Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment

              H6210
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE
July 21, 1980
5499, the Commission will hold hearings
in a variety of appropriate locations and
• consider what recommendations, if any,
1 that should be made to the Congress. The
Commission would be granted subpena
Jipowers and is assured of the cooperation
of all relevant Federal agencies.
The case law^surroundlng these events
is interesting and somewhat surprising.
The constitutionality of the Executive
Order 9066 and the legislation which
ratified and confirmed it (act of Congress, March 2t. 1942) were the subject
of two noted court challenges. In Hira-
bayashi v. U.S., 320 U.S. 81 (1942), the
Supreme Court upheld the terms of a
curfew order imposed solely against citizens of Japanese ancestry.
The Court viewed it as a valid exercise
of the war power of both the Congress
and the executive branch (including, the
military authorities). The Court specifically deferred to Congress and the military commander as to whether the curfew was a necessary protective measure
to meet the threats of sabotage and espionage. They stated that the differentiation in the executive order based solely on the fact of Japanese ancestry did
not violate the due process clause of the
fifth amendment, holding that there was
a "reasonable basis" for such a distinction in the light of all the relevant facts
and circumstances.
In Korematsu v. V.S., 323 U.S. 214
(1944), the Court again refused to inquire behind the military Judgment
which led to the issuance of an order excluding all persons of Japanese ancestry
from certain designated areas on the*
west coast. Related orders also required
these persons to report to assembly centers and detention camps. The Court
held the exclusion order constitutional
as of the time it was issued (May 1942).
The committee's mandate is general
and H.R. 5499 does not in any way predispose specific recommendations. The
Subcommittee on Administrative Law,
which considered this measure, chose to
reject, at this time, the establishment
of a comprehensive monetary reimbursement program for those interned or
their legal heirs. Frankly, given the price
tag of between $3 and $4 billion it was
felt that such a decision needs additional study.
If I may, I would like to add one personal note. During World War II it was
my privilege to take into my home a
young Japanese-American who was directly affected by these decisions. His
name is Tyler Tanaka and he staved
with us for the duration of World War
II. This brought home to me and my
family a-very real and personal dimension of these events. Today, Tyler is a
successful businessman operating a
travel agency in Los Angeles, Calif. Like
thousands of other Japanese-Ameri?ans,
he has reassimiliated himself into our
society without any apparent trace of
bitterness. Recently, I received a letter
from him urging the enactment of H.R.
5499, as a mechanism for making all
Americans knowledgeable and sensitive
to the injustices that took place.
This is commendable and important
legislation which deserves the support
of the Members -of the House.
The letter I received from Tyler Tanaka is as follows:
Japan A- Orient Tours, Inc.,
Los Angeles, Calif., June 13,1980.
Congressman Robert McClory,
Congress of the United States.
Bouse of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Bob: -Thank you for your letter of
June 2nd.
I learned of S1647 and HR5499 and was
thinking of wrrltlng when your letter arrived.
It is my understanding that HR5499 would
establish the means to review all aspects of
the WW2 Internment of Japanese Americans.
As suggested by you, I spoke with my
mother and Iris, as well as to my family. My
mother does not harbor any bitterness but
expressed sadness in losing a lifetime of
savings and a business. She was more concerned about expressing her thankfulness
for the church saving her home which served
as the foundation from which she and my
father struggled to rebuild their lives following the end of the war.
Iris feels that she should speak for our
departed father. She feels for the hardships
he faced in overcoming economic and social
obstacles in establishing life In this new
land. She expresses the disappointment
when the Interment wiped out his lifetime
work. Sadly, after the war, he was too old
to re-establish his business, but with dignity, he worked at manual labor (gardening) to sustain my mother and himself until
his death. To the end. he was proud that he
never accepted a penny In charity or welfare, nor was a burden to his children.
Through what must have been painful
husbandry, he left my mother financially
sufficient so that she, too, would not have to
depend on welfare. Iris feels that this must
not ever be allowed to occur again in our
country.
Most surprising was the reactions of my
18 year old daughter, Diane. Unbeknownst
to me, she did a term paper on relocation s
year or two back. She expressed strong feelings of anger of the Injustice of the entire
relocation episode. As she is normally a
bright happy girl, her Intense feeling on this
issue did catch me off guard.
Bob, our long years of friendship came
as a result of the evacuation. For this, I am
grateful; however, you, perhaps more than
any other member of Congress, understand
the evacuation's affront to personal dignity
and democratic principles. Tou once stated
your stand against the injustice once before
when you took me, a confused and difficult
lad, from the camp and into the Intimacy
of your home.
I would be most pleased with say effect
you may undertake to secure passage of this
Legislation. -
With love,
Tyler.
Mr. DANIELSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield
such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from California (Mr.
Mineta) . •"«-     .
(Mr. MINETA asked and was given
permission to revise and extend his
remarks.) 	
Mr. MINETA. Mr. Speaker. I rise in
strong support of H.R. 5499, the Commission on Wartime Relocation and
Internment of Civilians Act.
I would first like to commend" the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Wright),
the distinguished majority leader,' and
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Rodino) , the chairman of the Committee
on the Judiciary, for their sponsorship
of this legislation, and our colleague, the
gentleman from California (Mr. Dakiex-
son), for his strong support and leadership *6n this "issue I would also like to
thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
McClory), the ranking minority member on the Committee on the Judiciary,
as well as our colleague, the gentleman
from California (Mr. Moorhead), who
is the ranking minority member of the
subcommittee that handled this bill and
thank them lor theu efforts relative to
this legislation.
As many of my colleagues may know,
I was one of" the 120,000 Americans of
Japanese ancestry who were evacuated
from our homes on the west coast and
detained in internment camps in our
country's interior during World War n.
Back in 1942, although I was too young
to experience directly the suffering and
frustration my parents, relatives, and
their friends felt so strongly, I did know
that Executive Order 9066 set into motion a puzzling and serious chain of
events that profoundly affected the lives
of many loyal American citizens and
resident aliens.
In the ensuing 38 years since we were
sent to the camps, I and others who were
interned still have many unanswered
questions about the experience. Many of
us were American citizens—how could
our own Government have deprived us
of pur liberty with no explanation of
what we did wrong? Why were we given
no trial? Was it necessary to put us
into camps, given the war hysteria at
the time? Besides these unans'a cred
questions, we feel that we share a special responsibility to insure that no
person—citizen or resident alien—is
ever again subjected to such an experience.
In 1976, President Gerald Ford formally rescinded the Executive order that
sent us to the camps, but the many
questions we have still remain. I believe
that the Commission to be established by
H.R. 5499 and charged with the reviewing the circumstances leading up to our
evacuation and internment would help
answer these many unresolved questions.
It would provide an important framework for a factual discussion of this sad
chapter to our not-so-distant past. Such
a comprehensive and objective study is
long overdue, and will force us as a
society to concentrate on the facts: What
really happened, and what were the consequences?
Equally as Important, the Commission
study will have considerable educational
value. It will educate or remind people
about an event they may not remember
or know much about. It came as a surprise to me to realize that only one Member of Congress currently serving was in
office back at the time of the internment
in 1942. There are hundreds of thousands
of citizens and public officials who are too
young to remember much about the
evacuation and" internment of either the
Japanese Americans or the residents cf
the Aleutians and Pribilof Islands. In addition, the history textbooks in our
schools are notorious for their lack of
mention of either occurrence.
My greatest hope for this Commission
is that by focussing this country's attention on the evacuation and intemrnect
and .the unresolved civil and constitutional questions, it will also help prevec'