[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12485-12486]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       FORMAL OPENING OF THE NATIONAL JAPANESE AMERICAN MEMORIAL

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, earlier this afternoon, a few short blocks 
from this Chamber and in the shadow of the Capitol, hundreds of people 
gathered to celebrate the formal opening of the National Japanese 
American Memorial honoring the loyalty and courage of Japanese 
Americans during the Second World War.
  As a World War II veteran and a native of Hawaii, I am well-
acquainted with the exceptional contributions of Japanese Americans to 
the war effort, both at home and abroad. The battlefield exploits of 
the 442nd, 100th, and

[[Page 12486]]

the MIS immediately come to mind. Less known but equally deserving of 
recognition are the sacrifices of the civilian nisei on the homefront, 
who continued to support the war effort while enduring the prejudice of 
fellow citizens as well as the wholesale violation of their civil 
rights by the U.S. Government.
  This new memorial honors the valor and sacrifice of the hundreds of 
brave men who fought and died for their country, and it also speaks to 
the faith and perseverance of 120,000 Japanese Americans and nationals, 
who solely on the basis of race, regardless of citizenship or loyalty, 
without proof or justification, were denied their civil rights in what 
history will record as one of our Nation's most shameful acts. This 
memorial commemorates these events in our Nation's history. It will 
remind us of the consequences of allowing hysteria and racial prejudice 
to override constitutional rights, and, I hope, that we teach this 
lesson to our children to avoid a repetition of our mistakes.
  I congratulate the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation for 
the tremendous effort that went into organizing and building the 
Memorial to Patriotism. Thousands of Americans from around the country 
donated funds to build the memorial. Over 2,000 Hawaii residents 
contributed approximately $1 million to this worthy project. The 
completed memorial is both inspiration and educational. First and 
foremost, the memorial honors the memory of those who gave their lives 
in defense of our freedom and liberty and remembers all those who were 
dislocated or interned from 1942 to 1945. In addition, the memorial 
draws on a few striking elements to cause one to meditate on the 
wartime experiences of Japanese Americans. The crane sculpture by Nina 
Akamu, a Hawaii-born artist, speaks to the prejudice and injustice 
confronted by Japanese Americans, and in a larger context speaks to the 
resiliency of the human spirit over adversity. The bell created by Paul 
Matisse encourages reflection, its toll marking the struggle and 
sacrifice of Japanese Americans in our Nation's history and reminding 
us of our shared responsibility to defend the civil rights and 
liberties of all Americans.
  I would also like to congratulate our friend and colleague, the 
senior Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] and my friend, Secretary of 
Transportation Norm Mineta, a former Member of Congress, for their 
leadership in gaining Congressional authorization for the memorial and 
their support for the work of the National Japanese American Memorial 
Foundation.
  Today's formal opening of this Memorial to Patriotism by the National 
Japanese American Memorial Foundation in the Nation's capital is a 
timely and necessary endeavor, for it reminds us and future generations 
of Americans that courage, honor, and loyalty transcend race, culture, 
and ethnicity.

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