House Proceeding 05-14-09 on May 14th, 2009 :: 3:12:55 to 3:20:45
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3:12:53 to 3:13:14( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: i'd like to yield such time as she consumes to our gentlelady from the aloha state, massey hirono. ms. hirono: thank you very mu. i thank my colleague for yielding me such time as i might use. aloha. i rise today to join my fellow

3:12:55 to 3:20:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mazie Hirono

3:13:15 to 3:13:35( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: caucus members in celebrating asian pacific islander heritage month. i'd like to thank congressman honda for organizing the special order tonight and for his continuing leadership throughout the year and his service as the chair of kpac. in 1978, a joint congressional resolution established asian-pacific american heritage

3:13:36 to 3:13:56( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: week. the first 10 days of may were chose ton coincide with two key anniversary the u.s. arrival of the first japanese immigrants on may 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on may 10, 1869. in 1992, congress expanded the

3:13:57 to 3:14:17( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: tweak a full month-long celebration of the asian and pacific islander american community. and we certainly have added to the diversity and the cultural richness of our country. and as a first generation immigrant myself, having come to this country when i was about eight years old this

3:14:18 to 3:14:38( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: country has afforded not just me, but millions of immigrants, the first generation, opportunities we never would have had in our home countries. with 16.2 million residents, asian americans and pacific islanders are one of the

3:14:39 to 3:14:59( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: fastest growing populationses in the united states. the census bureau estimates that by the year 2050, more than 23.4 million asian americans and pacific islanders will cause the united states home. asian american and pacific islanders have made valuable contributions to every aspect

3:15:00 to 3:15:22( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: of american life from business to education to politics to the arts to the military. for example, there are approximately 1.1 million a.p.i. -- apia owned small businesses across the couldn't tri-ry that employ 2.2 million workers. there are hundreds of thousands of apia service members and

3:15:23 to 3:15:44( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: veterans, including more than 53,500 brave men and women who have been deployed to iraq and afghanistan since 2001. today, i was glad to join my colleagues in supporting passage of h.r. 347, which appropriately awards a congressional gelled medal to the 100th infantry battalion

3:15:45 to 3:16:07( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: and the 442nd regimental combat team inonor of their extraordinary and dedicated service in world war ii. compliesed primarily of the american-born sons of japanese immigrants, members of the university of hawaii's r.o.t.c. aided the wounded, buried the

3:16:08 to 3:16:28( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: fallen and helped defend vulnerable areas in hawaii after the attack on parole harbor. in spite of these acts of courage, the u.s. army discharged all of them in the rotc unit, changed tir draft status to ineligible, and segregated all japanese americans in the military on the mainland out of their units.

3:16:29 to 3:16:49( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: in the meantime, more than 100,000 japanese americans were forcibly relocated from their homes to internment camps. undaunted, members of the hawaii provisional infantry battalion joined the 100th infantry battalion in california to train as soldiers. the sheer determination and

3:16:50 to 3:17:11( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: purst of excellence displayed byhis battalion in traing contributed to president roosevelt's decision to allow the very vol tiers to serve in the u.s. military again. leading to their incorporation into the 442nd. members of the 1, hth and 442nd risked their lives to fight for our country and allies in

3:17:12 to 3:17:32( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: europe. the 442nd go for broke unit became the most decorated in u.s. military for its size and length of service. with this component, the 100th infantry battalion, earning the nickname the purple heart battalion. i'd like to thank congressman schiff, the chief sponsor of

3:17:33 to 3:17:53( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: h.r. 347, for providing us with the opportunity to bestow this body's most distinguished honor, think congressional gold medal, to these brave soldiers on behalf of a grateful nation. i would be remiss if i did not mention one of hawaii's favorite sons as we celebrate this month and that is

3:17:54 to 3:18:14( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: president barack obama. while not ethnically asian american or pacific islander himself, his ties to our community are strong ones and his support on our issues could not be more heart fealt. -- heart felt. he has appointed asian americans to key cabinet positions. steven chu, secretary of

3:18:15 to 3:18:37( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: energy, gary locke, secretary of commerce. by the way, gary locke is the first asian american to be elected governor outside of haye. -- of hawaii. and she shinsekei, secretary of veterans' affairs. one issue president obama has supported is self-determination for the indigenous people of

3:18:38 to 3:18:59( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: our state of hawaii, native hawaiiians, who have the same right to self-determination enjoyed by other indigenous groups such as the american indians and the alaskan natives. h.r. 2314, the native hawaiiian government reare formation act will set up sprorse -- process for native americans to have a

3:19:00 to 3:19:20( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: golvetal entity. i look forward to working with my colleagues in the house and our president to pass this bill. i would also be remiss if i did not pay tribute tmy predecessor, congresswoman patsy t. mink of hawaii. i thank my colleague, ms.

3:19:21 to 3:19:41( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: richardson, for mentions patsy mink, for whom title nine was renamed the patsy t. minequal opportunity in education act. it changed the lives of women and girls across in fact a couple of years ago, several high schools in my district were given a special recognition for really promoting title nine and

3:19:42 to 3:20:02( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: participation of high school girls in sports and when i amended one of the high schools to present them with a special recognition, one of the girls asked me a question that totally floored me, and that question was if you could pick a sport, what sport would you have participated in? and it floored me because it s a question that had never

3:20:03 to 3:20:26( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: been asked when i was in high school. that's the kind of difference that title nine is making, and in fact, patsy's own daughter, when she applied to a particular school and did not get accepted, the reason for that was because they told her, we have enough women in our university.

3:20:27 to 3:20:45( Edit History Discussion )

Mazie Hirono: this all preceded title nine. literally thousands and thousands of lives have been changed by title nine. in closing, i'd like to also once again thank chairman honda for allowing me this -- allowing us this opportunity to reflect on how far our apia community has come, and yet we