George Sakato Post Office

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of S. 931 to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4910 Brighton Boulevard in Denver, Colorado, as the George Sakato Post Office.

Born in California in 1921, George Sakato overcame discrimination to become an American hero. Classified as an ``enemy alien'' because of his Japanese heritage, Mr. Sakato was rejected by the Army Air Forces when he tried to enlist shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Mr. Sakato did not quit though, saying decades later, in 2009: ``What do you mean `enemy alien'? I am an American.''

Mr. Sakato continued trying to enlist until he was finally accepted by the Army Ground Forces in 1944 and sent to fight in Europe, and we are glad that he did. There, he exemplified hard work and selflessness, serving with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit of Japanese Americans that would become the most highly decorated combat unit of its size and time serving in U.S. history.

Private Sakato would contribute to that legacy, earning the Army's second highest combat honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, after courageously leading his fellow soldiers to overtake the enemy in France after his platoon leader was killed.

In the year 2000, Private Sakato was awarded, as we heard, the Medal of Honor along with 21 other Asian American World War II veterans.

Private Sakato worked for the United States post office in Denver for more than two decades and passed away at the age of 94 in 2015.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of S. 931 to commemorate Private Sakato's service and to honor the contributions he and so many other Japanese Americans have made to this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, I urge passage of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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