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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D.
3Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the
4forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 persons of
5Japanese ancestry living on the west coast; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In addition to property losses, the affected
7individuals suffered immeasurable damages that included the
8loss of freedom, the loss of personal dignity, the loss of
9income, and the disruption of careers and education, as well as
10the psychological trauma of having been wrongfully detained for
11periods of up to 4 years; and
 
12    WHEREAS, No charges of wrongdoing were ever filed against
13any Japanese-American residing in the security zone; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Japanese-Americans volunteered to serve in the
15100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and
16the Military Intelligence Service and demonstrated exemplary
17heroism and courage; the 442nd Regimental Combat Team became
18the most highly decorated unit in United States Army history,
19with the unit earning 21 Medals of Honor and the Congressional
20Gold Medal; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Nearly 40 years after Executive Order 9066 and

 

 

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1United States Supreme Court decisions upholding the
2convictions of Fred Korematsu, Minoru Yasui, and Gordon
3Hirabayashi for violations of curfew, it was discovered that
4officials from the United States Department of Justice altered
5and destroyed evidence regarding the loyalty of
6Japanese-Americans and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry
7and withheld information from the United States Supreme Court;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, On August 10, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed
10the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 into law, finding that
11Executive Order 9066 was not justified by national security and
12that the broad causes were wartime hysteria, racial prejudice,
13and a failure of political leadership; and
 
14    WHEREAS, February 19, 2014 marks the 72nd anniversary of
15the signing of Executive Order 9066, which initiated a grave
16injustice to Japanese-Americans, who, without individual
17review or any probative evidence against them, were excluded,
18removed, and detained by the United States government during
19World War II; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
21ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
22CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate February 19, 2014 as a Day
23of Remembrance in the State of Illinois in order to increase

 

 

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1public awareness of the forced removal and incarceration of
2Japanese-Americans during World War II.