BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SJR 12|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SJR 12
Author: Pan (D), et al.
Introduced:6/2/15
Vote: 21
SUBJECT: Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi: Presidential Medal of
Freedom nomination
SOURCE: Japanese American Citizens League
DIGEST: This resolution states the Legislature's support of the
nomination of Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi for the Presidential Medal
of Freedom.
ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1)Mitsuye Endo was among 120,000 Japanese Americans residing on
the west coast of the United States who were forced from their
homes in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
2)Pursuant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order
No. 9066, Mitsuye Endo and her family were uprooted from their
Sacramento home and incarcerated first in the Tule Lake War
Relocation Camp in California, and later in the Topaz War
Relocation Camp in Utah. Altogether, Endo spent nearly three
years surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers in some of
the most remote and desolate areas of the United States.
SJR 12
Page 2
3)Based on Mitsuye Endo's background as a loyal American
citizen, a Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) from
Sacramento who was Christian, had never been to Japan, and had
a brother serving in the United States Army, Endo was selected
as the plaintiff for a test case challenging Japanese
internment.
4)While her case was proceeding, Endo rejected an offer from the
government for conditional release, choosing instead to remain
incarcerated to allow her case to continue through the court
system.
5)Mitsuye Endo was the only female plaintiff in the four United
States Supreme Court cases that challenged the legality of
military orders selectively affecting over 120,000 Japanese
Americans during World War II.
6)Two of the three remaining plaintiffs were awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, Endo, who brought the only
victorious legal challenge filed by a Japanese American during
World War II, has not.
7)Endo is an authentic American heroine who made a principled,
courageous, and historic stand and voluntarily sacrificed her
own freedom to secure the rights of all Japanese Americans who
were forcibly removed from their homes and confined in camps
without the benefit of due process.
This resolution supports the nomination of Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi
for the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/15/15)
SJR 12
Page 3
Japanese American Citizens League (source)
Berkeley Chapter of Japanese American Citizens League
Central California District Council of the Japanese American
Citizens League
Silicon Valley Chapter of Japanese American Citizens League
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/15/15)
None received
Prepared by: Karen Chow / SFA / (916) 651-1520
6/15/15 16:26:25
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