Posted at 4:08 a.m., Thursday, January 25, 2007
Inouye introduces bill to investigate WWII internment
Associated Press
Sen. Daniel Inouye yesterday introduced a bill to create a commission to investigate the relocation, internment and deportation of Latin Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II and the late 1940s."They were taken from their homes in countries such as Brazil, Panama and Peru, stripped of their passports, involuntarily brought to the United States, and interned in American camps," Inouye, D-Hawaii, said in a news release issued by his Washington office.
"They apparently had only one purpose on U.S. soil — to be used for prisoner exchanges with Japan," he said.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, one of the co-sponsors of the legislation, said the panel will conduct a thorough examination of the largely unknown aspect of the internment of some 2,300 Latin Americans of Japanese ancestry.
"We are a great nation, and we should not be afraid of the lessons we can learn from the dark chapters of our history," Akaka said.
Inouye agreed.
"The lessons of history can be painful," he said. "But that pain can also strengthen our nation and our commitment to its democratic ideals, which include equal justice for all."
The other co-sponsors of the bill are Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Carl Levin, D-Mich., Robert Bennett, R-Utah, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.
The nine-member commission would be able to recommend remedies, if any, based on what it uncovered.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the internment of about 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry. They received a formal apology from President Ronald Reagan in 1988.
