House Speaker joins mission to revive tourism
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert said yesterday he would urge Japanese to visit America again as the nation continues its recovery from the economic effects of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Hastert, R-Illinois, is in Hawai'i to address the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum today before flying to Tokyo tomorrow.
Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, Speaker of the House, left, gets a tour of the USS Arizona by Adm. Dennis Blair.
He is coordinating his effort to restimulate tourism from Japan with Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, and with Hawai'i Convention and Visitors Bureau, aides said.
"It's clear to us that tourism is vital not only to New York, but to Hawai'i and the rest of the country as well," said press secretary John Feehery.
Hastert, who placed a wreath at the Arizona Memorial at sunset yesterday, said Japanese participation with military forces in the war on terrorism shows the strength of the relationship built with the United States since World War II.
He said the resolve America showed after the attack on Pearl Harbor is still present in the response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"Twenty-three years ago, when I was teaching world history, I told my students Pearl Harbor was a pivotal moment in which the people of America pulled together and fought back," Hastert said after visiting the memorial with Adm. Dennis Blair, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific.
"Little did I dream that I would be the speaker of the House of Representatives when another attack on America took place which inspired the same kind of patriotism and resolve," Hastert said.
That courage showed even while the attacks were under way, he said, in passengers' efforts aboard a jetliner over Pennsylvania to foil a fourth aircraft from being used as a flying bomb.
"Whenever I look out the window of my office down the mall, I remember that if it weren't for five or six ordinary citizens in an airplane over Pennsylvania, the terrorists would have succeeded in taking out the Capitol as well.
"There are a lot of courageous people in this fight, in uniform and out," Hastert said.
The speaker, who is heading a congressional delegation, is on the first leg of a trip that will take him to Japan, Thailand and other Asian destinations to encourage a common response to the war on terrorism and the economic fallout of the attacks.
He said he would tell Japanese travel industry leaders "we want them to come back," and that tourism is a vital part of the economy of the United States and the world.
Hastert also urged support for President Bush's economic recovery proposals.
The economic recovery package proposed in the House, he said, would renew Americans' confidence in the economy and their investments and bring back 700,000 jobs lost since Sept. 11 by freeing up capital for investment.
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
