To provide for the preservation of the historic confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to finally bring this bill to the floor because it puts a closing note on what was to a very great extent my upbringing in California with personal friends through the 40s and the 50s. In addition to that, I had the honor and pleasure of serving in the California Assembly with Floyd Mori.

As was mentioned by the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), Norm Mineta and Bob Matsui, and Floyd were Nisei, American born, first generation. Their parents are known as Issei, those who came over from Japan. Their grandchildren are Sansei. And it does mark a period in our history where native-born American citizens were in essence rounded up.

I got to know it personally, but as I went through school and I went through constitutional law classes and looked at Korematsu v. United States, I realized that the majority's opinion in Korematsu was written by Justice Hugo Black, who is known probably as one of the premier First Amendment-freedom Justices on the Court; and it underscored the extent that this concept permeated American society.

I am very, very grateful to the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) and his committee that voted this bill out unanimously, notwithstanding the fact that we have created a separate fund which will help pay for, in a public-private match, to preserve what is rapidly slipping away since these internment camps were for obvious reasons in rural areas across mostly western United States. I am most familiar with Manzanar which is in Inyo County, and I have represented Inyo County for more than a decade in the Congress. And we were able to preserve that in a location fairly close to Southern California.

But in working with my friend and former colleague, Floyd Mori, in looking at where these locations are in Utah, Wyoming, other States, we realized that just the ongoing growth and partial urbanization of these areas would forever cover up these particular sites.

It is not so much that I think people are ashamed of them. I think they are principally ignorant of them. And whether it is desire to forget out of knowledge or ignorance, neither one is acceptable. So I am very pleased that Leadership has allowed us to move today a very modest approach, quite rightly unifying public and private where appropriate under what circumstances, working with those people who are in the area, and in some instances Indian tribes, to allow those who are still alive and have memories to pass them on to the young ones. And for those of us who take trips across the country to visit sites, there are several different reasons, but probably first and foremost is that great people, and I believe Americans are great people, can make mistakes. What you need to do is admit it and remember it and do not make it again. And for that reason it is very fulfilling that this bill is before us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1492. I greatly appreciate the House's consideration of this important legislation as well as the assistance Chairman Pombo, Representatives Doris Matsui, Mike Honda, and Devin Nunes have provided to develop it and bring it to the floor today.

Very simply, this legislation is a modest effort to provide the structure and resources necessary for citizens, schools, communities, and others to undertake projects in order to preserve and interpret an aspect of American history that many, quite frankly, would much prefer to ignore or never know. Nations, as do people, have the opportunity to recognize their mistakes and use the lessons learned from those mistakes to improve themselves. However, to do so, the mistake must not only be recognized, the lesson must be learned and remembered.

The United States of America has recognized the terrible mistake it made between 1942 and 1945, when pursuant to Executive Order 9066, over 120,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and detained in government assembly and then relocation centers. Moreover, this mistake taught the United States that racial prejudice and wartime hysteria do not justify the denial of human dignity and the fundamental freedoms afforded by the U.S. Constitution. Thus, the legislation before the House today is designed to help ensure the United States and, more importantly, its citizens, never forget the lesson learned from this mistake.

Those who do not know the facts of this aspect of American history are undoubtedly quite surprised to learn that the U.S. Government, while rightly fighting to preserve freedom throughout the world, on March 2, 1942, wrongly declared over 100 areas in the States of Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington as ``prohibited areas'' to those of Japanese ancestry. While thousands of people voluntarily moved out of these prohibited areas, thousands more who wanted to voluntarily leave the prohibited areas could not, either because their assets had been frozen at the beginning of the war or because other States were unwilling to accept them as residents.

On March 24, 1942, the U.S. Army began to evacuate residents of the prohibited areas; the evacuees included newborns, children, even those who had been adopted by non-Japanese parents, and the elderly. Sadly, those being evacuated were given just 6 days notice and, as they could only take those items the family could carry, were forced to dispose of nearly all of their possessions, often for ridiculously small sums. In addition, and of particular importance in California, people were not given the opportunity to harvest their crops; in fact, the only act of ``sabotage'' by a Japanese-American occurred when a farmer plowed his strawberry crop under when his request for the opportunity to harvest it was denied.

As they waited to be transported to one of 10 ``relocation centers,'' the evacuees were temporarily housed in 17 assembly centers in Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington, 12 of which were in California. One of those 12 was located at the Tulare County Fairgrounds in Tulare, CA, which I formerly represented. The assembly centers were surrounded by barbed wire fences, which were patrolled by military police, and consisted of hastily constructed military barracks, with separate communal bathrooms and dining halls. However, thousands of people, including 8,500 at Santa Anita alone, lived in horse stables at the Santa Anita and Tanforan assembly centers in California.

By the end of October, the evacuees were moved by train into one of the following 10 relocation centers or internment sites: Jerome and Rohwer in Arkansas; Colorado River--Poston--and Gila River in Arizona; Tule Lake and Manzanar in California; Granada in Colorado; Minidoka in Idaho; Heart Mountain in Wyoming; and Central Utah--Topaz. Like the assembly centers, the relocation centers were surrounded by barbed wire fences but also had guard towers. The centers were designed to be self- contained and self-sustaining communities, and like the assembly centers, they primarily featured barracks-type housing. In addition, the relocation centers were dusty, muddy, and often subject to extreme temperatures. Finally, the use of the Japanese language was restricted.

In December 1944, the U.S. Government announced the relocation centers would be closed within a year. While nine closed before the end of 1945, Tule Lake was not closed until May 1946 because it continued to hold those who had renounced their U.S. citizenship. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the Government provided only minimal assistance to those who it had wrongfully detained as they left the centers to rebuild their lives.

As I have stated, the U.S. Government has admitted its mistake in this instance. It has sought to make some degree of recompense to those evacuated by paying reparations and issuing a formal apology; a memorial has been constructed in Washington, DC, within sight of the Capitol. In addition, six of the relocation centers are listed on the National Register, Manzanar and the cemetery at Rowher are National Historic Landmarks, and Minidoka is a National Monument. As a result of legislation--P.L. 102-248-- I cosponsored and

worked with my former colleague Representative Mel Levine to enact, Manzanar, which I formerly represented, has been established as a National Historic Site. With regard to the assembly centers, seven, including the one in Tulare, do not have some form of marker or plaque to remind future generations of our past wrong.

While the legislation before the House today certainly is designed to authorize the funding necessary to facilitate projects that involve bricks and mortar--for example, the construction of a museum at Granada or the stabilization of a hospital chimney at Heart Mountain--its intent is not to completely reconstruct or restore the infrastructure at every relocation site or assembly center for the sake of show and tell. Rather, the legislation is designed to be as flexible as possible in recognition of the wide differences in the current conditions at the pertinent sites of historic significance, as well as to allow for grantees to conduct a wide variety of projects in many different forms to ensure the lesson taught by the sites is preserved forever. For instance, a project could be as simple as a citizens' group buying and placing a plaque on a stable; another could involve an effort by students to collect, preserve, and interpret the memories of surviving evacuees, a generation we are rapidly losing.

This flexibility is necessary and recognizes that the only common thread that binds the sites related to the confinement of Japanese- Americans is Executive Order 9066. As with each of the 50 States, which are bound together by the U.S. Constitution, each of the sites has its own unique history and characteristics. Thus, the preservation projects needed that would be undertaken with monies authorized under H.R. 1492 necessarily must be unique to the individual sites.

The legislation provides the U.S. Secretary of the Interior with the flexibility to approve projects related to sites other than the 10 relocation and 17 assembly centers. An example of such a site is the Crystal City World War II Alien Family Internment Camp in Texas, which was run by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and which housed Japanese immigrants and nationals sent to the United States from Latin America.

It is important to note that, upon request, I have included limitations in this legislation. Specifically, the legislation contains a 25 percent non-Federal match requirement, a cap on the amount of monies authorized, and a sunset. The legislation also limits the use of these Federal funds to acquire private property to just four locations--Jerome, Rohwer, Topaz, and Honouliuli--and further requires the written consent of the pertinent private property owners.

Finally, it is fitting that we are considering this legislation as we return from observing Veterans Day as the segregated Japanese-American 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which had a total of 25,000 men during the war, together became the most decorated combat unit for its size in U.S. history. In fact, the men who served in this unit were awarded 8 presidential unit citations, 9,486 Purple Hearts, and 18,143 individual decorations, including 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, the second-highest award for valor. Moreover, the only Japanese-American World War II veteran awarded the Medal of Honor during the war, PFC Sadao Munemori, earned his citation on April 5, 1945, when he dove on a hand grenade to save the lives of two of his comrades during the Po Valley Campaign in Italy. Poignantly, at the time of his death, Munemori's mother and brother were interned at Manzanar.

Accordingly, I now ask that you join with me to pass this important legislation, not just to honor Private First Class Munemori, not just to honor those interned, but to ensure that the United States does not forget and repeat the grievous mistake it made.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1492, which I am truly honored, especially representing Hawaii, the State with the highest number of Americans of Japanese ancestry, to cosponsor.

I, like others, express my deepest appreciation on behalf not only of our AJAs, but all Americans, to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda), the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui), the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), for bringing this vital measure before the people's House.

The internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II is a tragic and shameful chapter in our history, replete with misunderstanding by too many and courage by too few. Although AJAs on the U.S. mainland, particularly the west coast, bore the brunt of this national mistake, Japanese-Americans throughout our country were affected.

After Pearl Harbor, about 10,000 people in Hawaii were investigated, and almost 1,500, mostly AJAs, were detained on all of Hawaii's main islands. The principal camps were at Sand Island and Honouliuli on Oahu. I attach to these remarks a compelling article from the June 2, 2004, Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporting the remembrances of some of Hawaii's surviving detainees.

Mr. Speaker, it is right and appropriate that we provide for permanent memorials of this difficult time, when good people did bad things out of fear and ignorance. I especially appreciate that among these memorials will be Honouliuli, so that the people of Hawaii and elsewhere may put a place and a reality to the words of Harry Urata, of Hawaii, who said: ``They made a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes. But don't repeat that.''

Mahalo.

[From the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 2, 2004]

The WWII Internments--``A Sad Time . . . A Challenging Time''

(By Rosemarie Bernardo)

In March 1943, FBI agents arrived at the Honolulu Planning

Mill in Kakaako where Shozo Takahashi worked as a woodworker.

Authorities issued Takahashi a warrant for his arrest, but

allowed him to go home to pick up some of his belongings. His

brother and wife dropped him off at the FBI office, where he

was questioned.

Takahashi was then taken to the immigration station, where

he was photographed and fingerprinted. All the while, he

wondered what he had done to be treated like a criminal.

But it would take the federal government 45 years to tell

Takahashi why it detained him at the Honouliuli internment

camp.

An exhibit will open Saturday at the Japanese Cultural

Center of Hawaii, 2454 S. Beretania St., telling the story of

Takahashi and other Japanese Americans who were detained at

internment camps in Hawaii during Word War II.

Takahashi and other former internees are expected to attend

the opening from 1 to 3 p.m.

``Dark Clouds Over Paradise: The Hawaii Internees Story''

will be displayed in the center's community gallery Tuesdays

through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until July 31.

Admission is free.

Many people are not familiar with the history of Japanese

Americans who were held in internment camps in Hawaii, said

Keiko Bonk, president and executive director of the Japanese

Cultural Center.

The detained Japanese ``had to ask themselves these serious

questions of who they were and where they belong and how

these things could be happening to them,'' Bonk said.

``It was quite a sad time, as well as a challenging time

for the Japanese community,'' she said.

The Japanese have to speak and educate people about the

injustices, Bonk added.

About 10,000 people in Hawaii were investigated shortly

after the Pearl Harbor attack. Buddhist priests, ministers,

Japanese school principals and community leaders were

detained on the night of Dec. 7, 1941. Within two years, the

FBI picked up a number of kibei--Japanese Americans who moved

to Japan during their youth to obtain an education and later

returned to the United States. An estimated 1,250 Japanese

Americans were detained in Hawaii during the war.

Japanese Americans, along with some Germans and Italians,

were held at internment camps on Maui, Kauai and the Big

Island before they were transported to a Sand Island camp in

May 1942. Officials later decided that detainees should be

held inland to avoid the possibility of an attack.

Detainees were taken to Honouliuli in Leeward Oahu on March

1, 1943. Takahashi said they were treated well.

``We all cooperate, no trouble,'' said Takahashi, whose

wife, Yuriko, assisted as an interpreter.

He noted that detainees had the opportunity to do various

jobs in the camp to earn coupons at 10 cents an hour.

Takahashi said he and another man counted spoons before and

after meals after they had heard that a detainee at Sand

Island had sharpened a spoon into the shape of a knife in an

attempt to commit suicide.

``If we miss some, gotta go all over,'' Takahashi said.

Takahashi said he took English classes, played his violin

and attended Christian services on Sundays, when he prayed

for the war to end.

At Honouliuli, Takahashi met Harry Urata, and the two

became friends.

Yuriko Takahashi, who remained in Kaimuki, sent Takahashi a

fingerprint of their first daughter, who was born in October

1943. In his excitement, Takahashi showed it to Urata. It was

only then when Urata learned that Takahashi's wife was his

former coworker.

A year later, Takahashi went on a conditional release from

Honouliuli. He was required to report to authorities once a

month until he was let go in February 1945.

Takahashi, a kibei who was educated, underwent ROTC

training and taught in Japan for 24 years before he returned

to Hawaii, wrote to the government in 1988 and requested a

copy of his internment records.

A report cited in Takahashi's 1992 autobiography ``An

Autobiography of a Kibei-Nisei'' stated he had dual

citizenship and had ``never attempted to be expatriated.'' It

further stated that he lived in Japan for more than 20 years,

where he attended school, received military training and

taught students for four years. It also mentioned that he

was a Japanese-language teacher in Honolulu for three

years.

Takahashi said the authorities thought he was pro-Japanese.

Both Takahashi and Urata, who were born in Hawaii, had

taught at the Waialae Japanese Language School at different

times before the war started.

After the internment, Takahashi worked as a carpenter with

his brother-in-law. He later returned to teaching at Japanese

schools in Honolulu, had two more children and built a house

for his family in Kaimuki, where he and his wife still live.

Takahashi, now 89, continues to take English classes once a

week.

In March 1943, Urata was called to the principal's office

at Mid-Pacific Institute, where two FBI officers were

waiting.

The officers questioned Urata for two days before he was

taken to the immigration station, where he was held for two

weeks in a shack surrounded by a barbed-wire fence.

He joined other Japanese Americans, many of them issei

(first-generation Japanese), at Honouliuli. Urata read books

in English and Japanese, played his guitar and sang songs to

occupy his time. He also played baseball, practiced kendo and

cut kiawe bushes outside the camp, which was also surrounded

by a barbed-wire fence.

``You get to go out from the wire, fresh air,'' Urata said.

While he was being held in Honouliuli, Urata said he often

wondered why he was detained because he was an American

citizen.

``Everytime I used to think like that inside the camp. I

thought it was a mistake,'' Urata said.

Urata speculated he was held at the camp because he was a

kibei who left for Japan when he was 6 and returned to Hawaii

13 years later.

Urata said he was among 69 men who were sent to the Tule

Lake internment camp from

Honouliuli in November 1944 after he described himself as

being ``hardheaded.''

After he was released from Tule Lake, he taught Japanese at

the University of Minnesota for a couple of months before

returning to Honolulu in December 1945, the year the war

ended.

Urata opened a music studio in Palama, where he taught

piano, guitar and voice lessons to generations of students.

His studio moved to a few other locations before it settled

in its current location in downtown Honolulu. He later

married and continues to give voice lessons.

More than four decades later, Takahashi, Urata and

thousands of former surviving internees each received a

$20,000 reparation check and a letter of apology from the

U.S. government for its injustice toward Japanese Americans

during the war.

Urata, 85, said he is not bitter about his experience.

``They made mistakes,'' Urata said. ``Everybody makes

mistakes. But don't repeat that.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 10:30 a.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to hear testimony on ``Health Care Coverage for Small Business: Challenges and Opportunities.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 2:30 p.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to hear testimony on ``Saving for the 21st Century: Is America Saving Enough to be Competitive in the Global Marketplace?''.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 2 p.m. to hold a hearing on Nominations.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 10 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226.

I. Nominations

Norman Randy Smith, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit; Steven G. Bradbury, to be an Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel; Timothy Anthony Junker, to be United States Marshal for the Northern District of Iowa.

II. Bills

S. 489, Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act, Alexander, Kyl, Cornyn, Graham, Hatcher;

S. 2039, Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2005, Durbin, Specter, DeWine, Leahy, Kennedy, Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer;

S. 2292, A bill to provide relief for the Federal judiciary from excessive rent charges, Specter, Leahy, Cornyn, Feinstein, Biden;

S. 2453, National Security Surveillance Act of 2006, Specter;

S. 2455, Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006, DeWine, Graham;

S. 2468, A bill to provide standing for civil actions for declaratory and injunctive relief to persons who refrain from electronic communications through fear of being subject to warrantless electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes, and for other purposes, Schumer.

III. Matters

S.J. Res. 1, Marriage Protection Amendment, Allard, Sessions, Kyl, Hatch, Cornyn, Coburn, Brownback;

S. Res. 398, A resolution relating to the censure of George W. Bush, Feingold.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Orphan Works: Proposals for a Legislative Solution'' on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 2 p.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Panel I: Jule L. Sigall, Associate Register for Policy & International Affairs, U.S. Copyright Office, Washington, DC; Victor S. Perlman, Managing Director and General Counsel, American Society of Media Photographers, Inc., Philadelphia, PA; June Cross, Documentary Filmmaker, Visiting Professor, Columbia University, New York, NY; Brad Holland, Founding Board Member, Illustrators' Partnership of America, Marshfield, MA; Maria Pallante-Hyun, Associate General Counsel and Director of Licensing, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (Guggenheim Museum), New York, NY; Thomas C. Rubin, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, VA; Rick Prelinger, Board President, Internet Archive, San Francisco, CA.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 6, 2006, for a committee hearing to examine the VA's 5-year capital construction plan. The hearing will take place in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building at 2 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 6, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. to hold a closed briefing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet tomorrow, April 6, 2006, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. in Dirksen 106 for the purpose of conducting a hearing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security be authorized to meet on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. for a hearing regarding ``The Effectiveness of the Small Business Administration.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on National Parks be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 6 at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to recent testimony on the following bills: S. 1510, a bill to designate as wilderness certain lands within the Rocky Mountain National Park in the State of Colorado; S. 1719 and H.R. 1492, bills to provide for the preservation of the historic confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II, and for other purposes; S. 1957, a bill to authorize the Secretary of Interior to convey to the Missouri River Basin Lewis and Clark Interpretive Trail and Visitor Center Foundation, Inc. certain Federal land associated with the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail in Nebraska, to be used as an historical interpretive site along the trail; S. 2024 and H.R. 394, bills to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to evaluate the significance of the Colonel James Barrett Farm in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and assess the suitability and feasibility of including the farm in the National Park System as part of the Minute Man National Historic Park, and for other purposes; S. 2252, a bill to designate the National Museum of Wildlife Art, located at 2820 Rungius Road, Jackson, WY, as the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States; and S. 2403, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to include in the boundaries of the Grand Teton National Park land and interests in land of the Grand Teton Park subdivision, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Seapower be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 6, 2006, at 2:30 p.m., in open session to receive testimony on Navy shipbuilding in review of the defense authorization request for fiscal year 2007.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 6, 2006, at 3:30 p.m., in open session to receive testimony on military space programs in review of the defense authorization request for fiscal year 2007.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the National Ocean Policy Study be authorized to meet on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 10 a.m., on Offshore Aquaculture.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in full support of H.R. 1492, a bill to provide for the preservation of historic internment facilities where our fellow Americans who happened to be of Japanese ancestry were detained during World War II.

I also want to especially commend my colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), for his leadership and commitment for authoring this important legislation, in recognizing the need for some kind of a program to identify and provide a historic recognition of these so-called relocation camps or internment camps, I call them concentration camps, where well over 100,000 men, women and children, all Americans who happened to be of Japanese ancestry, all within the borders of our own country, were forced to move into these camps that were, in actuality, more like prison camps. Their homes and properties were confiscated without any compensation and certainly without any due process of law.

Despite all of this, and I want to share this with my colleagues if they do not know this, tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans requested to join our military to fight for our country during World War II. It was at the recommendation of George Marshall to President Roosevelt that we should establish a military force composed of these Japanese-Americans. That was the result of our establishing the 100th Battalion and 442nd Infantry groups who fought for our country in Europe against the Nazi Germans.

History documents the bravery of these Japanese Americans I submit, Mr. Speaker. The military records of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Infantry are without equal. These units received over 18,000 individual declarations, many awarded posthumously, for courage in the field of battle; 9,480 Purple Hearts; 560 Silver Stars; 52 Distinguished Service Crosses; and only one Medal of Honor. I submit, Mr. Speaker, something was wrong here, one Medal of Honor. The 442nd combat group emerged as the most decorated combat unit of its size ever in the history of the United States Army.

Because of the tremendous sacrifices made by Japanese-American soldiers and African-Americans during World War II, President Truman was so moved by this that he issued an Executive Order to desegregate our Armed Forces.

I am proud to say that the Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, the senior Senator from the State of Hawaii, and the late highly respected Senator Spark Matsunaga of Hawaii were among those who distinguished themselves in battle as soldiers of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Infantry.

It was while fighting in Europe that Senator Inouye lost his arm while engaged in battle. After congressional mandate to review the military records of our Japanese-American veterans, I was privileged to attend the White House ceremony officiated by then-President Clinton that provided an additional 19 Congressional Medals of Honor to these Japanese Americans. I submit, Mr. Speaker, how beautiful it is to see justice, including for Senator Inouye who was also awarded with the Congressional Medal of Honor.

When the patriotic survivors of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Infantry returned to the United States, many were reunited with their parents and brothers and sisters in these relocation camps. I do not even know if I could have done what they did. Despite all the hatred and the bigotry, the racism that was heaped upon these Americans, when they came back, they could not even get a haircut in San Francisco simply because they were Japanese-Americans. Full with their decorations and a uniform, they could not even get a haircut in San Francisco simply because they were Japanese.

I believe these sites must be preserved because they remind us to be vigilant, never to forget what happens if we allow our judgments to be clouded by bigotry and racism. Preserving these sites is how great America can truly be for our mistakes rather than sweeping them under the rug, and we learn from our mistakes in order to move to closer equality for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I wish I did not have to call myself a Pacific American or Japanese-American or African-American. I have not heard anybody refer to themselves as European American or French-Americans. I do not know why we are forced into this kind of a situation. I would just like to say we are all Americans. I hate these labels. I wish we could have done a better job.

I thank my dear friend for allowing me the time. I want to especially commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda), my colleague and Chairman of our Asia Pacific Congressional Caucus, and also the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Matsui), Mr. John Tateishi, the National Director of the Japanese-American League and my good friend, Floyd Mori, the Washington representative for JACL.

I want to share this point with my colleagues and the public about what happened.

I remember a former colleague and Member of this House for many years, my good friend, Secretary Norm Mineta, an 11-year-old in these camps. They had these machine gun nests posted all over the camps, and he was telling me this story. We asked, well, why do you have these machine guns around the camp? He said, they are to protect you from invaders coming in from outside. He said, if that is true, how come the machine guns are pointed all inside the camp?

Mr. Speaker, I think this bill is well-deserved of consideration and approval by our colleagues here, and again, I want to commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), my good friend, for his leadership in getting this bill in, and I sincerely hope that the Members of this institution will approve this legislation.

Again, I thank my good friend for allowing me this additional minute to say these things.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1492) to provide for the preservation of the historic confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1492, introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), would establish a grant program within the Department of the Interior to protect, preserve, and interpret historic confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II.

While there are two units in the National Park System that recognize the internment period, Manzanar National Historic Site and Minidoka Internment National Monument, there are many who believe other internment sites should also be preserved short of becoming a unit of the National Park System.

This bill would further that purpose by providing Federal funds with a partial private match. I urge adoption of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas).

(Mr. THOMAS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega).

(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion of the debate on this bill, I appreciate my colleagues across the aisle and the wonderful heartfelt comments that have been made. It is deeply moving to hear some of the personal testimonies, and when the gentleman from Samoa spoke saying he wished he were not referred to as a Pacific American, I was reminded of the events immediately after 9/11. Such a horrible evil thing when evil people filled with hate wanting to destroy innocent Americans came and crashed into our buildings, leaving so many devastated and destroyed and killed.

But I recall the day after 9/11, and like that flower that grows after a terrible event, so many all over America held hands and sang songs. I remember the day after that event there were no hyphenated Americans in the United States anywhere. We were all Americans. And that was one of the few things that we came away from. What a wonderful thing. Race did not matter. Background, socioeconomic conditions did not matter. We were Americans, and we were proud to be Americans.

The other comment that has been made that should be highlighted is that it is important to learn from our mistakes, and that is one of the great things about America. It is one of the very few nations in this world that will stand up and say, you know what, we made a mistake and we are going to fix it. We are going to notice it.

Some say Satchel Paige made the quote that often is used: ``Don't look back. They may be gaining on you.'' But I read that he also had a quote later in life: ``It's okay to look back. Just don't stare.'' This bill will allow us to look back, see that we made a mistake, and make sure that it is corrected.

With regard to our troops that come home from Iraq and Afghanistan who are doing the service of this country, it is important also that we learn from our mistakes, and without regard to race, creed, sex, gender, socioeconomic conditions, we welcome them home; we thank them for their bravery.

In the meantime, this is a good bill. We urge the passage of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.