JASC Hosts Hart For Annual Luncheon
May 1, 2002

The Japan America Society of Colorado held its annual Spring Luncheon fundraising event on April 18 at the Denver Marriott Civic Center, and featured former US Senator Gary Hart as its keynote speaker.

Hart, a one-time presidential candidate, spoke about the issue of national security in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and explained how he co-chaired the US Commission on National Security for the 21^st Century with Warren Rudman, and warned President Bush about the likelihood of a terrorist attack somewhere in the US months before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. In fact, the commission’s report was submitted in Sept. 1999, two years before the attacks.

"Unlike previous experiences we have had, the United States government was warned about the possibility of this happening," he told an attentive crowd. The report predicted, "that the US wold be attacked by a terrorist organization using weapons of mass destruction… and that we were not prepared for it." He added that government agencies are still not coordinated in an effort to fight homeland terrorism, six months after 9/11.

"I don’t think the worst is over, I think the worst is yet to come," he said.

The commission traveled to over 25 countries researching how terrorist groups work, and how other governments protect themselves from terrorism. "We tried to learn about the mood of the world," he said. He noted that Japan was mentioned in the report because increased demand for oil in Asia will outstrip supply; Japan’s aging demographic and its position as a leader in the high tech sector.

Following Hart’s speech, the JASC awarded its first annual Bill and Alice Hosokawa Fellowship Award to Michelle Pearson of Annunciation School. The school received $3,000 to fund a program to reach out to teachers and librarians to learn and study about Japan.

Longtime Denver Post editor and former Honorary Consul General of Japan Bill Hosokawa is an ex-officio trustee and a founding board member of the Japan America Society of Colorado. The Fellowship was created in his name and his late wife Alice’s name to award efforts to build understanding between Japan and the US.

The Japan America Society of Colorado (JASC) is an association of individuals and businesses in Colorado actively engaged in bringing the people of America and Japan closer together in understanding, appreciation and cooperation.

The Society's goal is to provide a forum through which the people of these two nations may learn from each other's experiences and achievements.

The Society carries out these objectives by fostering cultural, personal, business and professional relations between Americans and Japanese; by discussing important issues and interests common to Japan and America; and by promoting -- through education -- a better understanding of the arts, literature, cultural ideals and aspirations of the Japanese and American people.