I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6255 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Norman Yoshio Mineta in recogni-
tion of his courageous, principled dedication to public service, civic en-
gagement, and civil rights. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 
Mr. HONDA (for himself, Mr. BERA, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. CAL-
VERT, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. 
JUDY CHU of California, Mr. COSTA, Mr. DENT, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. 
ESHOO, Mr. FARR, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. AL GREEN 
of Texas, Mr. HANNA, Mr. HARPER, Mr. HECK of Nevada, Mr. HILL, 
Mr. LAMALFA, Ms. LEE, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. LOFGREN, 
Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. MARINO, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MCKIN-
LEY, Ms. MENG, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NUNES, Mr. ROHRABACHER, 
Mr. SALMON, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. SWALWELL of 
California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. VALADAO, 
Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, 
Mr. BECERRA, and Mr. FARENTHOLD) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Norman Yoshio 
Mineta in recognition of his courageous, principled dedi-
cation to public service, civic engagement, and civil 
rights. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:58 Oct 05, 2016
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6255.IH
H6255
SSpencer on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Norman Yoshio Mineta 
Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Norman Yoshio Mineta was born November 
12, 1931, in San Jose, California, to immigrant par-
ents, Kunisaku and Kane Mineta, from Shizouka 
prefecture in Japan. 
(2) In 1942, Mineta and his family were forc-
ibly relocated to the Heart Mountain Relocation 
Center in Wyoming. They were among 120,000 peo-
ple of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of whom were 
natural-born United States citizens, sent to intern-
ment camps by the United States Government dur-
ing the Second World War. 
(3) After graduating from the University of 
California at Berkeley, Mineta served as an intel-
ligence officer for the United States Army in Korea 
and Japan from 1953 to 1956. Mineta then joined 
his father’s insurance business located in San Jose’s 
Japantown. 
(4) In 1966, Mineta accepted an appointment 
to the San Jose Housing Authority, believing com-
munity involvement to be essential to civic life and 
the full integration of Japanese Americans into his 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:58 Oct 05, 2016
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6255.IH
H6255
SSpencer on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
hometown. He became a city councilmember one 
year later. 
(5) Mineta was elected mayor of San Jose in 
1971, becoming the first Asian American mayor of 
a major American city in the continental United 
States. As mayor, he worked to economically develop 
San Jose as ‘‘Silicon Valley’’ was forming, and also 
strengthened community relations by engaging racial 
and ethnic minorities through San Jose city depart-
ments and agencies, including the San Jose Police 
Department. 
(6) From 1975 to 1995, Mineta served as a 
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, rep-
resenting the heart of Santa Clara County and Sil-
icon Valley. He served on numerous committees, in-
cluding the Budget, Intelligence, and Science com-
mittees. He served longest on the House Public 
Works and Transportation Committee, now known 
as the Transportation and Infrastructure Com-
mittee, including as Committee Chairman. 
(7) In 1978, Mineta, along with Representative 
Frank Horton (R–NY), introduced a bipartisan joint 
resolution authorizing and requesting the President 
to proclaim the 7-day period beginning on May 4, 
1979, as ‘‘Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:28 Oct 07, 2016
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6255.IH
H6255
SSpencer on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
May is the month when the first Japanese immi-
grants arrived in the United States in 1843, and 
also when Chinese laborers completed the trans-
continental railroad in 1869. The resolution became 
Public Law that year, and was later expanded to 
recognize the month of May as Asian Pacific Amer-
ican Heritage Month. 
(8) In 1987, Mineta had the honor of signing 
the Civil Liberties Act which offered an official apol-
ogy and redress for the grave injustices committed 
against Americans of Japanese ancestry during 
World War II, on behalf of the House of Represent-
atives when acting as Speaker pro tempore. In a cul-
mination of a 10-year bipartisan effort, President 
Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law as Public 
Law 100–383 on August 10, 1988. 
(9) Throughout his tenure in the House of Rep-
resentatives, Mineta was a strong advocate for 
transportation laws which made air travel safer and 
aviation and transit systems more accessible to 
Americans with disabilities. He also authored the 
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 
1991, which gave State, local, and regional govern-
ments greater control over the use of Federal dollars 
in their communities. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:58 Oct 05, 2016
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6255.IH
H6255
SSpencer on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(10) Mineta co-founded the Congressional Asian 
Pacific American Caucus and the Asian Pacific 
American Institute for Congressional Studies in 
1994, which today continue to promote the well- 
being and full participation of these communities in 
American civic life. 
(11) In 2000, Mineta became the first Asian 
American to serve in a Presidential Cabinet as the 
Secretary of Commerce under President William J. 
Clinton. 
(12) In 2001, Mineta continued his dedication 
to public service and bipartisanship by serving as 
Secretary of Transportation under President George 
W. Bush. 
(13) Mineta was at the helm of the Department 
of Transportation on the day of the September 11, 
2001, terrorist attacks. In the aftermath of the at-
tacks and through the end of his tenure as Secretary 
of Transportation, he ushered in critical reforms to 
the Nation’s transportation and security screening 
networks. 
(14) In 2001, the San Jose City Council an-
nounced that the city’s airport was to be renamed 
the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Air-
port. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:58 Oct 05, 2016
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6255.IH
H6255
SSpencer on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(15) 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 Government of Japan, which is the highest 
honor bestowed upon an individual outside of Japan. 
(16) Having personally experienced the wrong-
ful indignity of internment as a child by his own 
government, Norman Yoshio Mineta has dedicated 
his life to public service, to his community, and to 
his country, and has done so with exemplary dignity 
and integrity. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design to Norman Yoshio Mineta, 
in recognition of his courageous, principled dedication to 
public service, civic engagement, and civil rights. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:58 Oct 05, 2016
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6255.IH
H6255
SSpencer on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS