Recognizing Paul M. Igasaki, Former Vice Chair, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

RECOGNIZING PAUL M. IGASAKI, FORMER VICE CHAIR, U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I recognize Paul Igasaki, a Chicago native, for his contributions to the important work of advancing our civil rights. Mr. Igasaki has dedicated his entire professional career to ensuring justice for the powerless in our society who are often neglected and ignored.

In his most recent years of public service as a commissioner, vice chair, and acting chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC, Mr. Igasaki not only enforced laws that helped prevent employment discrimination practices, he himself broke the glass ceiling as the first Asian American appointed to the high office.

Mr. Igasaki was successful in reducing overwhelming case backlog that was impairing the effective functioning of the agency. His recommendations led to the development of the National Enforcement Plan and the Priority Charge Handling Program, which have reduced the EEOC case inventory by over 70 percent. These structural changes have allowed the agency to focus on more serious cases where the EEOC's involvement can make a difference to the lives of American workers.

Similarly, Mr. Igasaki cochaired an EEOC task force that recommended focused litigation strategy, placement of attorneys in area offices, and greater cooperation between attorneys and investigators in agency, which have led to increased law enforcement effectiveness of the agency.

One of his most notable accomplishments during his term on the EEOC was his role in guiding the settlement of the Mitsubishi Motors of America case-the largest case involving sexual harassment at the workplace. His success with this case was influential in moving the Japanese government to implement gender discrimination and sexual harassment enforcement laws for their own country.

In the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Igasaki brought valuable perspectives from his personal experiences as a Japanese American to the EEOC's efforts to combat unfair backlash and scapegoating of Arab Americans, South Asian Americans, Muslim or Sikh Americans and others who were wrongly targeted by hate and discrimination.

Mr. Igasaki mother's family owned a small truck farm near San Diego. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans, Mr. Igasaki's grandparents had been in the United States for almost a half century, and like most immigrants they were proud and loyal Americans. Yet, following the devastating attacks at Pearl Harbor, Mr. Igasaki's family was subject to harassment around town and at school. One day, the FBI showed up at their home, and without warning, warrant or explanation, they took his grandfather into custody. His family would not know where he was, what his condition was or why he had been taken for several months. They relied on community rumor, knowing that other Japanese Americans had been arrested for no apparent reason.

When our government issued the relocation orders for Japanese Americans, Mr. Igasaki's family had two weeks to give up the farm and nearly all of their property. Only in the horse stall that the family shared in the relocation center at Santa Anita Racetrack did they find out that Mr. Igasaki's grandfather was arrested because he was the secretary of the local Celery Growers Association and because he had taken some notes of their meetings in Japanese. Their family eventually reunited when they were sent to a more permanent camp in Arizona where they were held for the duration of World War II.

Having experienced the pain and injustice of such treatment based on no reason other than their ethnic ancestry, Mr. Igasaki's became a passionate voice of conscience in the months following the September 11th attacks. His voice comforted all Americans who faced discrimination at the workplace because of their ancestry or appearance, and the work of the EEOC was that much more important because of Mr. Igasaki's presence.

His voice has also been an important one in the development of the national Asian American civil rights movement. Mr. Igasaki has served as the Washington, DC, representative of the Japanese American Citizens League, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, and executive director of the City of Chicago's Commission on Asian American Affairs.

A more detailed list of Mr. Igasaki's accomplishments is described in a resolution that the national board of the Japanese American Citizens League recently adopted. I ask unanimous consent that this resolution be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

RESOLUTION IN APPRECIATION OF AND COMMENDING PAUL M. IGASAKI FOR HIS SERVICE ON THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION

Whereas, Paul M. Igasaki served our nation on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) with distinction for eight years from 1994 to 2002;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki was initially nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the United States Senate in 1994, served as Acting Chairman from January to October 1998 and was confirmed for a second term as Vice Chair on October 21, 1998;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki was the first Asian Pacific American to serve in these positions at the EEOC;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki was the architect of the EEOC's strategy for handling job discrimination charges more efficiently which resulted in the prosecution of egregious cases of discrimination and a reduction in charge inventory by more than 50%;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki sought support for and the approval of the EEOC's historic FY 1999 budget increase for this important but under-funded agency;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki endeavored to ensure equal employment opportunities through his work as a Commissioner at the EEOC as well as by promoting diversity in hiring at all levels of the agency-in the Washington, DC headquarters and in the regional offices;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki's outreach to historically underserved communities and his understanding of the harm of ethnic profiling made him an invaluable resource at the EEOC, promoting an environment which allowed those affected by employment discrimination in the aftermath of the horrific attacks on 9/11 to report their cases;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki was recommended for another term at the EEOC by Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in May 2002;

Whereas, despite Mr. Igasaki's notable achievements and years of dedicated service as a committed and competent public servant at the EEOC, the White House declined to nominate him for another term;

Whereas, failing to be renominated, Mr. Igasaki's term expired, and he left the EEOC at the end of 2002;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki has a long and distinguished track-record of working on important civil rights issues through such organizations as the Asian Law Caucus, the City of Chicago's Human Relations Commission, the Chicago Commission on Asian American Affairs and the American Bar Association;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki has also been a long-time member of the JACL, having served as the President of the Chicago chapter and as the Washington, DC Representative where he worked on the Civil Rights Act, immigration reform and was a crucial voice in implementing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and the Office of Redress Administration;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki has always maintained a staunch commitment to and involvement in the Asian Pacific American community and the issues facing our community;

Whereas, Mr. Igasaki has received numerous professional and personal accolades for his achievements;

Therefore be it resolved that the National Board of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) on behalf of the entire organization highly commends Paul M. Igasaki for his years of dedicated service at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and extends our deepest gratitude to him for his work on behalf of all Americans to combat discrimination in the workplace;

Be it further resolved that the Japanese American Citizens League recognizes and appreciates the considerable contributions made by Paul M. Igasaki as an advocate for civil rights and role model for the Asian Pacific American community;

Be it further resolved that the Japanese American Citizens League thanks Paul M. Igasaki for his tireless efforts to promote and defend civil rights, civil liberties and equality before the law.

Mr. DURBIN. I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the important achievements of Mr. Paul Igasaki, and wishing him well in his future efforts to advance civil rights of all Americans.