August 3, 1988

              August 3,1388
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
H6265
maybe saying, well, the $1.25 billion
was not enough? Maybe we need to see
if we can bring it up again and give another $22 billion, $180 billion. There is
no figure to put on this.. To me what
was done, we realize at this point was
wrong. Maybe: at. the time I would .
have done the same or I would have
felt the same..  -
I often wonder what would have
happened if we had agreed to pay this
$L2S billion a few years after the
many millions of service boys were lost
in this country due to World War IL
What were the feelings of the people
then? L am sorry, but 1 cannot see
where we go as a House, where we
plan to go in the future as a House. I
do not know if we are trying to buy
the votes in the State of California
from the people of Japanese ancestry,
to try to bribe the people to vote one
party or the other. Undoubtedly, we
are not, because both parties seem to
agree to this.
But it is just very hard for me to-un-
derstand and go face veterans in my
district who have suffered from World
War II and to see the benefits that
they are losing, to see that we have
over $100 billion deficit every year and
yet we choose to try to vote a bill like
this in.
I am sorry, I do not see where we are
trying to go. I plan to vote against this
bill and I encourage every other
Member of this House to do so.
MnffiANK. Mr. Speaker. I yield
myself 30 seconds at first and then I
will yield to others.
I have to express my disappointment
that the gentleman from Louisiana
would suggest that those of us who
conscientiously differ with him are
trying to bribe somebody's votes. I do
not run in the State of California. I
never plan to run in the State of California.
The gentleman from Georgia who
made an eloquent statement today
does not plan to run in the State of
California. I think his colleagues deserve better of the gentleman from
Louisiana than the entirely unwarranted suggestion that somehow this
is a vote-buying effort.
Disagreement is one thing. I am disappointed that he does not even understand what seems to me to be the
principles at stake
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a
distinguished libertarian, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Weiss].
<Mr. WEISS asked and- was given
permission to revise and extend his re-
marks-)
Mr. VV.hUSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in
strong support of the conference
report on ELR. 442. the Civil Liberties
Act. It is a modest proposal which acknowledges and redresses the wrongs
our Government perpetrated against
American citizens of Japanese descent
during World War LL
The internment policy undertaken
by this Government during World
War II was a tragic error on the part
of the U-S. Government at that time.
Under the- policy;. U.S. Army troops
rounded up literally thousands of Japanese Americans on the west coast and
forced them into relocation camps on
the ludicrous, grounds that they might
collaborate with the Japanese Government. It was a policy driven purely by
wartime hysteria and racial prejudice.
I recall that during my assignment
to Japan in 1946-47, as a member of
the U.S. Army, I.met a number of first
generation Japanese-Americans. These
individuals were so distressed by their
treatment by the United States during
the war period that they left this
country, the country of their birth,
and returned to live in Japan. That
people should emigrate from the
United States to flee persecution demonstrates how far the U.S. Government had strayed from the principles
upon which this Nation was founded.
Mr. Speaker, we are responsible for
the ruining of lives beyond our comprehension. There is no adequate financial compensation for the fundamental violation of civil liberties and
the humiliation that those individuals
suffered. However, the payments to
the surviving internees that this legislation contains are a symbol of the*
strong aLffirmatioii by this Congress
that a terrible mistake was made, and
a commitment by the U.S. Government that such a mistake will never be.
repeated.
I urge my colleagues to support the
conference report.
Q 2230
Mr. SWTNDALL. Mr. Speaker, we
have no further requests for time now,
so we will reserve the time for tomorrow.
Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I have no
requests for this evening.
Mr. FRANK Mr. Speaker, I have
nothing further directly on the bill,
but I yield myself 1 minute, because I
just want the Members to know that
one reason we are here today is because, with the leadership role of the
chairman of the full committee, our
colleague, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Rqppro], we know he win
be leaving, and I just wanted to note
that I have had the privilege to work
as a subcrjmmittee chairman under
him,
These are his last 2 years, and this
has been a time when we have done
massive legislation in the area of protecting other people's constitutional
rights. And again I am indebted to our
colleague, the gentleman from Georgia, for his eloquent discussion of the
subjeet of constitutional rights here.
We have done the Fair Housing Act,
and we have done the Grove City Act.
I just wanted to note this and not let
this debate go by without noting the
leadership role of the gentleman from
New Jersey (Mr. Rorauol, one- of the
sponsorsof the bill, andhis presence is
in this as it has been in so many other
issues. He has in 40 years' done an
enormous amount to make our Consti?
tutiona Irving reality.
Mr. Speaker, this is-one very- important example of. that, and I wanted to
acknowledge it-
Mr. Speaker.-1 believe at this point
all of us have' yielded back our time,
and we will resume tomorrow with out
6-6-8 agreement.
The gPBAKww pro tempore (Mr.
Mineta). Pursuant to the previous
order of the House, further proceedings on the conference report, will be
postponed.