Correspondence with Senator Wilson

              NISEI FARMERS LEAGUE DINNER—SENATOR PETE WILSON
The 16th annual NFL dinner was held at the Hacienda on February 6. Among the guests
were Supervisor Betty Ramacher, who gave the welcome, Consul General Tatsuo Arima from San
Francisco and Senator Pete Wilson, the keynote speaker. According to the program, former
Senator S.I. Hayakawa was to have introduced Senator Wilson, but he was unable to attend
because of illness. ^ ,,
NFL president Harry Kubo, prior to the dinner, came to our table and advised me that
Senator Wilson wished to speak to me. (I had addressed a letter to him about ten days prior
asking him to make clear his stand on the redress issue, especially in regard to individual
monetary payments). He had received the letter and he wanted us to know that he would address
a number of the questions posed in the letter in the course of his keynote speech.
In his speech, he specifically made it clear that he agreed with the conclusions reached by
the Commission on Wartime Internment of Civilians (CWIRC) that the evacuation of American
citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry was entirely unjustified. He praised the
wartime record of loyalty and service of all Am^jcans^K^pjne9e_ancestry, specifically
mentioning the proud record of the 100th/442nd'Cfimi^Regiim^nlai Teamf He did not address
the issue of individual monetary redress for those interned. He indicated that he would favor the
creation of a trust fund to be used for a monument, commemorative museums, homes for the
aged, scholarships or other projects of general benefit to Americans of Japanese ancestry.
Attending the dinner for the specific purpose of making contact with Senator Wilson were
Mae Takahashi, Peggy Liggett, Stuart and Charlotte Hirasuna and Fred & Setsu Hirasuna.
Senator Wilson left immediately after the dinner because he was scheduled to go to San
Diego the next day; however, we were able to stop him and speak briefly about the matter of
monetary redress. We told him that we were in entire agreement with his views on redress and
the only point of difference seemed to be the matter of individual payments. We asked him to
co-sponsor the redress bill so that the bill would get out of committee and be presented on the
floor of the Senate for debate and vote. He would be free to vote his conscience about the various
details of the bill once it got on the floor, but we needed his help now to get the bill out of
committee. He appeared to seriously consider the idea. His Chief of Staff, Mr. Otto Bos, told us
that Senator Wilson would really give our proposal serious consideration and he intimated that
the Senator might even consider the matter of individual monetary payments.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE --JAPANESE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE EXHIBITION
The official opening ceremonies will be held on October 1 at the Smithsonian. Many
individuals and organizations will be present for these ceremonies. Kokusai International
Travel (400 E. 2nd St., LA 90012; phone (213) 626-5284) has a tour planned for
departure September 29, return October 4 , and pre-tours covering the New England area and
the New York area. Departures are scheduled out of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
Basic fare seems to be $360 per person plus airfare which is estimated to be about $250
round trip.
Tanaka Travel Service (441 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco CA 94102; phone (415)
474-3900) has a departure out of San Francisco on September 30, return October 4. Basic
fare seems to range from $330 to $416 per person depending upon the hotel rates in
Washington. Roundtrip airfare from San Francisco is estimated to be about $238 . An optional
4 day trip to Philadelphia and New York is offered at $325 per person.