Recognizing the significance of the 65th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and supporting the goals of the Japanese American, German American, and Italian American communities in recognizing a National Day of Remembrance to increase public awareness of the events surrounding the restriction, exclusion, and internment of individuals and families during World War II.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise today in support of H. Res. 122. I also want to thank the House leadership on both sides, as well as Chairman Conyers, for their leadership in steering this measure to the floor today. While the resolution addresses events from our past, there is much that we can learn from our history, as has been stated by our friend Mr. Issa.

This is a resolution recognizing the 65th anniversary of the Day of Remembrance and supporting the goals of the Japanese American community in recognizing a National Day of Remembrance to increase public awareness of the events surrounding the restriction, exclusion and internment of all persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

The resolution also recognizes that many in the German and Italian communities experienced deprivations during this time as well.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of President Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, and the 19th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which was signed into law by President Reagan.

In 1942, some 120,000 people were rounded up in this country, primarily from the west coast, and incarcerated. Families were torn apart. Hardworking people had to sell their businesses for pennies on the dollar and their personal properties. Everything these people worked so hard for evaporated overnight.

I spent part of my childhood in a camp in southeast Colorado, an internment camp called Amache. H. Res. 122 also recognizes that many in the German and the Italian communities experienced deprivation during this period as well: public humiliation, detention and, at times, deportation.

In 1942, on the domestic front, our political leaders failed. Therefore, today we must work to educate the public about the internment of Americans in order to prevent similar injustices to be forced upon anyone in this country. Our civil liberties have not been in as much risk since World War II, and this time we, as political leaders, cannot fail.

True to the democratic process, our Nation has been able to look back and admit errors from its past. I can think of no greater evidence to show why the United States, with all its flaws, still is looked to worldwide as the Nation with the strongest and the fairest form of government.

By admitting that the government did wrong in its treatment of its citizens and legal residents who were aliens during World War II, Congress and the President reaffirmed our Nation's commitment to the principles founded in the Constitution.

However, we must always be vigilant in the protection of our civil liberties, and in this time of tension as we wage a war against terrorism, we must again reaffirm our commitment to the principles in the Constitution.

While national security is always a paramount concern for those of us making the laws, as well as executing and interpreting the laws, we see that there are those in government who continue to pursue policies once again that target our civil liberties.

The whole point of the Day of Remembrance resolution is about learning. It is about being persistent about the lessons that we have learned from the American of Japanese ancestry, experience that is really an American lesson on the Constitution and is also a lesson of the American character where, upon reconciliation, there is a healing.

There is a healing among not only those who were incarcerated, but there is also healing among those who were affected but maybe not necessarily incarcerated. So victims are both those who were directly victimized and those who were indirectly victimized by the misdeeds of our government.

Also, the further learning, when we talk about the Day of Remembrance, is that other communities get to reflect upon their own experience at that time and project into the future when this kind of thing should happen again.

As a teacher, I want to reemphasize the necessity for this type of resolution as it continues to teach us the old maxim that those of us who do not learn from the mistakes of our past are doomed to repeat them.

In today's current light, I want to underscore that national security is my highest priority. It is our government's highest priority, and I support efforts to fight our war against terrorism. But we must also understand that in doing so, we do not again have a failure among our political leadership. We must not give in to war hysteria. We must not fall back to racial prejudice, discrimination and unlawful profiling.

It is critical and important, more than ever, to speak up against possible unjust policies that may come before this body. It is critical that we educate all Americans of the Japanese American experience during World War II, as well as the experience of other Americans, like the Japanese Latin Americans.

These people were extricated from Latin America, brought over here, had their documents taken away from them, thus becoming individuals without a country, to be used as pawns in exchange for POWs in the Pacific theater. As this resolution does, we must also remember the experiences of our comrades of the German and Italian Americans who were also victimized.

In order to learn the important lessons from our own history, I introduced H. Res. 122, the Day of Remembrance resolution, here in this body. I cannot emphasize enough that the lessons of those dark days are more important than ever. Remembering Executive Order 9066, signed on February 19, 1942, rescinded on February 19, 1976, and the reconciliation brought by the redress legislation signed on August 10, 1988, are still instructive to us today.

There is a maturity in this country that I am very proud of. This maturity

says that we can learn from our mistakes of the past and we can also teach to other of our lessons that we have learned. We have learned that the Executive Order 9066 was not signed out of military necessity. It was not signed out of national security. It was not signed out of personal safety and security of the Japanese Americans, but, as the Commission on Wartime Internment and Relocation of Civilians concluded, that it was a result of racial prejudice, war hysteria and the failure of political leadership.

The experiences from 1942, applied to our situation in this post-9/ 11, show us that the Constitution of this country is never tested in times of tranquility. Rather, our Constitution is always tested in times of trauma, tragedy, terrorism and tension, that the very principles of our Constitution continuously need to be taught until it is ingrained in our own character, so that every decision we make as a citizen, as adults, as children, as students, and as policymakers, that we will always be true to the principles of our Constitution.

The foundation of these ingrained principles is the light that draws people from around this world to overcome any obstacle to come to this country and be part of this society. The word is out around the world that this Nation will protect individual rights against even the most powerful in its government. The protection of our Constitution is what our forefathers and our veterans have shed their blood and sacrificed their limbs and lives for, in order that our Constitution may live and really be reflected in every action that we have, not only in this body but by every action of every citizen of this great country, so as to, or stated in the Preamble of the Constitution, in order to form a more perfect union.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 122) recognizing the significance of the 65th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and supporting the goals of the Japanese American, German American, and Italian American communities in recognizing a National Day of Remembrance to increase public awareness of the events surrounding the restriction, exclusion, and internment of individuals and families during World War II.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 122.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, but no more than 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in favor of House Resolution 122. Sixty- five years ago, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, leading to the detention of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans. They were forced to live in isolated camps, to sell or lease their property, often at huge losses, and to give up their businesses and livelihoods. The freedom and civil liberties of Italian and German Americans were also violated during World War II by measures that branded them enemy aliens and went as far as restricting their movement and seizing their personal property. Thirty years passed before Executive Order 9066 was formally rescinded in 1976.

House Resolution 122 recognizes the devastating impact of that executive order. The resolution also supports and commends the efforts of the Japanese, Italian and German American communities in recognizing a National Day of Remembrance for their history of restriction, exclusion and internment during World War II. The failure of our political and judicial system to prevent the injustices against them still reverberates today.

The decision to intern Japanese Americans was based not on evidence, but rather on fear and panic. In 1980, Congress established a Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. That commission, after conducting 20 days of hearings and receiving testimony from over 750 witnesses, concluded that Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity, but resulted from ``race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.''

In 1988, Congress enacted, and I was proud to be here and a part of that fight, the Civil Liberties Act to formally acknowledge and apologize for violations of fundamental civil liberties and constitutional rights of these Japanese Americans.

In 2000, President Clinton signed the Wartime Violation of Italian Americans Civil Liberties Act, which formally acknowledged civil liberty violations against Italian Americans.

The most honorable and principled way to show respect to those Americans who suffered injustices during World War II is to dedicate ourselves to fighting for the fundamental American principles of liberty of which their mistreatment remains to this day a glaring reminder.

Once again, I want to join with my colleagues in recognizing the very important work of the Japanese American, the German American and the Italian American communities in raising awareness of the National Day of Remembrance, and to particularly commend Representative Honda for his efforts in bringing this resolution to the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 7\1/2\ minutes to the sponsor of the resolution, the chief sponsor of the resolution, the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda).

Before yielding to our next speaker, I just want to associate myself with the comments of Mr. Honda and Mr. Issa. For one who remembers some of the key figures in this terrible tragedy, President Roosevelt; Justice William Douglas, who is an icon and a symbol of respect for civil liberties generally, you learn what war hysteria and a tendency to extrapolate the notion of an enemy into sweeping generalizations which are not justified by the evidence is something that we should be careful of.

At this point, I am very pleased to yield to my dear friend, whose late husband I worked with very much on the 1988 legislation who was one of the great spark plugs in passing that legislation and now his widow and our colleague, Congresswoman Doris Matsui, for 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Becerra).

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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

I rise in support of H. Res. 122 which recognizes the tragic significance of Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to authorize the internment of Japanese Americans at the beginning of World

War II. The resolution also highlights the injustices forced on Italian Americans and German Americans during this same period.

In 1942, President Roosevelt authorized the Army to evacuate more than 100,000 Japanese Americans from the Pacific Coast States, including Washington, Oregon, and my home State, California, and also Arizona. This grossly blunderbuss approach to maintaining America's security serves, especially today, as a continuing reminder that the civil rights of American citizens should never be lost in the midst of the chaos of war, not even in a war on terror.

President Roosevelt authorized the mass expulsion and incarceration of Japanese Americans, and these are American citizens, by signing Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. A few minutes ago, I spoke about the prodding of this body, the prodding about the Presidency and the prodding of the courts. This ill-fated action unfortunately was supported by this body, the one on the other side of the Dome and, yes, the U.S. Supreme Court. Had any of us recognized our burden of freedom and democracy and taken it to heart, this could not and would not have happened.

The tragic misuse of this power was met with an equally powerful response, but unfortunately, it was too late.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford issued Proclamation 4417, in which he said, ``Learning from our mistakes is not pleasant, but as a great philosopher once admonished, we must do so if we want to avoid repeating them.'' We recently put to rest President Gerald Ford, but there was no action that Gerald Ford ever did as President more significant than this one. President Ford, in apologizing and taking back the misconduct perpetrated on American citizens so long ago, has set a high standard for it ever happening again.

Today, we have just those threats among us and amidst us, so I am happy to support this to join with the ACLU and all the other organizations that daily fight this and recognizing that this should never happen again.

Last but not least, we are joined with our colleague, the widow of Bob Matsui, and I might note that as a freshman it was Bob Matsui who was on the Democrat side speaking about this issue firsthand. I am sorry that he is not with us today. I look forward to the statements of my colleague and his widow, because I believe that, in fact, this is something we must do every year so that it never, never, never happens again in my America.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

I would like to thank Congressman Honda. Mike and I came into this Congress together. We came in at a time of peace. We came in at a time in which remembering 59 years earlier the history of the Japanese internment was a little abstract and yet necessary. I think that it is no longer abstract, and I thank the gentleman from California, because Mr. Honda made it very clear that we have a clear and present danger in the same way.

It is easy to blame the Muslim community. It is easy to look at Arab Americans and say can we trust them.

I might point out something that is not in the body of the resolution but I know that Mr. Honda and I have talked about in the past. During the time in which we were incarcerating women and children and old men of Japanese ancestry, the young Japanese Americans were in Europe fighting and dying in record numbers, defending our country in the most decorated way of any unit of World War II. That is a separate remembrance but it cannot be separated from the fact that today Arabs and Muslims are fighting in the war on terror in Afghanistan, in Iraq and around the world.

They are in fact doing exactly the same thing. And I link the two because I believe that you don't respect history the way we are trying to today, if you don't link it to the present and the future, and you don't say we will learn from this terrible mistake. We can't undo what was done to the Japanese, Italian, and German Americans, but we can dedicate ourselves to ensure that this shall not happen again in this great Union.

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

Mr. Speaker, February 9th marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which authorized the forcible removal of 120,000 Japanese Americans--two-thirds of whom were United States citizens and the remainder of whom were permanent residents--living in the western United States to internment camps throughout the country. Today I rise in strong support of House Resolution 122, which recognizes February 19th as the National Day of Remembrance of these acts of injustice committed against Japanese Americans and of the curtailing of the rights of Italian and German Americans in the United States. I urge my colleagues' support for this resolution.

Nearly 3 months after the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor precipitated the United States' entrance into World War II, this executive order led to the incarceration and relocation of loyal Americans of Japanese descent. I stand here today to acknowledge the pain and suffering that they, along with many Italian Americans and German Americans, endured.

The first of over 100,000 Japanese Americans stripped of their rights as Americans by the authorities of Executive Order 9066 were those that resided on Bainbridge Island in the State of Washington. They were given only 6 days to sell their belongings, close their businesses, and pack-up their lives before they were resettled in internment camps elsewhere in the United States. And on the morning of March 30, 1942, these Americans were congregated at Eagledale Ferry Dock under armed guard before being transported to an internment camp. Friends and neighbors converged as a symbolic gesture of unity and support for these Japanese Americans who were involuntarily removed from their community. They left behind all of their belongings and possessions that they could not carry or wear. Relegated to internment camps and living in barracks that were hastily built and unprotected from the elements, they tried to create stability for the families in a time of turmoil. Their children attended school and participated in extracurricular activities, all while being surrounded by barbed wire and under the watchful eyes of armed guards. Japanese Americans remained interned in these sites for the duration of the war.

Italian Americans and German Americans also were branded as enemy aliens and forced to acquiesce to provisions that included required identification cards, travel restrictions, seizure of personal property, and imprisonment during this time. Their wrongful treatment also deserves our attention and consideration to ensure that similar actions are never again repeated, experienced or relived.

This National Day of Remembrance is an opportunity for us to educate ourselves and others and to increase public awareness surrounding these harmful wartime decisions made by the United States Government. We take this time to recognize the Japanese American, Italian American, and German American communities that continue to plan events surrounding this anniversary, further ensuring that future generations never forget the mistakes of our past. These communities continue the legacy of honoring their elders, whose patriotism and courage during World War II are a testament to the enduring loyalty of ethnic minority Americans throughout this country.

We also acknowledge through passage of House Resolution 122 the occurrence of an egregious infringement of American citizenship rights. Passage of this resolution would provide an official record of our hope and determination that an act similar to this one is never repeated in the future. The National Day of Remembrance marks the beginning of the forced exodus of an entire ethnic minority from the western United States and today we hope to transform it into a means of educating future generations of the importance of civil liberties, especially in times of war.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from California and our Chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Mr. Honda, for his leadership in commemorating the National Day of Remembrance on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 and for sponsoring this resolution.

I thank the gentleman for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of House Resolution 109. Today we will be taking action on two related measures, House Resolution 122, earlier debated, and this resolution.

One of the lowest points in American history occurred 65 years ago when the Constitution and civil rights of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were trampled upon by their own government. Under the cloud of war, hysteria, false rumors and racial bigotry fueled official misconduct that led to the uprooting of innocent aliens and citizens alike in one of the worst wholesale infringements of constitutional rights in the 20th century.

As a consequence, thousands of persons of Japanese ancestry were forced by their own government to dispose of their property, businesses, farms and possessions for pennies on the dollar, if anything at all. Families were split up and sent to different relocation camps. Educations were disrupted, and careers abruptly terminated on only a few days' notice. Wholesale violations of basic constitutional rights were committed in the name of national security. Yet not a single act of sedition or espionage by any of the evacuees was ever proven in any court of law.

To the contrary, the historic exploits of AJA in the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Europe and the MIS in the Pacific and Asia proved that patriotism was not skin deep. The psychological and emotional pain of this experience was so deep that many evacuees never talked about their experiences for decades.

Many who were directly affected by the order live and work among us still. A member of my own congressional staff, my deputy chief of staff, Susan Kodani, was born in the Manzanar Relocation Camp. Her family was then relocated to Michigan, ironically to permit her college-educated father to assist in the war effort.

Many more, of course, suffered personal losses and tragedies more traumatic and devastating. By recognizing the historic significance of the Pinedale Assembly Center and by observing the Day of Remembrance as called for in earlier House Resolution 122, we say to the Nation and our fellow citizens that America can never forget this horrible tragedy. While it directly affected one segment of our population, the ramifications to all Americans are profound and no less relevant today as we wage war in Iraq.

The constitutional rights of all Americans are in jeopardy if any group of citizens can be persecuted without legal justification. We must all stand vigilant and alert for any attempt by any group, whether a small power clique or the majority of Americans, to overstep the bounds of the law for momentary expediency or even for claims of national security during war. The protection of our constitutional rights of all of our citizens require continued vigilance from all of us.