BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 104
Author: John A. Pérez (D) and Furutani (D), et al.
Amended: 2/17/12 in Assembly
Vote: 21
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Read and adopted, 2/17/12
SUBJECT : Day of Remembrance: American-Japanese ancestry
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution declares February 19, 2012 as a
Day of Remembrance in order to increase public awareness of
the events surrounding the internment of Americans of
Japanese ancestry during World War II.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
signed Executive Order 9066, pursuant to which 120,000
Americans and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry were
incarcerated in internment camps scattered throughout
western states during World War II; and this inflicted a
great human cost of abandoned homes, businesses,
careers, professional advancements and disruption to
family life.
2. Although many of their family members were incarcerated,
thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry volunteered
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for military service and earned high honors and medals
for their bravery. In 2010, President Obama granted the
Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 100th
Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team in
recognition of their dedicated service during World War
II.
3. On June 21, 2000, President Clinton elevated 20 Japanese
Americans who served in the 100th Battalion and the
442nd Regimental Combat Team and were among 52
individuals who received the nation's second highest
military decoration - the Distinguished Service Cross -
to receive the nation's highest military decoration -
the Medal of Honor - bringing the total number of
Japanese Americans who so received the Medal of Honor to
21.
4. On August 10, 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil
Liberties Act of 1988, which found that Executive Order
9066 was not justified by military necessity but rather
caused by prejudice and war hysteria; and, the Civil
Liberties Act of 1988 apologized for and provided
restitution to individuals of Japanese ancestry who were
evacuated, interned and relocated.
5. Nearly 6,000 veterans of Japanese ancestry served with
the Military Intelligence Service and have been credited
for shortening the war by two years by translating enemy
battle plans, defense maps, tactical orders, intercepted
messages and diaries, and interrogating enemy prisoners.
6. Nearly 40 years after the United States Supreme Court
decisions upholding the convictions of Fred Korematsu,
Min Yasui, and Gordon Hirabayashi for violations of
curfew and Executive Order 9066, it was discovered that
officials from the United States Department of War and
the United States Department of Justice had altered and
destroyed evidence regarding the loyalty of Americans
and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry and withheld
information from the United States Supreme Court.
7. Dale Minami, Peggy Nagae, Dennis Hayashi, Rod Kawakami,
and many attorneys and interns contributed innumerable
hours to win a reversal of the original convictions of
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Korematsu, Yasui, and Hirabayashi in 1983 by filing a
petition for writ of error coram nobis on the grounds
that fundamental errors and injustice occurred.
8. February 19, 2012, marks 70 years since the signing of
Executive Order 9066 and a policy of grave injustice
against American citizens and resident aliens of
Japanese ancestry.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
DLW:mw 5/21/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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