McDermott Receives Prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold & Silver Star Honor

I am deeply honored tonight by the awarding of this high honor. As I accept it, I cannot do so without thinking of the dozens of people on whose shoulders I stand. I accept on their behalf, as well as my own.

David Sakura was my college classmate in the 1950s. He's the one who first told me of his upbringing in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho. His father and three brothers on the same day joined the 442 Regimental Combat Team, which became the most honored military unit in American history because of its actions in Italy during the second World War.

Fast forward to 1989. As I came to Congress anti-Japanese sentiment was on the rise. I went to Tom Foley, who was then Speaker of the House and later ambassador to Japan, and ask him what I could do to help improve relationships with Japan. He said he would put me on several committees. "You must go to the meetings," he said. "This is not for resume building."

Since 1989 I have made more than 40 trips to Japan on exchanges with members of the Diet and as a part of the APEC forum. I have made too many friends in Japanese Diet to mention them all by name. Matsuda-san and Ohno-san, the leaders of the Japanese delegation, have been long time friends. I am proud to have been a part of improving the relationship with the Japanese people and government over the last 25 years.

I mentioned earlier the Nisei veterans and their contribution to our country. After the Second World War some of their heroism was forgotten. I asked Bill Clinton to re-examine the records of the Nisei's performance in Italy. Among those whose deeds had not been acknowledged were those of William Kenzo Nakamura, a 19-year-old boy from Garfield high school in Seattle, who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

We later named the federal courthouse in Seattle the William Kenzo Nakamura Courthouse. My name is on the memorial wall at the Nisei Veterans Hall just below William Nakamura's name. He and all the Japanese-Americans in my district are represented tonight by Beth Takekawa of the Wing Luke Museum and share with David Sakura and Tom Foley in my acceptance of this award.

Finally, let me say that we must honor our differences with the rest of the world but we must remember that we are all bound together in the need to solve the problems of the world.

Japan and the United States must stand together. Thank you for this honor.

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