[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1110-E1111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE U.S.-JAPAN ALLIANCE AND CELEBRATING OUR JAPANESE AMERICAN 
                               COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 8, 2020

  Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the alliance between 
the United States and Japan and celebrate the extraordinary 
contributions of Japanese Americans across our country, especially in 
my home state of Hawaii.
  Seventy-five years ago, the Second World War finally ended when 
Japanese and Allied representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender 
on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri, the storied battleship that now 
rests in Pearl Harbor in my district. Three generations hence, Japan 
has become a crucial ally, economic power and trading partner to the 
United States and built a dynamic democratic society and vibrant 
popular culture. Our two countries and peoples stand united as anchors 
of peace, prosperity and the liberal international order in the Indo-
Pacific region.
  On November 18, 2020, the House unanimously passed H. Res. 349, 
reaffirming the vital role of the United States-Japan alliance in 
promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region 
and beyond, a resolution that I also proudly cosponsored. Amidst this 
COVID-19 pandemic, renewed great power competition and a world in flux, 
the alliance and friendship between the United States and Japan remains 
a pillar of stability. Whatever challenges lie ahead, I am confident 
that our two countries will stand together and overcome them.
  The memory of World War II also evokes one of the most shameful 
periods of our history as a country: the mass internment of Japanese 
Americans. Through Executive Order 9066 and other orders, the federal 
government forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 Japanese 
Americans, the majority of whom were U.S. citizens, in concentration 
camps.

[[Page E1111]]

  The year 2020 marks 40 years since the appointment of the Commission 
on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians by President Jimmy 
Carter in 1980. That Commission's report, entitled Personal Justice 
Denied, affirmed what we already knew: that the mass internment of 
Japanese Americans was the product of racism and not driven by any 
actual national security risk. In 1988, Congress passed, and President 
Ronald Reagan signed into law, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which 
formally apologized and established restitution for the internment of 
Japanese Americans.
  Yet from this dark period in our history emerged great acts of 
courage and patriotism that helped make our country a more perfect 
union. Just months after President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 
9066, thousands of Japanese Americans volunteered to join the war 
effort to join their comrades who had served earlier in the Hawaii 
National Guard, leading to formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion 
and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, later combined. Nicknamed the 
``Purple Heart Battalion,'' the 100th/442nd became the single-most 
decorated unit of its size in U.S. military history. Thousands more 
Japanese Americans served in the all-Japanese American 552nd Field 
Artillery Battalion and Japanese American Unit of the Military 
Intelligence Service.
  Last year, I had the honor of traveling to the town of Bruyeres, 
France, liberated by the 100th/442nd in the fall of 1944 at terrible 
cost, to represent our Congress at the 75th anniversary of liberation. 
There, I was moved by the powerful memory of these Japanese American 
soldiers, which included my wife's uncle, PFC Sadao Hikida, their 
courage and ferocity in freeing this town from Nazi oppression and 
rescuing the ``Lost Battalion'' and the enduring friendships they built 
with the people of Bruyeres.
  In Bruyeres, I also recounted the personal impact that two veterans 
of the 100th/442nd had on my own life and career. It was Journey to 
Washington, the memoir of Medal of Honor recipient and U.S. Senator 
Daniel K. Inouye, that first inspired me to consider a career in 
elected office. After graduating from college, I worked three years for 
Congressman (and later Senator) Spark Matsunaga, another veteran of the 
100th/442nd, who has served as a lifetime role model for me and so many 
others.
  The courage and patriotism of Japanese Americans also extended to the 
home front. Japanese American citizens fought against the injustice of 
Executive Order 9066 and challenged it in court, leading to the 
infamous Korematsu v. United States decision. That decision was only 
recently reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
  In the decades since, Japanese Americans have accomplished so much 
and contributed so greatly to our country through their service and 
achievements in government, the military, science and technology, arts 
and culture, business and more. I especially recognize the Japanese 
Americans of Hawaii who help make our home state the wonderfully rich 
and diverse place it is.
  I am proud to join my colleagues in this House in recognizing the 
U.S.-Japan alliance and commit myself to continued support for the 
historic friendship and amity between our peoples. And I am equally 
proud to represent and support the descendants of all those who came to 
this country from Japan in search of a better life, retaining the best 
of the rich cultural heritage of their ancestral country in generations 
of contribution and achievement since.

                          ____________________