H. Res. 1377 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

December 17, 2010. 

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; 
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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; 
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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 
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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 
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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. 

Attest: 

Clerk.