[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                75TH ANNIVERSARY OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, May 6, 2017, marks a 75-year-old moral 
stain on Oregon's history. On this day in 1942, the city of Portland 
was declared free of all Japanese Americans.
  As part of the Nation's response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 
President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in February 
1942. In doing so, the President authorized the removal of anybody 
deemed ``threatening.'' The President's action was based in fear and 
prejudice rather than any actual threat, and many Japanese Americans 
paid the price as innocent people were separated from their families 
and traumatized.
  The United States would ultimately incarcerate more than 120,000 U.S. 
citizens and lawful permanent residents of Japanese ancestry. The 
Federal Government deemed Japanese Americans who lived on the west 
coast a ``threat,'' putting my State of Oregon on the frontlines of 
this injustice.
  Forced out of their homes and businesses, many of Oregon's Japanese 
American families moved into the animal stalls of what was then the 
Pacific International Livestock and Exposition Center in north 
Portland. Eventually, a total of 3,700 men, women, and children from 
Oregon and parts of Washington were held at the center. These families 
were later sent off with thousands of other Japanese Americans to 
quickly erected camps across the United States.
  Despite the anti-Japanese fever burning across the United States, 
thousands of Japanese Americans were serving valiantly on the 
battlefields of Europe. We throw around the word ``patriot'' a lot 
these days, but I can't think of a more patriotic story than those 
Japanese Americans who signed up to defend the same country that had 
locked up their families.
  Units like the famed 442nd and men like my friend and former 
colleague Senator Dan Inouye displayed an exceptional degree of courage 
and valor abroad. Back home, Japanese American civil rights leaders 
like Minoru Yasui and Fred Korematsu were challenging the prejudices 
that led to Executive Order 9066, the internment, and other injustices 
faced by Japanese Americans and permanent residents.
  As the son of Jewish parents who fled Nazi Germany, I feel especially 
compelled today to remind my colleagues and my countrymen of this dark 
chapter in our Nation's history. It is especially important to recall 
this history today because it seems some Americans have slipped back 
into an era of fear-mongering, bigotry, and hate.
  I have seen countless expressions of kindness and decency in my years 
representing Oregon, which is why I have faith that people across our 
State and the country will continue to stand up and say ``no more.'' 
That is why I also want to honor the truly courageous Japanese 
Americans and others who fought the pain and fear caused by Executive 
Order 9066. They were on the right side of the argument then and now.
  Finally, I would like to recognize the Oregon Nikkei Endowment for 
all its work to bring us together to reflect on this day. Thank you to 
all the partners who have and will continue to fight for the rights of 
every American. I stand with them in solidarity today and always.

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