Aloha and good morning ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and friends. I am honored to be here with you this morning as we celebrate and commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Thank you Clayton, [Clayton Ikei], Bill [Bill Kaneko], Allicyn [Allicyn Hikida Tasaka], and all the members and friends of JACL for inviting me to participate in this special ceremony. Mahalo nui loa.

The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 is one of the most solemn pieces of legislation I have had the opportunity to support during my service in Congress. In passing the Act, the United States Government admitted a terrible wrong and entered into a sacred compact with its citizens who had been unjustifiably deprived of their liberty solely because of their ancestry.

There was little precedent for the apology and reparations provided by this landmark legislation. This was understandable given the unprecedented failure of leadership and ugly racial prejudice that manifested itself in the internment of Japanese Americans during this shameful chapter in our history.

I was proud to cosponsor the Civil Liberties Act and work with Senator Spark Matsunaga, Senator Inouye, and Congressmen Mineta and Matsui as they built support for the Civil Liberties Act in the Congress. I am also grateful that I had the opportunity to play a role in ensuring that we met our obligations to individuals who had been interned and relocated by making redress payments an entitlement in 1990, and working with Senator Inouye on the 1992 Amendments Act.

Today, I think it is appropriate that we offer a special tribute to Sparky Matsunaga for his vision, persistence, and leadership in the redress effort. As everyone remembers, Spark first introduced legislation in 1983 to compensate Japanese American-born citizens and their immigrant parents for injustices suffered in World war II, and championed its passage in Congress.

Spark was a great American patriot. His abiding faith in the promise and greatness of America drove his conviction that our country could acknowledge and make amends for the injustice of internment and the unjustified stain of disloyalty cast on Japanese Americans. As he observed early in the fight for redress, "America is undeniably the land of the free and the home of the brave, where the biggest dreams of the littlest people still come true."

I also want to congratulate and commend the Japanese Americans Citizens League for its principled and unequivocal commitment to civil rights, not just for Japanese Americans or Asian Americans, but for all American citizens and immigrants regardless of race, religion, gender, or orientation. As one of our nation's preeminent organizations dedicated to the pursuit of equality and justice for all Americans, JACL can be proud of its distinguished legacy as an advocate for civil rights and a forceful voice against discrimination in any shape or form.

A few weeks ago, on August 10th, we observed the sunset of the redress effort brought forth by the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. As we remember both the pain and suffering of wartime relocation and internment and the courage and perseverance necessary to fight and overcome injustice, let us all renew our commitment to ensure that our nation continues to protect and preserve the liberty and justice enshrined in our Constitution. This must be our shared responsibility and legacy to our children and grandchildren.

Thank you and Aloha.