miyawaki into the Hawaii Business Hall of Fame, awarded him the Charles 
Reed Bishop Medal, and named him a recipient of the National Football 
Foundation's (Hawaii Chapter) Community Service Award.
   From grandfather to father to grandson, the Miyawaki legacy of 
``giving back and looking forward'' continues with Dr. Miyawaki's son, 
Dr. Edison Kazumi Miyawaki, a Boston-based neurologist, author, and 
philanthropist. Hawaii is proud of the Miyawaki family, proud of their 
contributions, and proud to acknowledge and express our gratitude for 
what we collectively have gained by long ago welcoming them and 
continuing to welcome them with a warm Aloha.

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