Congressman Mike Honda became a schoolteacher early in his career because he wanted to challenge young people not only to learn but to view every student as being on an equal playing field. He became a congressman in large part because he wanted national policy-makers to view all Americans on an equal playing field.

This was the message Rep. Honda gave to employees Thursday as the keynote speaker concluding the Laboratory’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month festivities.

After spending the first few years of his life in an internment camp in Colorado, Honda and his family moved back to San Jose after World War II and he has spent the rest of his life in the area.

He said he became an educator because he wanted young people to recognize and appreciate everyone’s differences. “As a principal, I realized that youngsters need to understand the differences in all people. In those distinctions, we become very unique individuals. That became more evident to me as an educator to make sure we all learn

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