REMARKS
FOR
THE
HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA
SECRETARY
OF TRANSPORTATION
REDWOOD
MIDDLE SCHOOL EIGHTH GRADERS
WASHINGTON,
DC
APRIL
8, 2002
2:30
PM
Good
afternoon, and thank you for taking the time to come and visit us here at the
Department of Transportation!
I
know that your teachers have taught you about the importance of teamwork, and
how you can get more done as a team. That’s
how we work here at DOT -- as
a team to make sure that everything -- from buses and trains to people and cargo
-- moves smoothly around the United States and across her borders — by
air, land and sea.
To
accomplish that, I have a staff of about 100,000 employees and a budget of $59
billion.
If
our transportation system is running smoothly, then people tend to take
transportation -- and the
Department of Transportation --
for granted. Unfortunately, the
terrorist attacks that happened on September 11th changed all that.
On
that day and ever since, our jobs at the department have focused more than ever
on security. The “new
normalcy,” as Vice President Cheney calls it, has made operating our
transportation system more complex and challenging.
Late
last year, the Congress passed a new law to create the Transportation Security
Administration, or the TSA, within the Department of Transportation.
The
TSA will be the largest government agency created from scratch since World War
II. Although protecting the
traveling public in airports and on airplanes may be the most visible
responsibility of TSA, it will also be responsible for the security of our
nation's highways, waterways, seaports, railways, public transit, and pipelines.
Its bottom-line goal is to protect people and goods as they move around
the country.
Our
other divisions at DOT include the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA for
short, which employs our nation’s air traffic controllers.
While not visible to us, they are very important.
In
fact, FAA air traffic controllers brought more than 5,000 airplanes out of the
skies on 9/11 in less than three hours with no accidents or injuries.
That is a remarkable accomplishment.
Many
people may not realize that the U.S. Coast Guard is part of the Department of
Transportation. They, too, perform
remarkable and heroic acts and did so on September 11th when they
evacuated half a million people from the New York harbor.
Coast Guard Admiral Bennis was in charge of that evacuation, and I
recently put him in charge of keeping all of our harbors safe for trade and
travel.
DOT
is also home to the Federal Highway Administration; the Federal Railroad
Administration; the Federal Transit Administration, which is responsible for
public transportation such as the buses and subways many of you ride everyday;
and the Maritime Administration, which makes sure everything runs smoothly in
our ports and waterways.
Most
people don’t realize that DOT is responsible for all of the oil and gas
pipelines that carry vital fuel from state to state. Our job is to make sure the pipes are safe and in working
order.
When
President Bush asked me to serve as Secretary of Transportation in January 2001,
I could never have dreamed what lay ahead of us that year.
If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is that life will change
when you least expect it.
I
don’t like to give advice, but instead let me
share with you some of the lessons I’ve learned.
First,
you should have a goal, and make a plan to reach that goal.
At the same time, you should know that you may not take that exact path.
Flexibility is the key to reaching those goals.
Just
as none of us could have foreseen the events of September 11th, I could never
have predicted the events of World War II that put me, my family and other
Japanese Americans into an internment camp for months.
Lesson
Number Two: Make the best of what you have and be proud of that.
My
family and I could have let the internment camps break us.
But instead, we made the best of it.
For example, my sister, Helen, appointed herself one of my teachers in
the camp. Even after we were
released and she was not allowed to teach professionally in schools, she
continued to teach me and others in her spare time.
Lesson
Number Three: Have faith in the future and never give up.
As long as you keep going, you have a chance to make things better and to
right past wrongs.
When
we were released from the internment camps, Japanese Americans were not
automatically welcomed back into American society. One of our community leaders, I.K. Ishimatsu, wanted to make
sure that such discrimination never happened again.
Even
though Mr. Ishimatsu knew everyone came out of the camps nearly broke, he asked
for donations to buy a few tickets to the local Republican and Democratic
political party dinners.
He
asked a few young people to represent our Japanese American community at those
dinners, and that is how I first got involved in politics.
My
involvement in politics eventually led to Congress and allowed me to introduce,
and help pass, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which was signed into law by
President Ronald Reagan.
Because
of this law, the U.S. Government finally apologized to Japanese Americans who
were imprisoned and offered compensation for the internment
-- something that I am very proud of.
How
does this relate to my life at DOT?
My past was one of tragedy, triumph and perseverance, and one in which I
have learned many lessons. One
important lesson is that even if something bad happens to you
-- keep going, stay
focused on your goals. The same
holds true for what we are doing now at DOT.
The
job and the work have been made more challenging because of the tragedies of
9/11. But working together, we are improving the safety and
security of our world-class transportation system every day.
Thank
you for allowing me the opportunity to talk with you this afternoon.
I would be glad to answer any questions.
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