REFERENCE: Vol. 131 No. 1 -- Part 2

TITLE: THE CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT OF 1985

SPEAKER: HON. NORMAN Y. MINETA OF CALIFORNIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TEXT: Text that appears in UPPER CASE identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.

MR. MINETA. MR. SPEAKER, I AM PROUD TO JOIN OUR DISTINGUISHED MAJORITY LEADER JIM WRIGHT AND MANY OTHERS OF OUR COLLEAGUES TO INTRODUCE THE CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT OF 1985.

NOW, MORE THAN 40 YEARS LATER, CONGRESS HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO CLOSE THE BOOKS ON ONE OF THE MOST SHAMEFUL EVENTS IN OUR HISTORY: THE INTERNMENT BEGINNING IN 1942 OF 120,000 LOYAL AMERICANS WITHOUT TRIAL OR JURY, SIMPLY ON THE BASIS OF THEIR ETHNIC ANCESTRY.

DURING THE 98TH CONGRESS, THIS LEGISLATION WAS H.R. 4110. OUR NEW BILL, IDENTICAL IN SUBSTANCE TO THE 98TH CONGRESS LEGISLATION, WILL BE H.R. 442. THIS NUMBER HONORS THE 442D REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM, WHICH HAS BEEN CALLED THE MOST HIGHLY DECORATED UNIT IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN FIGHTING FORCES. THE 442D WAS MADE UP OF AMERICANS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY, MANY OF WHOM VOLUNTEERED FOR DUTY FROM THE INTERNMENT CAMPS THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF H.R. 442. THE 442D FOUGHT WITH GREAT DISTINCTION THROUGHOUT THE EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN OF WORLD WAR II.

THE MEN OF THE 442D, ALONG WITH THOSE AMERICANS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY WHO SERVED WITH DISTINCTION WITH THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE [MIS] IN THE PACIFIC THEATER, FOUGHT WITH COURAGE AND BRAVERY TO DEFEND THEIR NATION, TO DEFEND THEIR HOMELAND, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

THOSE INTERNED WERE NOT FOREIGN SPIES CARRYING BRIEFCASES BULGING WITH SECRETS. MANY HAD SONS OR BROTHERS FIGHTING WITH THE 442D OR THE MIS. AMONG THOSE WHO WERE INTERNED WERE OLD MEN AND WOMEN WHO WORKED IN THE FIELDS OF CALIFORNIA, AND WITH THEIR HARD LABOR MADE BARREN LANDS PRODUCTIVE, LANDS THAT MANY WOULD LOSE AS A RESULT OF THE INTERNMENT. THESE WERE NOT UNSCRUPULOUS AGENTS OF A FOREIGN POWER, THESE WERE BUSINESS PEOPLE WHO HAD WORKED TO BUILD UP SMALL BUSINESSES AND TO BE FULL MEMBERS OF THEIR COMMUNITIES. THESE WERE NOT RECENT IMMIGRANTS OF UNCERTAIN LOYALTY. MOST OF THOSE INTERNED WERE BORN IN THIS COUNTRY AND WERE PROUD CITIZENS FROM BIRTH.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DEBATE APPROPRIATE REMEDIES FOR SOMETHING AS INDEFENSIBLE AS THE INTERNMENT WITHOUT FIRST UNDERSTANDING THE TOTAL TRAGEDY OF OUR GOVERNMENT'S POLICIES, THE NEEDLESS INJUSTICE THAT THE INTERNMENT REPRESENTED.

I WAS ONE OF THOSE INTERNED. I WAS 10 YEARS OLD. IF SOMEONE, ANYONE, COULD SHOW ME HOW BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION, ANY REASONABLE PERSON COULD SUSPECT ME TO HAVE BEEN A SECURITY THREAT, I WOULD ABANDON THIS EFFORT INSTANTLY.

THE FACT REMAINS THAT NO AMERICANS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY COMMITTED ANY ACTS OF TREASON OR DISLOYALTY.

THE INTERNMENT WAS NOT MERELY INCONVENIENT. EVACUATED WITH LITTLE NOTICE, THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS LOST THEIR HOMES, THEIR BUSINESSES, THEIR FARMS. WE LOST NEARLY 3 YEARS OF OUR LIVES. THE FINANCIAL LOSSES WERE ENORMOUS. BUT THE LOSSES OF FRIENDS, EDUCATION, OPPORTUNITY, AND STANDING IN OUR COMMUNITIES WERE INCALCULABLE.

MY OWN FAMILY WAS SENT FIRST TO SANTA ANITA RACETRACK. WE SHOWERED IN THE HORSE PADDOCKS. SOME FAMILIES LIVED IN CONVERTED STABLES, OTHERS IN HASTILY THROWN TOGETHER BARRACKS. WE WERE THEN MOVED TO HEART MOUNTAIN, WY, WHERE OUR ENTIRE FAMILY LIVED IN ONE SMALL ROOM OF A RUDE TARPAPER BARRACK.

SOME SAY THE INTERNMENT WAS FOR OUR OWN PROTECTION. BUT EVEN AS A BOY OF 10 I COULD SEE THAT THE MACHINE GUNS AND THE BARBED WIRE FACED INWARD.

THE INTERNMENT WAS NOT, AS SOME SAY, "REGRETTABLE BUT UNDERSTANDABLE." IT WAS UNJUSTIFIED IN LIGHT OF WHAT WE KNOW NOW AND UNJUSTIFIED IN LIGHT OF WHAT ANYONE WHO WANTED TO SEE THE SITUATION CLEARLY COULD SEE AT THE TIME. THE INTERNMENT WAS A MISTAKE, AN ACT OF PREJUDICE AND FEAR. THIS WHOLE NATION WAS AND STILL IS SHAMED BY IT.

YES; IT WAS A TIME OF GREAT NATIONAL STRESS. BUT MORAL PRINCIPLES AND RULES OF LAW ARE EASY TO UPHOLD IN PLACID TIMES. BUT DO THESE PRINCIPLES STAND UP IN TIMES OF GREAT DIFFICULTY AND STRESS? THAT IS THE TEST OF A GREAT NATION: CAN IT STAND BY ITS LAWS AND CODES EVEN WHILE THREATENED? SADLY, WE AS A NATION FAILED THAT TEST IN 1942.

CHISELED IN THE MARBLE OVER THE ENTRANCE OF OUR SUPREME COURT, IT DOES NOT SAY "EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW EXCEPT WHEN THINGS GET STICKY." IF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL PROMISES OF EQUAL TREATMENT AND DUE PROCESS MEAN WHAT THEY SAY, THEN THERE CAN BE NO EXCUSE FOR THE INTERNMENT. WHAT HAD I DONE THAT MADE ME SO THREATENING TO MY GOVERNMENT? MURDERERS, ARSONISTS, EVEN ASSASSINS, AND SPIES GET TRIALS. BUT NOT YOUNG BOYS BORN AND RAISED IN SAN JOSE, CA, WHO HAPPEN TO HAVE ODD SOUNDING LAST NAMES. IS THAT WHAT THIS NATION IS ABOUT?

CONGRESS ENACTED LEGISLATION IN 1942 TO IMPLEMENT THE INTERNMENT, AND IT IS NOW UP TO CONGRESS TO DEMONSTRATE OUR NATIONAL CAPACITY FOR JUSTICE AND WISDOM. LET US SHOW THE STRENGTH OF OUR NATION AND OUR SYSTEM OF LAWS BY ADMITTING THE ERRORS OF 1942, APOLOGIZING FOR THOSE ERRORS, AND MAKING SOME EFFORTS TOWARD REDRESSING THE DAMAGE WE HAVE DONE. MOREOVER, LET US STATE CLEARLY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY OUR COMMITMENT THAT SUCH A WHOLESALE ABUSE OF CIVIL RIGHTS WILL NEVER AGAIN HAPPEN IN THIS LAND.

WE IN CONGRESS BEGAN THIS PROCESS OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WITH THE CREATION IN 1980 OF THE COMMISSION ON WARTIME RELOCATION AND INTERNMENT OF CIVILIANS.

FOLLOWING THEIR EXCELLENT HISTORICAL STUDY, THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDED APPROPRIATE REMEDIES FOR THE INJUSTICES OF THE INTERNMENT. THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE THE BASIS OF THE BILL BEING INTRODUCED TODAY.

IN BRIEF, THESE RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE A NATIONAL APOLOGY; MEASURES TO CORRECT LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS THAT WERE PART OF THE NATION'S DISCRIMINATORY ACTIVITIES AT THAT TIME; THE CREATION OF A CIVIL LIBERTIES PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND FOR EDUCATIONAL AND COMMUNITY PROJECTS; AND THE PAYMENT FROM THAT FUND OF $20,000 TO EACH SURVIVING INTERNEE.

SIMILAR RECOMMENDATIONS WERE ALSO MADE BY THE COMMISSION TO REDRESS THE DAMAGES DONE TO THE NATIVE ALEUTS WHO WERE EVACUATED FROM THEIR ISLANDS IN 1942. THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE THE BASIS FOR THE ALEUT PROVISIONS OF THIS LEGISLATION, WHICH PARALLEL THE PROVISIONS OF S. 2116 OF THE 98TH CONGRESS.

I LOOK FORWARD TO DISCUSSING THESE RECOMMENDATIONS IN DETAIL WITH MY COLLEAGUES. I BELIEVE THEY CONSTITUTE A FAIR, BALANCED, AND REASONABLE PACKAGE.

IN SPEAKING ABOUT THE INTERNMENT, OUR DISTIGUISHED MAJORITY LEADER HAD IN THE PAST QUOTED ABRAHAM LINCOLN. LET ME IN CLOSING REPEAT THAT PASSAGE.

"THOSE WHO WOULD DENY FREEDOM TO OTHERS DO NOT DESERVE IT THEMSELVES, AND, UNDER A JUST GOD, THEY WILL NOT RETAIN IT LONG." THANK YOU.

SUMMARY OF H.R. 442

CONGRESS ACKNOWLEDGES THE FUNDAMENTAL INJUSTICE OF THE INTERNMENT, APOLOGIZES FOR IT, AND SEEKS TO PREVENT THE REOCCURRENCE OF ANY SIMILAR EVENTS.

AS REGARDS AMERICANS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY

1. ON BEHALF OF THE NATION, THE CONGRESS APOLOGIZES TO THOSE AMERICANS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY WHO WERE INTERNED.

2. THE PRESIDENT IS REQUESTED TO OFFER PARDONS TO THOSE CONVICTED OF VIOLATING LAWS DURING THE INTERNMENT PERIOD, WHOSE VIOLATION WAS BASED ON A REFUSSAL TO ACCEPT RACIALLY DISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT.

3. WHEN REVIEWING REQUESTS FOR REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE RULINGS RELATING TO THE INTERNMENT, EXECUTIVE AGENCIES ARE ASKED TO REVIEW SUCH CASES WITH LIBERALITY, GIVING FULL CONSIDERATION TO THE FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSION AND CONGRESS.

4. A TRUST FUND FO $1.5 BILLION IS AUTHORIZED FOR EDUCATIONAL AND HUMANITARIAN PURPOSES, AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS CREATED TO MANAGE THE FUND.

5. OUT OF THE TRUST FUND, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SHALL PAY $20,000 IN COMPENSATION TO EACH SURVIVING INTERNEE.

AS REGARDS AMERICANS OF ALEUT ANCESTRY

1. A TRUST FUND OF $5 MILLION IS AUTHORIZED FOR COMMUNITY, EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAMS BENEFITTING THE ALEUTS, AND A BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS CREATED TO MANAGE THE FUND.

2. EACH OF THE SURVIVORS OF THE ALEUT INTERMENT SHALL RECEIVE $12,000 IN COMPENSATION.

3. CHURCHES AND COMMUNITY CENTERS DESTROYED IN WORLD WAR II SHALL BE REBUILT.

4. HAZARDOUS DEBRIS REMAINING FROM WORLD WAR II SHALL BE CLEARED AWAY FROM THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS.

5. THE ISLAND OF ATTU SHALL BE RETURNED TO THE NATIVE CORPORATION, PROVIDED THAT THE COAST GUARD WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE ITS USE OF THE ISLAND.