Mineta, Norman Yoshio, 1931-

MINETA, Norman Y., a Representative from California; born in San Jose, Santa Clara County, Calif., November 12, 1931; attended public schools in San Jose, Heart Mountain, Wyo., and Evanston, Ill.; graduated, San Jose High School, San Jose, Calif., 1949; B.S., University of California, Berkeley, 1953; insurance business; served in the United States Army, 1953-1956; member of San Jose (Calif.) human relations commission, 1962-1964; member of the board of directors, San Jose (Calif.) housing authority, 1966-1967; San Jose, Calif., city councilman, 1967-1971; vice mayor of San Jose, Calif., 1968-1971; mayor, San Jose, Calif., 1971-1974; delegate to the California State Democratic conventions, 1971-1974; delegate to the Democratic National Convention, 1972, 1976, 1980, and 1984; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fourth Congress and to the ten succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975-October 10, 1995); resigned October 10, 1995; chairman, Committee on Public Works and Transportation (One Hundred Third Congress); Secretary of Commerce in the Cabinet of President William J. Clinton, 2000-2001; Secretary of Transportation in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush, 2001-2006.

<p>Norman Yoshio Mineta (born November 12, 1931) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Mineta most recently served in President George W. Bush's Cabinet as the United States Secretary of Transportation, the only Democratic Cabinet Secretary in 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.</p>

<p>Mineta also served as President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce for the last six months of his term (July 2000–January 2001). With the exception of a span of five days between the end of Clinton's term and Bush's appointments, Mineta spent over six full years as a Cabinet member.</p>

<p>Mineta was born in San Jose, California, to Japanese immigrant parents, Kunisaku Mineta and Kane Watanabe, 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. 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." (However, the man sent the bat to Mineta again after his retirement from the House.)</p>

<p>Thirty years after being imprisoned by the United States government because of the happenstance of his ancestry, Norman Y. Mineta helped change forever the inner workings of the United States House of Representatives. Over a 20-year career in the House, the San Jose Congressman worked to make the federal lawmaking process more accountable. From the federal budget to the nation’s highway system, Mineta and his generation of reform-minded legislators redefined expectations on Capitol Hill. With the moral authority derived from having been unjustly incarcerated as a child, Mineta convinced Congress to address wartime internment and helped the country understand the sins of its past.</p>

<p>Norman Yoshio Mineta was born in San Jose, California, on November 12, 1931, the youngest of five children, to Kunisaku and Kane Mineta. His father, Kunisaku, had arrived from Japan by himself as a teenager 29 years earlier, finding work in a number of jobs before saving up enough money to start his own insurance business in San Jose. Mineta’s family settled in the heart of the city’s largely Japanese neighborhood. Because California law prevented Asian immigrants from owning property in the state, a local attorney held the house in his name until he signed everything over to Mineta’s eldest sister, who was a U.S. citizen by birth, when she turned 21.</p>

<p>Growing up, Mineta attended the San Jose public schools, and every day after class he spent an hour learning Japanese. Over dinner the Minetas would discuss the day’s events, and at night their neighbors would often come over to talk about issues facing the community. “My dad was the breadwinner, the community leader, the father who encouraged all of us to participate in community activities,” Mineta later remembered. His mother, Kane, was equally active in San Jose’s social life, serving on the Parent-Teacher Association, volunteering with the church, and raising money for the American Red Cross.</p>