“Norman Mineta was a patriot and public servant of the highest caliber. I was honored to serve with him in the House for fourteen years and call him a colleague and a friend.

“Norm believed in our country and our Constitution even after enduring discrimination and immoral detention as a child in a Japanese-American internment camp. He was an institutionalist who believed in the power of our democracy to deliver good government and help our people get ahead. That was what motivated him to don the uniform of our country and serve in the U.S. Army. That was his approach when he was elected as Mayor of San Jose, breaking a barrier to become the first Japanese-American to lead a large city in our country. It was his hallmark during his time as Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, when he worked to invest in the networks that connect Americans to economic opportunity. That was Norm’s ethos as well when he answered the call to serve as U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Secretary of Transportation. He rose to every challenge and met them with calm and reassuring leadership, including when he oversaw the creation of the Transportation Security Administration in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

“I will miss Norm and am grateful to have known him. I will long remember his love of baseball, his admiration for the institution of the House, and his warm and genial nature. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and his intellect was as sharp as they came.  I was proud to represent him in his later years as a constituent, and I join in offering my condolences to his wife Danielle, his children, and his grandchildren.  California and America were fortunate to have had Norman Mineta in their service.”