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Managing America: Civil Rights

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Week Ending August 1, 2008

H.RES.1357 Recognizing the significance of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 by President Ronald Reagan and the greatness of America in her ability to admit and remedy past mistakes.

The interment of Japanese-Americans during WW II is the vehicle that seems intent on giving President Reagan credit for the decades old effort to right that wrong.

More resolution below…

Sponsor:  Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA-5th)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote July 31, 2008

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost

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Whereas President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which authorized the forced exclusion of 120,000 Japanese Americans and legal resident aliens from the west coast of the United States and the internment of United States citizens and legal permanent residents of Japanese ancestry in confinement sites during World War II without the benefit of due process;

Whereas no person of Japanese ancestry, who was confined during World War II under the authority of Executive Order 9066, was convicted of espionage, treason, or sabotage against the United States;

Whereas Japanese American men proved their loyalty to the United States with battlefield valor serving in the 442d Regimental Combat Team, the 100th Infantry Battalion, Army Air Corps, and the Military Intelligence Service, and Japanese American women served with distinction in the Women's Army Corps and Army Nurse Corps;

Whereas President Gerald Ford formally rescinded Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1976, in his speech, `An American Promise';

Whereas Congress adopted legislation which was signed by President Jimmy Carter on July 31, 1980, establishing the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate the claim that the incarceration of Japanese Americans and legal resident aliens during World War II was justified by military necessity;

Whereas the Commission held 20 days of hearings and heard from over 750 witnesses on this matter and published its findings in a report entitled `Personal Justice Denied';

Whereas the Commission reports conclusions were that the promulgation of Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity and that the decision to issue the order was shaped by `race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership';

Whereas Congress enacted, with bipartisan support, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, in which it acknowledged the `fundamental injustices' resulting from Executive Order 9066, apologized on behalf of the people of the United States for those injustices, and vowed to `discourage the occurrence of similar injustices and violations of civil liberties in the future';

Whereas President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 into law on August 10, 1988, proclaiming that `Here we admit a wrong. Here we affirm our commitment as a Nation to equal justice under the law'; and

Whereas the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provides an opportunity for all United States citizens to appreciate the greatness of our Nation in having the willingness to admit and remedy its past mistakes and for political leaders to learn from those past mistakes by not adopting racially motivated governmental policies: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) reaffirms our Nation's commitment to equal justice under the law for all people in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988; and

(2) continues to support the congressional goal embodied in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 that all persons living under protection of the United States Constitution have a right to enjoy freedom and equality without the constraint of prejudice and discrimination or the lack of due process.

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