[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4432-S4434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING FRED T. KOREMATSU
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 126, submitted
earlier today by Senator Durbin.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 126) honoring Fred T. Korematsu for
his loyalty and patriotism to the United States and
expressing condolences to his family, friends, and supporters
on his death.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
resolution and preamble be agreed to, en bloc, the motion to reconsider
be laid upon the table, with no intervening action, and that any
statements relating to this resolution be printed in the Record.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I will
not object, I would like to say a brief word or two about this
resolution honoring the life of a great American who passed away
recently. I am proud to be joined by Senators Inouye and Stevens on
this resolution.
Three weeks ago, when I heard that Fred Korematsu died at the age of
86, I came to the Senate floor and paid my tribute. But because his
place in our Nation's history is so important, I have come to the floor
again to ask the entire Senate to recognize this man with this
resolution.
In recent months, I have had several occasions to mention Fred
Korematsu's name in committee and floor proceedings, because the story
about the injustices he and thousands of others faced as a Japanese
American during from World War II is one that we should never forget.
Today, as our Nation is engaged in a global war on terrorism and when
we are confronting the issues of the balance between civil liberties
and security, Fred Korematsu's name is a reminder that we need to learn
from our history, as difficult and shameful as it may be.
In November 2003, Fred Korematsu filed a brief before the Supreme
Court in a case involving the detentions at Guantanamo Bay. His brief
contained a simple plea to the government: ``to avoid repeating the
mistakes of the past, this court should make clear that the United
States respects constitutional and human rights, even in times of
war.''
As leaders in Washington, we are responsible for a wide range of
legislative and policy decisions that will have impact on millions of
lives of our fellow Americans. As we deliberate and debate these
issues, I hope all my colleagues will continue to heed the wise words
of this humble man.
Fred Korematsu died on March 30 at his daughter's home in Larkspur,
CA, after a long illness. He leaves behind his wife, Kathryn, and their
son and daughter. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their family and
friends, and we honor his memory today with this resolution.
I ask my colleagues to support this resolution honoring a true
American hero.
Fred Korematsu is a family name known to every student who has ever
gone through law school. It was Mr. Korematsu who filed the law case
protesting the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
His family, like so many others, was discriminated against simply
because of their heritage. We now realize it was a serious mistake and
a great disservice to many loyal and patriotic Japanese Americans.
His recent passing was a reminder of this man's courage throughout
his life, and I hope that this resolution, when it is sent to his
family, will be a fitting tribute from the Senate for all the
contributions they and his family have made to America.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Senate
resolution honoring Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu for his loyalty and
patriotism to the United States and expressing condolences to Fred's
family, friends and supporters on his passing.
On March 30, 2005, our Nation lost a deeply compassionate man and a
great American patriot. Fred profoundly influenced the course of
American history and legal jurisprudence when he led a courageous legal
challenge against the internment of Japanese Americans by the United
States Government. Fred was born in Oakland, CA, in 1919. His parents
were Japanese immigrants who ran a flower nursery while Fred attended
Castlemont High School and later the Master School of Welding. Fred
worked on the Oakland docks as a steel welder and was quickly promoted
to a foreman position.
The war in Europe, however, changed his life. America began providing
supplies to Great Britain in its war against Germany and Germany's
allies, including the country of Japan. At home in California, when
Fred entered restaurants, waiters refused to serve him because of his
ancestry. Fred's union terminated his membership, and Fred lost his
job. American by birth, Fred wished to prove his patriotism by joining
the United States Coast Guard, but the recruiting officer refused his
application. Fred eventually found work with a mobile trailer company,
but after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, his employer
fired him.
Fred was 22 years old when President Roosevelt issued Executive Order
9066, authorizing military commanders on the West Coast to issue
whatever orders necessary for national security. Curfews, exclusionary
orders, and the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans soon followed,
and the Korematsu family was taken to the Tanforan racetrack in San
Mateo. Fred, however, held a deep conviction that the constitutional
rights of Japanese Americans were being violated by the internment
order issued without any real evidence of disloyalty, without specific
charges, and without trial, and so Fred chose to defy the order.
Fred assumed a non-Japanese identity and even had plastic surgery in
an attempt to change his appearance. Nevertheless, the police stopped
him in San Leandro and Fred was charged with violating the military's
exclusion order. Fred was sent to Federal prison and later to live with
his family in a
[[Page S4433]]
horse stall at the Tanforan racetrack. The Korematsus performed hard
labor behind barbed wire and under the watch of armed guards. Other
Japanese Americans in the internment camp avoided him, fearing for the
safety of their own families. The Federal district court found Fred
guilty of violating military exclusion orders, and sentenced him to 5
years of probation under military authority. Fred appealed that
decision. Meanwhile, after a year and a half of laboring in the
interment camp, Fred's skill as a welder enabled him to leave the camp,
on the condition that he not return to California. He got a job as a
welder in an iron works company in Salt Lake City, and eventually, made
his way to Detroit.
Fred's appeal reached the Supreme Court in 1944. The Court upheld the
lower court's ruling in a 6-3 vote, citing the simple reason that the
internment of American citizens of Japanese ancestry was a military
necessity in light of the war with Japan. Fred petitioned for a
rehearing, but it was denied in February 1945.
Fred eventually met and married Kathryn and raised a family. Like
many Japanese Americans, Fred tried to put his internment experiences
behind him, but he was unable to pursue many job opportunities because
his violation of the exclusion order left him with a criminal record.
He once worked on an application to become a real estate broker, but
when he came across the question that asked whether he had prior
criminal convictions, he threw the application away. Although Fred
worked as a draftsman, he did not apply to work at larger companies or
government agencies, as they would not hire someone who had a prior
conviction on record. Without a pension, Fred worked part time to make
ends meet, even while in his eighties.
In the early 1980s, a volunteer legal team began to accumulate
evidence that government officials had possessed significant
information that Japanese Americans had not posed an actual threat to
national security at the time of the interment, and the team approached
Fred to file a coram nobis petition to review events that occurred 40
years earlier that denied Fred a fair hearing.
In late 1983, a Federal court in San Francisco overturned Fred's
guilty conviction, stating that the Government's case at the time had
been based on false and biased information.
The court's decision was a landmark and a critical turning point in
history. The volunteer legal team that gravitated to Fred was driven by
his courage, his unshakable sense of right and wrong, and his faith in
the American Constitution. The court's 1983 holding in Korematsu v.
U.S., coram nobis, set in motion a chain of important events. Shortly
following the success of that case, Congress ordered a commission
report on the internment of Japanese Americans. Upon the commission's
finding that internment orders were issued without proper basis,
Congress in 1988 passed legislation for a Presidential apology and
reparations to Japanese American internees.
Ten years later, in 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Fred with
the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the
United States. During that ceremony, the President stated, ``In the
long history of our country's constant search for justice, some names
of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls--Plessy, Brown, Parks.
To that distinguished list today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.''
To many, Fred was more than just a distinguished name. Fred shared
his riveting and protracted story about justice with thousands of young
Americans, and he has deeply touched and inspired a new generation of
civil rights attorneys. Fred's zest for life, courage, patriotism,
compassion, gentle humor, strong will, and delight in teaching others
has endeared him to many. He graced our midst, and by example,
encouraged all of us to never abandon our Nation's cherished
constitutional principles and values.
Fred Korematsu was a devoted husband and father, a teacher, a
trailblazer, a hero, and a great American.
The resolution (S. Res. 126) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 126
Whereas on January 30, 1919, Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu was
born in Oakland, California, to Japanese immigrants;
Whereas Fred Korematsu graduated from Oakland High School
and tried on 2 occasions to enlist in the United States Army
but was not accepted due to a physical disability;
Whereas on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United
States military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, forcing the
United States to enter World War II against Japan, Germany,
and Italy;
Whereas on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signed Executive Order number 9066 (42 Fed. Reg.
1563) as ``protection against espionage and against sabotage
to national defense'', which authorized the designation of
``military areas . . . from which any or all persons may be
excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person
to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever
restriction the . . . Military Commander may impose in his
discretion'';
Whereas the United States Army issued Civilian Exclusion
Order Number 34, directing that after May 9, 1942, all
persons of Japanese ancestry were to be removed from
designated areas of the West Coast because they were
considered to be a security threat;
Whereas in response to that Civilian Exclusion Order, Fred
Korematsu's family reported to Tanforan, a former racetrack
in the San Francisco area that was used as 1 of 15 temporary
detention centers, before being sent to an internment camp in
Topaz, Utah;
Whereas more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were similarly
detained in 10 permanent War Relocation Authority camps
located in isolated desert areas of the States of Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming,
without any charges brought or due process accorded;
Whereas Fred Korematsu, then 22 years old and working as a
shipyard welder in Oakland, California, refused to join his
family in reporting to Tanforan, based on his belief that he
was a loyal American and not a security threat;
Whereas on May 30, 1942, Fred Korematsu was arrested and
jailed for remaining in a military area, tried in United
States district court, found guilty of violating Civilian
Exclusion Order Number 34, and sentenced to 5 years of
probation;
Whereas Fred Korematsu unsuccessfully challenged that
Civilian Exclusion Order as it applied to him, and appealed
the decision of the district court to the United States Court
of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where his conviction was
sustained;
Whereas Fred Korematsu was subsequently confined with his
family in the internment camp in Topaz for 2 years, and
during that time, he appealed his conviction to the United
States Supreme Court;
Whereas on December 18, 1944, the Supreme Court issued its
decision in Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214, which
upheld Fred Korematsu's conviction by a vote of 6-to-3, based
on the finding of the Supreme Court that Fred Korematsu was
not removed from his home ``because of hostility to him or
his race'' but because the United States was at war with
Japan and the United States military ``feared an invasion of
our West Coast'';
Whereas Fred Korematsu continued to maintain his innocence
for decades following World War II;
Whereas, under section 552 of title 5, United States Code
(commonly known as the ``Freedom of Information Act''), an
historian discovered numerous government documents indicating
that, at the time Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214,
was decided, the Federal Government suppressed findings that
Japanese Americans on the West Coast were not security
threats;
Whereas in light of this newly discovered information, Fred
Korematsu filed a writ of error coram nobis with the United
States District Court for the Northern District of
California;
Whereas on November 10, 1983, United States District Judge
Marilyn Hall Patel overturned Fred Korematsu's conviction,
concluding that senior government officials knew there was no
factual basis for the claim of ``military necessity'' when
they presented their case before the Supreme Court in 1944;
Whereas in that decision, Judge Patel stated that, while
Korematsu v. United States ``remains on the pages of our
legal and political history...[as] historical precedent it
stands as a constant caution that in times of war or declared
military necessity our institutions must be vigilant in
protecting constitutional guarantees'';
Whereas the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment
of Civilians, authorized by Congress in 1980 to review the
facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation and
internment of Japanese Americans under Executive Order Number
9066 (42 Fed. Reg. 1563), concluded that ``today the decision
in Korematsu lies overruled in the court of history'';
Whereas the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment
of Civilians concluded that a ``grave personal injustice was
done to the American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese
ancestry who, without individual review or any probative
evidence against them were excluded, removed and detained by
the United States during World War II'', and that those acts
were ``motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime
hysteria, and a failure of political leadership'';
[[Page S4434]]
Whereas the overturning of Fred Korematsu's conviction and
the findings of Commission on Wartime Relocation and
Internment of Civilians influenced the decision by Congress
to pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. App. 1989b
et seq.) to request a Presidential apology and symbolic
payment of compensation to persons of Japanese ancestry who
lost liberty or property because of discriminatory action by
the Federal Government;
Whereas on August 10, 1988, President Reagan signed that
Act into law, stating, ``[H]ere we admit a wrong; here we
reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under
the law'';
Whereas on January 15, 1998, President Clinton awarded the
Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United
States, to Fred Korematsu, stating, ``In the long history of
our country's constant search for justice, some names of
ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls: Plessy, Brown,
Parks. To that distinguished list, today we add the name of
Fred Korematsu.'';
Whereas Fred Korematsu remained a tireless advocate for
civil liberties and justice throughout his life, particularly
speaking out against racial discrimination and violence
targeting Arab, Muslim, South Asian, and Sikh Americans in
the wake of the September 11, 2001, tragedy, and cautioning
the Federal Government against repeating mistakes of the past
by singling out individuals for heightened scrutiny on the
basis of race, ethnicity, or religion;
Whereas on March 30, 2005, Fred Korematsu died at the age
of 86 in Larkspur, California; and
Whereas Fred Korematsu was a role model for all Americans
who love the United States and the promises contained in the
Constitution, and his strength and perseverance serve as an
inspiration for all people striving for equality and justice:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) honors Fred T. Korematsu for his loyalty and patriotism
to the United States, his work to advocate for the civil
rights and civil liberties of all Americans, and his
dedication to justice and equality; and
(2) expresses its deepest condolences to his family,
friends, and supporters on his death.
____________________