If that introduction had been presented two years from now, I would have said, “I accept your nomination.” My fellow lobbyists, ladies and gentlemen, after all I’m a registered, certified lobbyist of the state of Hawaii and I’m proud of it. And, seriously, if it weren’t for lobbyists, I don’t think our business on Capitol Hill could be carried out. So thank you all for helping us. Two years ago I was selected as Mr. Pork of the Year. Last year Ted Stevens got the award. This year he and I are vying for that position again.
And we’re not embarrassed because we’ve done our best. Bob Dole is very special to me. We were in the same hospital and I still recall that moment when we got a bit serious. We weren’t playing bridge (and it’s true, he was a lousy player). I looked at him and I said, “Bob, what are your plans? What do you plan to become or do after this?” He says, “Well,” without batting an eye, he said, “I’m going to be county attorney. After that I’ll serve in the state legislature and after that I’ll go to Congress.”
I looked at him and I said, “You know, that’s a good plan.” So I went to law school. I became assistant prosecutor, served in the territorial house and senate, and when statehood came along I traveled to Washington. Looked around, didn’t see Bob. I sent him a note. “Where are you, Bob?”
Please believe me, I made great plans to give a very serious speech this evening. In fact, I wrote it down. But then it occurred to me the last two days that since I’ve been here nearly 50 years ago, the climate has changed. Capitol Hill is a bit chilly now. It’s not as warm as it used to be when I was there in those early days. The rhetoric on the floor is getting a bit sharp and, I think, dangerous. And I’m sorry to say the decibels are getting louder. And so I decided to spend a few moments telling you why I’m proud to be here. Yes, I am bipartisan. I get along well with Ted Stevens and some of my colleagues can’t understand why. He’s my brother. I still remember what Lyndon Johnson told me when I first met him.
He says, “In Congress if you believe you’re right, stand up and say so and disagree, but never be disagreeable.” You know, those are good words. Disagree but don’t do it in a disagreeable manner. And I’ve tried to follow that and I find that it works. I was Mr. Pork two years ago in a Republic administration. [LAUGHTER/CLAPPING] Well, let me tell you why I’m proud to be an American and proud to be a member of the United States Senate. I was born in 1924 when the Congress of the United States enacted a law that closed the door to immigrants from Japan.
And they also did one other thing — made it impossible for immigrants to become citizens. My father was born in Japan. He came over as a child of three. And when he married a year before I was born, he found himself a year later unable to become a naturalized citizen. And my mother, who was born in Hawaii and therefore a citizen, found herself without citizenship because that was one of the conditions. If you marry an immigrant, you lose your citizenship.
Well, December 7th comes along and suddenly life changes. A few weeks later the Selective Service System passes a regulation and says that all Japanese are 4C. Now I think all of you know what 1A is and I think you know what 4F is. 4F, you’re physically unfit. 4C is the designation of an enemy alien. So I found myself becoming an enemy alien, which I resented. And so we petitioned the government and the president of the United States issued an executive order and said, “Americanism is a matter of mind and heart. It never was and never is a matter of skin or color.”
And he, President Roosevelt, said that “If you wish, you may volunteer to form a regimental combat team.” The quota for the territory of Hawaii was 1,800 men. Well, 10,000 volunteered. And so they selected 2,400 of us. By the time we finished our service and the war ended, about 14,000 had to go through this combat team. We started off with 4,500. But I’m happy to say that we ended the war as the most decorated unit of its size in the history of the Army.
And then statehood came along and I found myself in Washington. But in February of 1942 the president of the United States who declared that Americanism is a matter of mind and heart issued an executive order placing into camps (which incidentally was referred to in the order as concentration camps) all members of the Japanese community — citizens and otherwise. And when I learned that men from these camps volunteered, it made me proud and I also questioned myself, “Would I have volunteered if I were in one of those camps?”
You know, it takes something in a person’s spirit to volunteer to serve a country that imprisons you. But they did that and they served well. But what makes me very proud is that in the ’80s, the Congress of the United States, after a decent debate, passed a law which said we acknowledge the wrong we committed and we apologized and provided redress payments. The payment, as far as I’m concerned, wasn’t that important. But just imagine, has any other country, a superpower ever acknowledged doing anything wrong and apologize?
Think about it. This is the only country, the only major power that has had the guts. We did it. That’s why I’m proud. Well, I thank you for this honor. I shall accept it in the name of my partner. Thank you.