CAPAC Releases ‘Spill the Tea’ Episode with Rep. Mark Takano

CAPAC Chair Grace Meng and First Vice Chair Mark Takano discuss what it means to be American ahead of our nation’s 250th anniversary. Watch the full video HERE.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  Today, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) released the twelfth episode of its Spill the Tea with Chair Meng video series with CAPAC First Vice Chair Mark Takano (CA-39).

In the episode, Rep. Takano reflects on how his family’s story during the incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II shapes his understanding of what it means to be American and continues to inform his work today. 

Excerpts from the episode are below.

On Rep. Takano’s family history during WWII:

“I talked about one great uncle in particular who served in the 442nd [Regimental Combat Unit] because he actually died in combat just a few weeks before Victory Day...and what I think is most poignant about their service is that they served even as America didn’t fully appreciate the contributions of immigrants. But immigrants have died, and they’ve bled, and they’ve toiled for our country,” said Rep. Takano, Ranking Member of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

On what it means to be an American: 

“I see the story of America as one that is rooted in high ideals, but imperfectly united behind those ideals. So you look at our Constitution that begins with the phrase, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union” ... They didn't see themselves actually being in a perfect union. They create the Constitution so that they can form a more perfect union...and each generation is, I think, trying to make the country more perfect, more democratic, more equal, [and] more free,” said Rep. Takano.

Watch the full video HERE.

Tune in to future episodes by following CAPAC on Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky, and Threads.

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