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“TRIBUTE TO MR. NORMAN MINETA” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1393 on July 12, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO MR. NORMAN MINETA
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HON. TOM COLE
of oklahoma
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Mr. COLE of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to an article written by my good friend and colleague Les Francis that pays tribute to Norman Mineta, the longest serving Secretary of Transportation in U.S. history. Mr. Francis has rightly drawn attention to the bipartisan nature of Mr. Mineta's political style and his efforts to work across party lines to achieve common goals. I have known Les Francis for almost 20 years, dating from the early 1990s when we both ran the House Republican and Democratic congressional campaign committees. Les is not only a highly skilled and effective campaigner for the Democratic Party, he is also a man who is devoted to Congress as an institution and to our Nation. He learned those values and beliefs working for Secretary Mineta early in his career.
Mineta Is Able To Rise Well Above Political Affiliation
(By Les Francis)
Tonight, when U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta leaves office, it will mark the end of one chapter in a remarkable career, and no doubt the advent of another.
Mineta's dedication to public service was forged by a searing childhood experience: In the spring of 1942, as a 10-year-old American boy of Japanese ancestry, Norm was hauled off and locked up in an American internment camp.
Thirty years later, while vacationing in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, the Minetas and Francises made a pilgrimage to nearby Heart Mountain, WY, and we visited the site where the Mineta family had been incarcerated. Norm told us of that experience, how it shaped his life, and how it led to his deeply held views on civil rights and civil liberties.
Once, as mayor of San Jose, Norm presided over a city council meeting where a crowd protested an exhibit at San Jose's art museum that included one photograph protesting the Vietnam War, and which some thought to be in poor taste. The protesters wanted the offending item removed or the exhibit closed. After listening patiently and without emotion, Norm said, ``I understand what you are saying, but it is that kind of thinking that got me and my family put in camp in 1942.'' His remark ended the debate. And I knew Norm was speaking from the very pit of his soul when he said it.
A Democrat, Mineta was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974 largely because of two factors: the public's anger at President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon after his role in Watergate hurt Republican candidates, and Norm's record as a nonpartisan, pragmatic municipal leader, which appealed to many independent, ``ticket splitter'' voters.
Although his district was always competitive, based on party registration, Norm never received less than 60 percent of the vote in every subsequent re-election, and he was actively supported by Democrats and Republicans throughout his career in Congress.
Eventually, Mineta was appointed secretary of commerce by President Bill Clinton, thus becoming the first Asian-American to ever serve in a Cabinet position. After the bitterly contested presidential election of November 2000, when he learned that he was being considered for the top spot at the Department of Transportation in the incoming Bush administration, Norm pulled together a group of friends and advisers to discuss--and debate--the upsides and downsides of such an appointment.
As the conversation developed, I knew that the only thing that mattered was Norm's belief that, if the president asks for your help, unless it's a request for something illegal or immoral, the only answer is, ``Yes, Mr. President.''
That belief helps explain the relationship between Norm Mineta and George Bush, two individuals with profoundly different political ideologies. When they first met, on Jan. 2, 2001, the then president-elect wasted no time getting down to business by saying, ``Dick [Cheney], Andy [Card] and my dad all tell me that you are the best man for the job.''
As he recounted the conversation to me later that evening, Norm then reminded the president-elect that he had campaigned extensively on behalf of his opponent, Al Gore, throughout the fall. Norm wanted to know if Bush was troubled by that, to which the president-elect replied, ``No, I know all about that, Norm, but you never made it personal.''
The bond between the president and his secretary of transportation was assured in the terrible early hours of the Sept. 11 tragedy, when to prevent any further attacks Norm commanded the immediate and safe landing of thousands of commercial flights. In the days after Sept. 11, as a volunteer ``utility infielder'' of sorts, I had a ringside seat at the Transportation Department, from which I watched Norm, under enormous pressure, perform steadily and ably, leading the department in a way that quickly restored its operational and emotional balance.
Norm Mineta has served the president and his country well and honorably for the past 5\1/2\ years, and in so doing has validated the president's early and continued confidence in him.
Even so, Norm's tenure in the Bush administration has frustrated and angered some Democrats, who oppose any such collaboration. Those critics would be well-advised to contemplate what Norm wrote in his letter of resignation to President Bush, which became effective today:
``There is much talk these days about a lack of civility in our political discourse and of deep ideological and partisan divisions at every level of government, most especially here in Washington, D.C.--I like to think that you and I have demonstrated, even in a small way, that different political affiliations do not have to translate into opposing views on the value of public-policy issues and the nobility of public service.''
Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for a job well done.
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