[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1377 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1377
Honoring the accomplishments of Norman Yoshio Mineta, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 19, 2010
Mr. Honda (for himself and Ms. Chu) submitted the following resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Honoring the accomplishments of Norman Yoshio Mineta, and for other
purposes.
Whereas, in 1931, Norman Yoshio Mineta was born in San Jose, California, to
Japanese immigrant parents, Kunisaku and Kane Mineta;
Whereas, in 1942, during World War II, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
signed Executive Order 9066, branding individuals of Japanese descent as
``enemy aliens'' solely on the basis of their ancestry and authorizing
the relocation and incarceration of 120,000 individuals of Japanese
descent, Norman Yoshio Mineta and his family were forced to leave their
home and live in the Santa Anita racetrack paddocks for 3 months before
they were sent to their permanent assignment for the following years,
the Heart Mountain internment camp near Cody, Wyoming;
Whereas, in 1953, upon graduation from the University of California Berkeley's
School of Business Administration, Norman Yoshio Mineta joined the
United States Army and served as an intelligence officer in Japan and
Korea;
Whereas, in 1967, Norman Yoshio Mineta was appointed to a vacant seat on San
Jose's city council, making him the first minority and first Asian
American city council member in San Jose, and he was subsequently
elected to that seat;
Whereas, in 1971, Norman Yoshio Mineta was elected mayor of San Jose, making him
the first Asian American mayor of a major United States city, during
which time he provided leadership for all communities of San Jose,
including minority communities, strengthening community relations
between racial and ethnic minorities and the city, including the San
Jose Police Department;
Whereas, from 1975 to 1995, Norman Yoshio Mineta was elected to the House of
Representatives to represent California's 15th District in the heart of
Silicon Valley, serving as chairman of the Committee on Public Works and
Transportation of the House of Representatives, the Committee's Aviation
Subcommittee, and the Committee's Surface Transportation Subcommittee,
where he was a key author of the landmark Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, taking politics out of funding
for transportation and infrastructure by creating a new collaborative
approach to planning;
Whereas Silicon Valley is the home of the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose
International Airport;
Whereas, in 1977, Norman Yoshio Mineta, along with Frank Horton, then a
Republican Member of Congress from New York, introduced into Congress a
bipartisan resolution that established the first 10 days of May, the
month when the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States in
1843 and when Chinese laborers completed the transcontinental railroad
in 1869, as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, which later was made
into an annual event;
Whereas, in 1990, the entire month of May was proclaimed to be Asian Pacific
American Heritage Month;
Whereas, in 1978, under the leadership of Norman Yoshio Mineta, Congress
established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of
Civilians and passed the most important reparations bill of our time,
H.R. 442, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, by which the United States
Government officially apologized for sending families of Japanese
descent to internment camps and redressed the injustices endured by
Japanese-Americans during World War II, including by making available a
total of $1,200,000,000, which included the creation of the Civil
Liberties Public Education Fund to educate the public about lessons
learned from the internment;
Whereas, in 1994, Norman Yoshio Mineta founded and chaired the bicameral and
bipartisan Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC),
comprised of Members of Congress who have strong interests in promoting
Asian American and Pacific Islander issues and advocating the concerns
of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders;
Whereas CAPAC continues to advance the full participation of the Asian American
and Pacific Islander community in our democracy, particularly in the
arena of public policy;
Whereas, in 2000, Norman Yoshio Mineta became the first Asian American to hold a
post in a Presidential Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce under President
William J. Clinton and, in 2001, he became the first Asian American to
serve as Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush,
again displaying his honor and ability to serve his country in a
bipartisan manner;
Whereas Norman Yoshio Mineta has founded, served as a board member of, or been a
key supporter of many community organizations critical to the
infrastructure of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community,
including the Japanese American Citizens League Norman Y. Mineta
Fellowship Program, the Asian Pacific American Institute for
Congressional Studies, the National Council for Asian Pacific Americans,
the APIA Vote's Norman Y. Mineta Leadership Institute, the Asian
American Action Fund, the Asian Academy Hall of Fame, the Asian Leaders
Association, Nikkei Youth, Organizing for America, the United States
Asia Center, and the America's Opportunity Fund;
Whereas Norman Yoshio Mineta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the
highest civilian award in the United States, in 2006 from President
George W. Bush, and the Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun from the
Japanese Government, which was the highest honor bestowed upon an
individual of Japanese descent outside of Japan; and
Whereas after experiencing one of the worst examples of Government-sanctioned
racial discrimination in our Nation's history, Norman Yoshio Mineta
dedicated the greater part of his working life to the service of his
community and his country, and carried out his service with exemplary
dignity and integrity: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) honors the accomplishments and legacy of a great
American hero, Norman Yoshio Mineta, for his groundbreaking
contributions to the Asian American and Pacific Islander
community and to our Nation through his leadership in
strengthening civil rights and liberty for all and for his
dedication and service to the United States; and
(2) memorializes the sacrifices and suffering that many
Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and others like Norman
Yoshio Mineta endured so that we may unite with compassion and
pursue truth, liberty, justice, and equality for all in the
United States and the world.
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