Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 73
CHAPTER 81
Relative to amending the regulations implementing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 11, 1996.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 73, Caldera.
Civil Liberties Act of 1988: regulations.
This measure would respectfully urge the United States Attorney General to take administrative action, if possible, to adopt proposed amendments to the regulations implementing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to redress United States citizens who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps as minors during World War II, and in the event that the administrative action taken to amend the regulations of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 does not provide the remedy sought, this measure would also respectfully memorialize the President and the Congress of the United States to amend the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to permit United States citizens who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps as minors during World War II to be eligible for redress and reparations.
Digest Key
WHEREAS, The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provides redress in the form of a letter of apology from the United States government and the award of a restitution of $20,000 to each individual of Japanese ancestry who was interned or otherwise deprived of liberty or property during World War II, but denies redress to any person who was relocated to a country with which the United States was at war; and
WHEREAS, The Office of Redress Administration (ORA) has reconsidered the case of minors who were relocated to Japan during World War II since these minors did not have the capacity to choose freely to relocate to Japan and has proposed to amend the regulations that would make minors who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps during World War II eligible for redress and reparations under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988; and
WHEREAS, The National Coalition for the Redress Reparations (NCRR) has urged the United States Attorney General to take administrative action to amend the regulations of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to redress United States citizens who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps as minors during World War II; and
WHEREAS, The United States Attorney General has subsequently proposed a change to the regulations of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, to make eligible for payments of $20,000 those persons who are otherwise eligible for redress under the regulations, but who involuntarily relocated during World War II to a country with which the United States was at war; and
WHEREAS, The minors who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps during World War II were unfortunate victims in a hostage exchange program since they were shipped to India and then transferred to a Japanese vessel to serve our national interest in an exchange with Japan to bring home “white” American tourists and businessmen who were held in concentration camps in Asia; and
WHEREAS, Persons who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps as minors during World War II should be redressed for their forced evacuation, the loss of liberty and property, their confinement in America’s internment camps, and the violation of their constitutional rights; and
WHEREAS, The minors who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps during World War II were victims of racism, wartime hysteria, and the failure of political leadership; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges the United States Attorney General to take administrative action, if possible, to adopt the proposed amendments to the regulations of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to redress United States citizens who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps as minors during World War II; and be it further
Resolved, That in the event that the administrative action taken to amend the regulations of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 does not provide the remedy sought, the Legislature respectfully memorializes the President and the Congress of the United States to amend the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to permit United States citizens who were relocated to Japan from America’s internment camps as minors during World War II to be eligible for redress and reparations; and be if further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United States, to the Congress of the United States, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, to the Attorney General of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.