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Hastert encourages Hawaii and the rest of the United States must continue appeals to the people of Japan to resume their visits here, said U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Japanese visits to isles
The House speaker will visit
Japan to make a direct appealBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.comHastert, who stopped briefly in Honolulu on his way to Japan, attended the opening ceremony of the 10th Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum yesterday in Waikiki. The Republican representative from Illinois said Congress has done what it can legislatively to make air travel safer in this country since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The next step, Hastert said, is to encourage visitors, especially Japanese tourists, to come back and visit the country. Hastert went to Japan to make that exact pitch, adding that travel to Hawaii is among the safest in the world.
"I think the message is, We welcome you, we want you to come, and we're going to make sure your stay is not just a happy stay and a pleasant stay, but a very, very safe stay as well," Hastert said yesterday.
Parliamentarians from 25 Asia-Pacific nations are in town this week for the annual meeting, the first time it is being held in the United States. The East-West Center is hosting the event at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Terrorism is expected to be a major theme of the meeting. Delegates from several countries have already proposed resolutions against terrorism. The forum allows national parliamentarians and legislators within the Asia-Pacific region to identify and discuss issues of common concern.
"It is my hope that bringing so many representatives from different nations together in the spirit of aloha will assist in developing a consensus on how we resolve these critical issues," said U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, who along with U.S. Rep. Amo Houghton of New York are the official U.S. hosts of the meeting.
Forum President Yasuhiro Nakasone, former Japanese prime minister, said Gov. Cayetano's recent visit to Japan helped the Japanese people realize how serious the matter was for Hawaii.
Nakasone, through an interpreter, said the main reason many Japanese do not want to travel to the United States is because of the insecurity of air travel due to the terrorist attacks. The drop in Japanese tourism in Hawaii meant an increase in visitors last fall to Japan's resorts and hot springs, he said.
Nakasone said Hastert's visit to his country will be quite effective because the Japanese people respond to direct pleas.
"It would be a very strong assurance that someone like the speaker of the House is coming all the way to Japan to assure that it is all right, it is safe to travel to United States," he said.
James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for Asian and Pacific affairs, said at a luncheon speech yesterday that the U.S. war on terrorism is far from over and that Asia remains a place where armed conflicts between countries could erupt with little notice. America's presence is needed and welcomed in Asia, he said.
Hastert told the delegation the world changed Sept. 11, and many other countries along with the United States suffered losses of their citizens. He said parliamentarians from every country must work in tandem to fight terrorism and must rethink their country's levels of defense, security and intelligence.
These are difficult, complicated issues for lawmakers, but they must not get bogged down in indecision, Hastert said.
"We must not become complacent or allow ourselves to be distracted by other urgent needs. We simply need to get the job done, or the horror that visited my nation on Sept. 11 will be repeated, perhaps in your nation," he said.