His time in wyoming. The library of congress is the host of this event. Welcome to the eskin family. To all of you, the eskins who are so generous to make this program possible. Marsha, barney, and lee. Welcome to all of you. Thank you for being here. And welcome to all our young visitors from Washington Area schools. So nice to have you here. And welcome, of course, to the cspan audience that is will be watching this in the future. Who among you has never been in this library . Okay. Quite a few of you. Well, in the event you havent been in this building before, welcome to the Worlds Largest library. The greatest and most extensive Cultural Institution on the planet. The nations very own, your very own library of congress. It was founded in 1800, not long after the founding of this country. It was conceived as a place that would furnish congress and the American Government with the information it needed as it carried out its duties of representing all of us. Initially the library was housed in the u. S. Capitol which sits right across the street from here. I hope you saw it when you arrived. In 1813 the british army invaded washington and the Capitol Building caught fire and it was engulfed in flames and so all the librarys books were burned to ashes. Well, expresident thomas jefferson, who owned the largest collection of books in the country at the time, there were almost 7,000 volumes sitting in his house, offered to sell his books to the u. S. Government to refill the librarys shelves. Congress jumped at that chance and now you can see jeffersons own books, those original volumes, sitting at the very heart of this building. Since the arrival of those books, 6487 of them to be exact, the library has grown to house more than 100 million publications and objects in over 450 languages. The shelves on which these items sit measure 833 miles. Thats a very long shelf of books going from, say, right where youre sitting all the way down the street, across town, down the beltway, down route 95 all the way to miami. It is the single most thorough collection of holdings in the world. So its fitting that]i youree in these grand american halls to hear the story of a very inspiring american, a man whose childhood was robbed from him at a time of war and yet a boy whose resilience, strength of spirit and income to minable sense of justice led him to use that difficult time in his life to learn what he needed to learn to make sure no one else suffered what he suffered ever again. His name is Norman Mineta. He was born in say jose, california, and he enjoyed ten years of a happy childhood before he and the population of 120,000 more japaneseamericans like him were taken from their homes and held prisoner in internment camps around the country. It was because the United States was at war with japan but it had little to do with them. They were americans. He took that experience and turned it into something good. Convinced that he wanted to make this country a better place for others, he went into politics. He became the mayor of the city, a congressman representing his state, a champion for asianamericans, a soldier, a leader in one of americas most innovative companies, and then he was chosen by president s of different Political Parties to be members of their candidates. He became the United States secretary of commerce and then the United States secretary of transportation. His story is a lesson to us all. Its a model on how to turn adversity into something positive, something that contributes to the wellbeing of us all. Here to tell you that story is the author of a wonderful new book about secretary minetas childhood. She is Andrea Warren and her book is called enemy child. Here to relay some of his stories is secretary mineta himself. Were very fortunate to have him here. Andrey ye andrea will give us her story and then well have a moderator moderate the discussion. Each school represented here will receive a copy of andreas book for its library. Were very grateful to andreas publisher for that gift and were very indebted to the eskin family to make this possible. As we head into thanksgiving week, here is a story that tells us that we have much to be thankful for. There are heroes among us who make this country a better place, a safer place. Please welcome the honorable secretary mineta and two wonderful writers, Andrea Warren and monica hessey. [ applause ] im Andrea Warren, and its a real pleasure to be with you today. Imagine each one of you that it is 1941 and you are a boy, 10 years old, living in the small city of san jose in Northern California where the weather is beautiful all year round. You love baseball, comic books and going to the movies with your friends. You have three older sisters and an older brother who all dote on you, and you have parents you love very much. Your father, papa, has a successful insurance agency, and you live in a lovely stucco house in san joses japan town. Both of your parents were born in japan. You were born in this country but, like your parents, youre considered japanese american. Japan is causing trouble in the south pacific, but then hitlers causing trouble in europe and all of that is far away. For you, life is good. Until it isnt. On december 7th, 1941, japan attacks america bombing its military base at pearl harbor hawaii. 2500 american soldiers and sailors die. Almost as Many Americans died in the twin towers on 9 11. You see papa cry. He loves america. How could the land of his birth have attacked the lapped of his heart . The public is outraged by pearl harbor and america quickly declares war on japan. Within days the u. S. Is also at war with germany and italy. World war ii has begun. It is a horrible time for you and your family and your friends. Everyone is instantly suspicious of japaneseamericans. The fbi swoops in and arrests community leaders, teachers, journalists, farmers, priests, business owners. Anyone considered to have ties to japan or influence in the Japanese American Community. These men and women are september to prisons far from home. The Japanese American Community is left without leadership, without anyone to speak out for them. At School Classmates glare at you and accuse you of bombing pearl harbor. They call you a jap like its a dirty word and inside you burn with shame. Every japanese american you know is loyal to america and wants america to win the war. Your brother albert wants to serve in the army. If you werent so young, youd enlist, except that now the government is saying that if youre japanese american you cant serve. Theres widespread fear that japan will invade the west coast of the United States and a fear that japaneseamericans like you who live along the coast will assist them. 125,000 of this countrys 150,000 japaneseamericans live close to the Pacific Ocean. You stand out because of your appearance and your names. You tend to live together in communities like japan town so youre easy to find. All of you are now required to register with authorities. Then the government imposes an 8 p. M. To 6 a. M. Curfew. Some peoples Bank Accounts are frozen leaving them unable to pay their bills. Their businesses are padlocked. Papas license to sell insurance is not renewed. The fbi searches peoples homes looking for anything that could be useful to the enemy should it invade the coast. A garden hoe, a ceremonial sword, a flashlight. Then youre forbidden from moving away, and finally you learn that you will be sent to special camps for the duration of the war, supposedly to protect you from a hostile public, but as you really know, to be certain that you cant do anything to aid the japanese. You dont understand what these camps are or where they are, and being forced mr. Your homes is very frightening, but youve been taught to obey authority. And most of you agree that you will not resist. You will do whatever will best help with the war effort. Announcements are posted in Public Places telling people that they will be evacuated only giving them a few days notice to sell or give away anything. Pets arent allowed to go and you have to leave your dog behind. And this breaks your heart. Then you see your strong papa cry again because he is head of the family and responsible for taking care of you and hes unable to stop any of this from happening. You try not to burden your parents with your own fears and so you stay silent. On evacuation day you wear your best clothes and you each carry two suitcases. Thats all youre allowed. You are also holding your beloved bat, baseball and dplof. And a military policeman takes away your bat stating it can be used as a weapon. That bat was a gift from papa and is one of your priced possessions and now its gone. All along the west coast japaneseamericans board buses and trains headed to one of the ten camps the government has built. As you will learn, these are primitive camps all in isolated, inhospitable places around the country. On the long train journey you sit quietly doing what youre told. Timely you arrive at a plates called heart mountain in buy onlying. You are 1,000 miles from home. You look around with shock. The camp is surrounded by barbed wire because this is a prison camp. Guards in towers carry loaded weapons aimed at you. Your family is assigned one room in a poorly constructed baracks furnished only with iron could thes. You are no furniture, no closet, no kitchen, no bathroom, no privacy. A single light bulb hangs from the ceiling. You stand in line for everything. You eat in mess halls and the food is bland and poorly cooked. Bathrooms offer no privacy and this is humiliating, especially for your mother whos very modest. The temperature dips as low as 30 below zero on winter nights. The wind howls constantly swirling dust around. As you will learn, summers are better but then you must watch out for rattlesnakes and black widow spiders and always there is dust and the wind blows and blows. These are not work camps. In fact, there is little work to do and people have too much time on their hands. They are not death camps like the concentration camps under hitler, but they are brutal in their own way. You are the enemy. You are prisoners. You are watched closely. You must do what you are told. So you go to school and you join the boy scouts. Ive got a couple of slides out of order here, im sorry. You play baseball. Everyone pitches in to make the camps more livable sharing their talents and skills with each other, and working together to grow crops on the arid land around the camp to subsidize food rations. The harvest is so successful that its called the miracle of heart mountain. All in all you will be away from san jose for three years. Some japaneseamericans will be away nearly four. By the end many will be defeated, broken, but not most and not you or your family. You have strong parents who accept their circumstances and make the best of things. They will help you to do this as well. And you will hang on to your humanity. But you will never forget what happened to you. When its over, some folks have nothing to go back to. Their homes have been destroyed. No one will hire them. Your house is okay, and papa will rebuild his business, but like everyone else, your family struggles for the next decade. Theres still prejudice against japaneseamericans and they are still ashamed that others thought they could be the enemy. You want to talk about all of this but no one will. There is a conspiracy of silence. Back in school in san jose you work hard, just as you always have. You are well liked by other students and in high school are elected student body president. After college you serve in the korean war and then youre stationed in japan where you connect with your japanese relatives and discover a pride in your past. When you return to san jose you join your fathers insurance business. You marry and have two sons. You are active in community organizations. You serve on the city council and eventually run for mayor. You win,win, and at age 40 you become the first asianamerican elected mayor of a major american city. Then its onto congress. In all you serve ten terms, a total of 20 years in the house ofl you serve because you believe that Everyone Needs representation when the decisions are made, something japanese americans did not have. So you listen and you help. You work long hours to get all the work done. The day comes when you and others in congress organize to seek justice for the wrongful internment of japanese americans during the war. No one was ever found guilty of a crime against america, and yet all of you still carry the stigma of being considered the enemy. This must change. You want for all japanese americans an apology and restitution. It takes years. Four times you introduce the bill in congress before it finally passes and becomes known as the Civil Liberties act of 1988. Only then does the healing begin. But you arent done. You serve in two president ial cabinets. The first asianamerican pointed to be a cabinet secretary. And since then you have continued to work actively for civil rights and to further the ties between japan and the u. S. And for all manner of things that help keep this country safe and strong. Norman mineta, you have so much to teach all of us. You tell us that this is our country with all its flaws and we must protect it. You say and i quote, there are good citizens who didnt rise up to protest what was happening to their japaneseamerican friends and neighbors in 1942. But if we will speak out when we see someones Constitutional Rights being violated, if we will act together then we are Strong Enough to withstand any evil internal or external that threatens to unravel this beautiful place that is america. For all of us let me say thank you. [ applause ] this is a beautiful researched book and the kind of book can only come about from someone who lived a beautiful and richly lived life, so thank you to both of you for being here. We were talking backstage about how excited we are that most of the audience are middle schoolers which andy and i agree are some of our favorite people, and youre going to have a chance to ask questions in a little bit so please think of smarter questions than im about to ask but they are going to let me ask the first question. Secretary mineta, you had been approached many times by writers wanting to tell your story, and im curious what it was about andrea that made you want to talk to her, and im curious from andrea what you said to secretary mineta and what made you passionate about wanting to tell this story. Well, first of all, there has been a number of approaches about writing a book, writing or have a movie made, but i didnt want to do anything that and so with most people i just said no. And andraya was talking about a Childrens Book and so as we talked about it this was the kind of educational tool that i thought would be very, very useful to young people not knowing anything about the evacuation and internment of those of japanese ancestry during world war ii. Knowing about her background as a writer and researcher i said, sure, lets do the book. And i just was so pleased with the outcome. And andraya even though we talk a lot about it she went ahead and did a lot of research on her own and it just makes it a terrific book. Theres so many like what i would call a coffee table book, and yet its near to lets say fifth to ninth graders but something thats easily readable for everyone. What do you remember about approaching him and what you planned to say . Well, i knew that i wanted norman to be the center of this story. The first thing i wanted was to write a book about japanese american internment. Sense i write about history, nonfiction history. But i always have a young person at the center of my story. And i went to heart mountain to see the Internment Center on the side there, the internment camp. And it was there i learned about norms role and the Civil Liberties act of 1988. So being able to write a book about somebody who did something that great to give back to the Japanese American Community is what pulled me in first. That was the first thing. The second thing is that norm was the perfect age. Hes 10, 11, 12 when he was going through this experience. And since i write for Young Readers that made a lot of sense, too. Theres a third thing. I love the arc of the story. He made a friend in the camp who was not japaneseamerican, who was a boy from cody, wyoming, whos also a boy scot like norm was and they met at a boy scot event in the camp and later ended up both being in congress at the same time. And are dear friends until this day. And for me as a writer again just that beautiful arc. The fourth thing was a bonus. I didnt know it when i started this project. When i approached norm about doing it is meeting this very special person whos become such an important part of my life and has taught me so many things and has given me such a sense of not only gratitude for what he and the other japanese americans went through and they came through it the way they did, but a lot of faith in this country that we got through this and well keep going through the other things were challenged by. Secretary mineta, you were very young. You were about the same age many members of our audience were, and i wonder how your family talk today you what was happening at the time, how your parents explained what was going on . Well, as andraya said my dad loved this country. He came here by himself when he was 14 years old, and came to love the United States. Once was on the 7th of december when he couldnt understand the second time was the day we left may 29, 1942, left san jose to go off to camp and the third time was when my mother passed away. But the end of the last week of january 1942 he gathered the family together in the living room and he said i dont know whats going to happen to your mother and me. Were not u. S. Citizens. Were prohibited from be