Norman Mineta
Title: Norman Mineta
Subject: William M. Daley, United States Secretary of Transportation, Presidency of George W. Bush, United States Secretary of Commerce, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Collection: 1931 Births, American Mayors of Asian Descent, American Military Personnel of Japanese Descent, American Politicians of Japanese Descent, Asian-American Members of the Cabinet of the United States, Berkeley Student Cooperative Alumni, California Democrats, Clinton Administration Cabinet Members, Democratic Party Members of the United States House of Representatives, George W. Bush Administration Cabinet Members, Haas School of Business Alumni, Japanese-American Internees, Living People, Mayors of San Jose, California, Members of the United States Congress of Asian Descent, Members of the United States House of Representatives from California, Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients, Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, San Jose City Council Members, United States Army Officers, United States Secretaries of Commerce, United States Secretaries of Transportation
Mineta in 2001
14th United States Secretary of Transportation
January 25, 2001 – August 7, 2006
Rodney E. Slater
Mary Peters
33rd United States Secretary of Commerce
July 20, 2000 – January 20, 2001
William M. Daley
Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995
Robert A. Roe
Bud Shuster
from California's 15th district
January 3, 1993 – October 10, 1995
Gary Condit
Tom Campbell
Robert J. Lagomarsino
59th Mayor of San Jose, California
Janet Gray Hayes
Norman Yoshio Mineta
(1931-11-12) November 12, 1931
San Jose, California, U.S.
Danealia Mineta
David Mineta
Stuart Mineta
Robert Brantner (stepson)
Mark Brantner (stepson)
University of California, Berkeley (B.S.)
Norman Yoshio Mineta, born November 12, 1931, is an American politician. A member of the Bush administration. On June 23, 2006, Mineta announced his resignation after more than five years as Secretary of Transportation, effective July 7, 2006, making him the longest-serving Transportation Secretary in the Department's history. On July 10, 2006, Hill & Knowlton, a public relations firm, announced that Mineta would join it as a partner. On August 10, 2010, it was announced that Mineta would join L&L Energy, Inc as Vice Chairman.
Mineta also served as President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce for the last six months of his term (July 2000–January 2001). Save for a span of five days between the end of Clinton's term and Bush's appointments, Mineta spent nearly six full years as a Cabinet member.
Early life, career, and family 1.1
Councilman and Mayor of San Jose 1.2
United States Congress 1.3
Private sector 1.4
Secretary of Commerce 1.5
Secretary of Transportation 1.6
September 11 1.6.1
After leaving the Bush administration 1.7
Early life, career, and family
Mineta was born in San Jose, California, to Japanese immigrant parents who were not allowed to become U.S. citizens at that time due to the Asian Exclusion Act. During World War II the Mineta family was interned for several years at "Area 24, 7th Barrack, Unit B" in the Heart Mountain internment camp near Cody, Wyoming, along with thousands of other Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans.[1] Upon arrival to the camp, Mineta, a baseball fan, had his baseball bat confiscated by authorities because it could be used as a weapon. Many years later, after Mineta was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, a Los Angeles man sent Mineta a $1,500 bat that was once owned by Hank Aaron, which Mineta was forced to send back as it violated the House ban on accepting gifts valued over $250. Mineta was quoted as saying, "The damn government's taken my bat again".[2]
While detained in the camp, Mineta, a Boy Scout, met fellow Scout Alan K. Simpson, future U.S. Senator from Wyoming, who often visited the Scouts in the internment camp with his troop. The two became, and have remained, close friends and political allies.[3]
He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley's School of Business Administration (since named in honor of Walter A. Haas, Sr.) in 1953 with a degree in Business Administration. Upon graduation, Mineta joined the U.S. Army and served as an intelligence officer in Japan and Korea. He then joined his father in the Mineta Insurance Agency.
Mineta is married to Danealia (Deni) Mineta. He has two sons, David and Stuart Mineta, and two stepsons, Robert and Mark Brantner.
Councilman and Mayor of San Jose
His political career began in 1967 when he was appointed to a vacant San Jose City Council seat by Mayor Ron James. In 1969, he was elected to office for the first time, after completing the city council term he had been appointed to. He was elected vice mayor by fellow councilors during that term.
In 1971, Mineta ran against 14 other candidates to replace outgoing mayor Ron James. Mineta won every precinct in the election with over 60% of the total vote and became the 59th Mayor of San Jose, the first Japanese-American mayor of a major U.S. city.[4] As mayor, Mineta ended the city's 20-year-old policy of rapid growth by annexation, creating development-free areas in East and South San Jose. His vice mayor, Janet Gray Hayes, succeeded him as mayor in 1975.
From 1975 to 1995 he sat in the United States House of Representatives representing the Silicon Valley area. He co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and served as its first chair. Mineta served as chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure between 1992 and 1994. He chaired the committee's aviation subcommittee between 1981 and 1988, and chaired its Surface Transportation Subcommittee from 1989 to 1991.
During his career in Congress he was a key author of the landmark Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Medal to Mineta for his contributions to the field of civil rights.
Mineta resigned his seat mid-term to accept a position with Lockheed Martin in 1995. The Democrats subsequently lost this district when Republican Tom Campbell defeated Democratic candidate Jerry Estruth in the special election held to fill the vacated seat, though Mineta protégé Mike Honda would win the seat back for the Democrats five years later when Campbell gave it up to run for the U.S. Senate. Mineta chaired the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, which in 1997 issued recommendations on reducing traffic congestion and reducing the aviation accident rate. Many of the commission's recommendations were adopted by the Clinton administration, including reform of the Federal Aviation Administration to enable it to perform more like a business.
Mineta was appointed to board of Directors of Horizon Lines effective January 1, 2007. Mineta formerly served on the board of AECOM Technology Corporation and is presently on the board SJW Corp..[5]
Secretary of Commerce
After serving as vice president of Lockheed Martin Corporation, he was appointed in 2000 by President Clinton as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, making him the first Asian American to hold a post in the presidential cabinet.
Secretary of Transportation
He was appointed Barack Obama. In 2004 Mineta received the Tony Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial air transportation.
Following Bush's re-election, Mineta was invited to continue in the position, and he did so until resigning in June 2006. When he stepped down on July 7, 2006, he was the longest serving Secretary of Transportation since the position's inception in 1967.
During the September 11, 2001 attacks, Mineta issued an order to ground all civilian aircraft traffic for the first time in U.S. history.
Mineta's testimony to the 9/11 Commission about his experience in the Presidential Emergency Operating Center with Vice President Cheney as American Airlines flight 77 approached the Pentagon was not included in the 9/11 Commission Report.[6] In one colloquy testified by Mineta, the vice president refers to orders concerning the plane approaching the Pentagon:
Commissioner Lee Hamilton queried if the order was to shoot down the plane, to which Mineta replied that he did not know that specifically.[7]
Mineta's testimony to the Commission on Flight 77 differs rather significantly from the account provided in the January 22, 2002 edition of The Washington Post, as reported by Bob Woodward and Dan Balz in their series "10 Days in September"
" 9:32 a.m.
The Vice President in Washington: Underground, in Touch With Bush
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, summoned by the White House to the bunker, was on an open line to the Federal Aviation Administration operations center, monitoring Flight 77 as it hurtled toward Washington, with radar tracks coming every seven seconds. Reports came that the plane was 50 miles out, 30 miles out, 10 miles out-until word reached the bunker that there had been an explosion at the Pentagon.
Mineta shouted into the phone to Monte Belger at the FAA: "Monte, bring all the planes down." It was an unprecedented order-there were 4,546 airplanes in the air at the time. Belger, the FAA's acting deputy administrator, amended Mineta's directive to take into account the authority vested in airline pilots. "We're bringing them down per pilot discretion," Belger told the secretary.
"[Expletive] pilot discretion," Mineta yelled back. "Get those goddamn planes down."
Sitting at the other end of the table, Cheney snapped his head up, looked squarely at Mineta and nodded in agreement.
— Dan Balz and Bob Woodward, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42754-2002Jan26_3.html
This same article reports that the conversation between Cheney and the aide occurred at 9:55 am, about 30 minutes later than the time Mineta cited (9:26 am) during his testimony to the 9/11 Commission.
After hearing of Mineta's orders, Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette issued orders to ground all civilian aircraft traffic across Canada, resulting in Operation Yellow Ribbon. On September 21, 2001, Mineta sent a letter to all U.S. airlines forbidding them from practicing racial profiling; or subjecting Middle Eastern or Muslim passengers to a heightened degree of pre-flight scrutiny. He stated that it was illegal for the airlines to discriminate against passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin or religion. Subsequently, administrative enforcement actions were brought against three different airlines based on alleged contraventions of these rules, resulting in multimillion dollar settlements. He showed his intention "absolutely not" to implement racial screenings in reply to the question from Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes right after 9-11. He later recalled his decision "was the right thing (and) constitutional", based on his own experience as one of Japanese-Americans, those who had "lost the most basic human rights" by being discriminated against and interned during the Pacific War.[1]
The Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport in San Jose was named after him in November 2001 when Mineta was serving as Secretary of Transportation.[8] The Mineta Transportation Institute, located at San Jose State University, and portions of California State Highway 85 are named after him.[9][10]
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow announced on June 23, 2006, that Mineta would resign effective July 7, 2006, because "he wanted to", with a spokesman for Mineta saying he was "moving on to pursue other challenges". He left office as the longest-serving Secretary of Transportation in history.[11]
After leaving the Bush administration
Hill & Knowlton announced on July 10, 2006, that Mineta would join the firm as vice chairman, effective July 24, 2006.[12]
In 2007, the Japanese government conferred him the Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun.[13]
In December 2006, Mineta was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[14]
On February 4, 2008, the day before the closely contested California Democratic Primary, Mineta endorsed Barack Obama.[15]
Beginning in summer 2008, Mineta began service as Chairman of a Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration overseeing a study of modernization efforts at the United States Coast Guard. Other notable members of the Panel include former Office of Personnel Management Director Janice Lachance and former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe.[16]
He served as the keynote speaker at the University of California, Berkeley's December Graduates Convocation on December 13, 2009. On August 10, 2010, he was named as Vice Chairman of L&L Energy (LLEN), which is headquartered in Seattle and operates coal mines and other facilities related to coal production in China. On April 30, 2011, Mineta served as the commencement speaker at Grand Valley State University's afternoon ceremony.
In June 2010 Mineta was named Co-chair of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.
In May 2014, Secretary Mineta was a guest speaker at a conference called "The Color of Citizenship." The conference consisted of discussions revolving around the internment of Japanese Americans during World War 2 and a comparison with the New York City Police Department's Stop and Frisk Policy following the 2001 terrorist attacks in America (specifically how the policy targeted the Sikh community). Mineta spoke at the Roosevelt House at Hunter College in New York in regards to these issues. [17]
L. Welch Pogue Award for Lifetime Achievement in Aviation, 1999.
Tony Jannus Award, 2004
9/11 Commission Report
List of U.S. political appointments that crossed party lines
Norman Mineta International Airport in San Jose, named after him
^ a b "Ken Watanabe meets the Japanese-Americans" (渡辺謙 アメリカを行く, Watanabe Ken America o Iku) broadcast on NHK BS Premium in Japan 2011-07-19 & TV Japan in USA 2011-09-11
^ Wald, Matthew L. Norman Yoshio Mineta. New York Times. 3 Jan. 2001
^ Matthews, Chris (2002). "A Pair of Boy Scouts". Scouting Magazine. Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
^ "New Mayor of San Jose is Japanese".
^ "Norman Y. Mineta". Bloomberg. Retrieved Oct 28, 2013.
^ Zarembka, Paul (2006). The Hidden History of 9-11-2001. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: JAI Press / Elsevier Ltd. p. 246.
^ a b "Public Hearing". National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. 2003. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
^ "Mineta San José International/Silicon Valley Airport - About SJC - Timeline". Retrieved 2012-09-10. 2001 – City Council approves naming the airport to "Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport" in honor of the former Mayor and long-term Congressman.
^ "Freeway dedicated in honor of Norman Mineta".
^ "President's Statement on Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta". White House. 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-24.
^ "U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta Joins Hill & Knowlton". Hill & Knowlton. 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
^ "Japan honors Norman Mineta, Daniel Okimoto," San Jose Business Journal. June 6, 2007.
^ "Bush Gives Medal of Freedom to 10 People". Associated Press. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
^ "Two Senior California Democrats Endorse Obama". WebWire. 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
^ [2] Archived November 27, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ http://www.roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu/events/internment/
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Robert J. Lagomarsino Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from California's 13th congressional district
1975–1993 (district moved) Succeeded by
Gary Condit Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Ron James Mayor of San Jose, California
New Jersey Chairman of House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
William M. Daley U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Served under: Bill Clinton
July 20, 2000 – January 20, 2001 Succeeded by
Rodney E. Slater U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Served under: George W. Bush
January 25, 2001 – July 7, 2006 Succeeded by
Mayors of San Jose, California
Josiah Belden
O. H. Allen
Sherman Otis Houghton
Thomas Fallon
Breyfogle
Worswick
Husted
O'Brian
Jayet
Arnerich
Dan W. Gray
Fred Doerr
Biebrach
Harry Young
Ernie Renzel
Albert J. Ruffo
Clark L. Bradley
George Starbird
Robert Doerr
Tom McEnery
Susan Hammer
Ron Gonzales
Chuck Reed
Sam Liccardo (current)
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Brinegar
Mineta
LaHood
United States Secretaries of Commerce
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Cortelyou
Metcalf
Secretaries of Commerce
Kreps
Klutznick
Baldrige
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Cabinet of President Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
Warren M. Christopher (1993–97)
Madeleine Albright (1997–2001)
Lloyd Bentsen (1993–94)
Robert Rubin (1995–99)
Larry Summers (1999–2001)
Secretary of Defense
Les Aspin (1993–94)
William J. Perry (1994–97)
William S. Cohen (1997–2001)
Janet Reno (1993–2001)
Secretary of the Interior
Bruce Babbitt (1993–2001)
Secretary of Agriculture
Mike Espy (1993–94)
Dan Glickman (1995–2001)
Ron Brown (1993–96)
Mickey Kantor (1996–97)
William M. Daley (1997–2000)
Norman Mineta (2000–01)
Secretary of Labor
Robert Reich (1993–97)
Alexis M. Herman (1997–2001)
Secretary of Health
and Human Services
Donna Shalala (1993–2001)
Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development
Henry G. Cisneros (1993–97)
Andrew M. Cuomo (1997–2001)
Federico Peña (1993–97)
Rodney Slater (1997–2001)
Secretary of Energy
Hazel O'Leary (1993–97)
Bill Richardson (1998–2001)
Richard W. Riley (1993–2001)
Jesse Brown (1993–97)
Togo West (1998–2000)
* Acting secretary
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Al Gore (1993–2001)
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Leon Panetta (1994–97)
Erskine Bowles (1997–98)
John Podesta (1998–2001)
Administrator of the
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Barry McCaffrey (1996–2001)
Charlene Barshefsky (1997–2001)
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R. James Woolsey, Jr. (1993–95)
John M. Deutch (1995–96)
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Laura Tyson (1993–95)
Joseph Stiglitz (1995–97)
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Philip Lader (1994–97)
Aída M. Álverez (1997–2001)
* took office in 1993, raised to cabinet-rank in 1996
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Henry Paulson (2006–09)
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