Welcome to all of you. The asking is who are so generous to make this program partial. Marcia, 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 will be watching this in the future. Who among you has never been in this library . Ok, quite a few of you. Well in the event you have not been in this building before, welcome to the Worlds Largest live every. 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 duties of representing all of us. Initially the library was housed in the u. S. Capitol which sits across the street from here. I hope he sought when you arrived. In 1813, the british army invaded washington and the Capital Building caught fire. It was engulfed in the flames. All the libraries books were burned to ashes. Well expresident Thomas Jefferson who owned the largest collection of books in the country at the time, almost 7000 volumes sitting at his house, offered to sell the books to the Us Government to refill the library shelves. Congress jumped at the chance and now you can see jeffersons own book, those original volumes, sitting at the very heart of this building. Since the arrival of those books, 6487 of them, the library has grown to have more than 100 million publications and objects in over 450 languages. The shelves on which these items sit measure 833 miles. That is a very long shelf of books going from 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. A very inspiring american. A man whose childhood was robbed at him from a child of a time of war and yet a boy whose resilience, strength of spirit and indomitable sense of justice led him to use that difficult0s 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 san jose, california and he enjoyed ten years of a happy childhood before he, and a population of 120,000 more japanese americans 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 its a model on how to turn adversary 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 mineta wass childhood, shes Andrea Warren and her book is called enemy child. Here to release some of his personal experience and his point of view is secretary mineta, himself, we are very fortunate to have him with us today. Andrea will give you a brief description of the book after which monica hesse, a writer herself with the Washington Post and the author of a wonderful book about children during wartime called the war outside will moderate the discussion. Each school represented here will receive a copy of andreas book for its library, so we are grateful to andreas publisher for that gift and deeply indebted to the eskin family for making this presentation possible. As we head into thanksgiving week, here is a story that tells us we have much to be thankful for. There are heroes among us who make this country a better place. Please welcome secretary mineta, and two wonderful writers, Andrea Warren, and monica hesse. [applause] i am Andrea Warren and it is a 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 parents you love very much. Your father 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, you are considered japaneseamerican. 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 7, 1941, japan attacked america, bombing its military base at pearl harbor. 2500 american soldiers and sailors died, almost as many as died in the twin towers on 9 11. You see papa cry, because he loves america. How could the land of his birth have attacked the land 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 and inside, men and women are sent 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 jab like its a dirty word, an inside you burn with shame. Every japanese american you know is loyal to america and wants america to win the war. Youre brother albert wants to serve in the army. If you werent so young you wouldnt list. Except that now the government and saying, if you are japanese american, you cannot serve. There is widespread fear that japan will invade the west coast of the United States and a fear that japanese americans like you, who live along the coast, will assist them. 125,000 of this countrys 150,000 japanese americans live close to the Pacific Ocean. You stand up because of your parents and your name. Tend to live together in communities like japan town so you are easy to find. All of you are now required to register with authorities. Then the government imposes an 8 pm to 6 pm curfew. Some peoples Bank Accounts are frozen, leaving them unable to pay their bills. Their businesses are padlocked. Khoury license to share 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 ceremonial sort, a flashlight. Then you are forbidden for moving away. 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 cannot do anything to aid the japanese. You do not understand what these camps are or where they are. And being forced from your homes is very frightening, but you have been taught to Obey Authority and most of you agree that you will not resist. You will do whatever best help with the war effort. Announcements are posted in Public Places telling people that they will be evacuated, often giving them only a few days notice to sell or give away everything. Pets are not 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 he is unable to stop any of this from happening. You try not to burden, or not to burden your parents with your own fears, so you stay silent. On evacuation day, you wear your best clothes and you each carrying two suitcases. That is all you are allowed. You are also holding your beloved baseball bat and glove, and a military policeman walks up to you and takes away your bath, stating that it could be used as a weapon. That bat was a gift from papa and your prized possession. And now its. Gone along the west coast, japanese americans board buses and trains headed to one of the ten counts the government has built. As you will learn, these are primitive camps, all in isolated, inhospitable places around the world. The country. On the long train journey, you sit quietly, doing what you are told. Finally, you arrive at a place called heart mountain in wyoming. You are 1000 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 barracks furnished only with iron cots. You have 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 and mess halls and the food is bland and poorly cooked. Bathrooms offer no privacy and this is humiliating, especially for your mother who is very modest. The temperature dips as low as 30 below zero on winter nights. The wind howls constantly, swirling dust around. And 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 on 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, i am sorry. You play baseball. Everyone pitches into 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 it is called the miracle of heart mountain. All in all, you will be away from san jose for three years. Some japanese americans 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 it is 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. There is still prejudice against japanese americans, 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, you are elected student body president. After college, you served in the korean war and are 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 mary. You have two sons. You are active in community organizations. You serve on the city council. Eventually, you run for mayor. You win and at age 40, you become the first Asian American elected mayor of a major american city. Then it is on to congress. And in all, you served ten terms, a total of 20 years in the house of representatives. You serve because you believe that Everyone Needs representation when 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 organized 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 for times, you introduced a bill in congress before finally passes and becomes known as the Civil Liberties act as the Civil Liberties act of 1988. Only then does healing begin. There were good citizens who didnt rise up to protest what was happening to their japanese american friends and neighbors in 1942, that if we speak out when we see someones Constitutional Rights being violated, if we act together, than we are Strong Enough to withstand any people, internal or external 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 and richly researched book. The kind of what they can only come about from someone who has 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. You are going to have a chance to ask questions in a little bit, so please think of smarter questions than i am about to ask. But i will ask the first question. Secretary mineta, you have been approached many times by writers wanting to tell your story, and i am curious what it was about andrea that made you want to talk to her, and i am curious from andrea about what you said to secretary mineta and what made you passionate about wanting to tell this story. First of all, there have been a number of approaches about writing a book, writing, what would you call, a movie made, but i did not want to do anything from which i would profit. So, with most people, i just said no. And andrea was talking about childrens books, and as we talked about it, this was the kind of educational tool that i thought would be very useful to young people, not knowing anything about the evacuation and internment of those japanese ancestry during world war ii. Knowing about her background as a writer and a researcher, i said sure, lets do the book. I was just so pleased with the outcome. Andrea, even though he talked a lot about it, she went ahead and did a lot of research on her own, and it makes it a terrific book. It is like what i would call a coffee table book, and yet it is geared to let us say, fifth to ninth graders, but it is something that is easily readable for everybody. What do you remember about approaching him and what you planned to say . I knew i wanted norman to be the center of the story. The first thing i wanted was to write a story about the japanese american internment. Since i write nonfiction history, what i do, as i always have a young person at the center of my story. I went to heart mountain to see the Interpretive Center that is on the site of the former heart mountain war relocation center, the internment camp. It was there that i learned about norms role in the Civil Liberties act of 1988. 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 was that norm was the perfect age. He was ten, 11 and 12 when he was going through this experience. Since i write for young readers, that made a lot of sense as well. The third thing is i love the arc of the story. He made a friend in the camp who was not japanese american. He was a boy from wyoming. He was also boy scouts like norm was. They met at a boy scout event in the camp and later, they both ended up being in congress at the same time and our dear friends to the stay. For me, as a writer, that beautiful arc. The fourth thing was a bonus. I did not know it when i started this project. When i approached norm about doing it, is meeting this very special person who has 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 all went through and that they came through with the way they did, but a lot of faith in this country. We got through this and we will keep going with the other things that we are challenged by. Secretary mineta, you were about the same age many members of our audience were. I wonder how your family talked to you about what was happening at the time. How your parents explained what was going on. As andrea said, my dad loved this country. It came here by himself when he was 14 years old and came to love the United States. I only saw him cry three times. Once, was on the 7th of december when he could not understand why the land of his birth was attacking the land of his heart the second time was the day we left on may 29 1942, we left san jose to go to camp. The third time was when my mother passed away. In january, the last week of january 1942, he gathered the family together in the living room and said, i do not know what is going to happen to your mother and me. We are not u. S. Citizens. We are prohibited from becoming u. S. Citizens because of the oriental exclusion act of 1924. That all of you kids are citizens of the u. S. Always think of 5 45, north fifth street as your home, because no one can take that away from you. Little did he realize that on february 12th, president roosevelt with sign an executive order 9 06 six, delegating to the department of war, the ability to evacuate persons did not say german, japanese or retaliatory. He just said persons. So these big placards started going up on utility poles and sides of buildings. It said, attention, all those of japanese ancestry, alien and non alien i was a ten year old kid and i look at that sign. What is a non alien . My brother said, and he was nine years old, nine years older than me and he said, that is not. You i said im not an on alien, i am a citizen. He said that means the same thing. Why wont they call me a citizen . Maybe some kind of psychological warfare. To this day, i cherish the word citizen, because my own government would not use it to describe us. I dont know when the last time any of you stood on a chair, beat your chest a