[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 26, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





COMMEMORATING THE JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZENS LEAGUE DAY OF REMEMBRANCE 
                          ON FEBRUARY 19, 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 26, 2019

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate February 
19th as a Day of Remembrance for the country and especially for the 
Japanese American community. On that day in 1942, the President of the 
United States signed and issued Executive Order 9066, an action which 
ordered the Secretary of War, ``to prescribe 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 restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate 
Military Commander may impose in his discretion.''
  Following this executive order, one of the darkest chapters in 
American history began as over 120,000 Japanese Americans throughout 
Washington, Oregon and California were summarily interned in prison 
camps. Those communities, uprooted until the end of World War II, were 
forced to abandon their lives as they left behind homes, jobs, friends 
and loved ones. No due process was granted and throughout the years of 
imprisonment, no one was charged or even convicted of any action that 
would have betrayed the country that they called home. Their only 
``crime'' was that they were of Japanese descent.
  As the Representative of California's 3rd District I am proud to 
recognize our local Japanese American Citizens League Chapter of 
Marysville, California. Over the past few days they have taken the 
opportunity to honor the memory of the hardship that was forced on 
Japanese Americans by engaging the community-at-large to educate their 
neighbors on the importance of defending the civil rights that are due 
every American citizen. I commend their work and aim to carry forward 
that very message.
  Especially at a time when our nation is so divided, it is important 
to spend this time remembering what happened on that day in 1942 and 
the dangers that come from ignoring our most basic civil rights 
guaranteed by the Constitution. I call on my fellow Americans to 
reflect on what took place during those terrible years and to fight to 
protect the rights of all Americans, no matter their heritage or race.

                          ____________________