H-3949

AN ACT Relating to providing educational and instructional materials about the experiences of persons of Japanese descent during World War II to K-12 and postsecondary students and other citizens of the state of Washington; adding new sections to chapter 28A.300 RCW; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) In order to adequately prepare our youth for their meaningful participation in our democratic institutions and processes, there must be strong educational resources aimed at teaching students and the public about the fragile nature of our constitutional rights.

(2) The federal commission on wartime relocation and internment of civilians was established by congress in 1980 to review the facts and circumstances surrounding executive order 9066, issued on February 19, 1942, and the impact of the executive order on American citizens and permanent residents, and to recommend appropriate remedies.

The commission of wartime relocation and internment of civilians issued a report of its findings in 1983 with the reports "Personal Justice Denied" and "Personal Justice Denied-Part II, Recommendations." The reports were based on information gathered through twenty days of hearings in cities across the country, particularly the West coast. Testimony was heard from more than seven hundred fifty witnesses, including evacuees, former government officials, public figures, interested citizens, historians, and other professionals who have studied the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

(3) The lessons to be learned from the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II are embodied in "Personal Justice Denied-Part II, Recommendations" which found that executive order 9066 was not justified by military necessity, and the decisions that followed from it were not founded upon military considerations. These decisions included the exclusion and detention of American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese descent. The broad historical causes that shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. Widespread ignorance about Americans of Japanese descent contributed to a policy conceived in haste and executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan. A grave personal injustice was done to the American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who, without individual review or any probative evidence against them were excluded, removed, and detained by the United States during World War II.

(4) A grave injustice was done to both citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during World War II. These actions were carried out without adequate security reasons and without any documented acts of espionage or sabotage, and were motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. The excluded individuals of Japanese ancestry suffered enormous damages, both material and intangible, and there were incalculable losses in education and job training, all of which resulted in significant human suffering for which appropriate compensation has not been made. For these fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights of these individuals of Japanese ancestry, the United States congress apologized on behalf of the nation in the federal civil liberties act of 1988.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The legislature intends to develop a grant program to fund public educational activities and development of educational materials to ensure that the events surrounding the exclusion, forced removal, and internment of civilians and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry will be remembered, and so that the causes and circumstances of this and similar events may be illuminated and understood.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. As used in chapter . . ., Laws of 2000 (this act), "program" means the Washington civil liberties public education program, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Consistent with the legislative findings in section 1 of this act, the legislature shall establish the Washington civil liberties public education program. The program provides grants for the purpose of establishing a legacy of remembrance as part of a continuing process of recovery from the World War II exclusion and detention of individuals of Japanese ancestry. The program is created to do one or both of the following:

(1) Educate the public regarding the history and the lessons of the World War II exclusion, removal, and detention of persons of Japanese ancestry through the development, coordination, and distribution of new educational materials and the development of curriculum materials to complement and augment resources currently available on this subject matter; and

(2) Develop videos, plays, presentations, speaker bureaus, and exhibitions for presentation to elementary schools, secondary schools, community colleges, and to other interested parties.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall allocate grants under the program established in chapter . . ., Laws of 2000 (this act). The grants shall be awarded on a competitive basis.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction may contract with independent review panelists and establish an advisory panel to evaluate and make recommendations to the state librarian based on grant applications.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall select grant recipients from applicants who meet all of the following criteria:

(a) The capability to administer and complete the proposed project within specified deadlines and within the specified budget;

(b) The experience, knowledge, and qualifications necessary to conduct quality educational activities regarding the exclusion and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II;

(c) Projects that link the Japanese-American exclusion and detention experience with the experiences of other populations so that the cause and circumstances of this and similar violations of civil rights or acts of injustice may be illuminated and understood;

(d) Projects that are designed to maximize the long-term educational impact of this chapter;

(e) Projects that build upon, contribute to, and expand upon the existing body of educational and research materials on the exclusion and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II; and

(f) Projects that include the variety of experiences regarding the exclusion and detention of Japanese-Americans and its impact before, during, and after World War II including those Japanese-Americans who served in the military and those who were interned in department of justice camps.

(4) Applicants for grants under the program are encouraged to do each of the following:

(a) Involve former detainees, those excluded from the military area, and their descendants in the development and implementation of projects;

(b) Develop a strategy and plan for raising the level of awareness and understanding among the American public regarding the exclusion and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II so that the causes and circumstances of this and similar events may be illuminated and understood;

(d) Develop local and regional consortia of organizations and individuals engaged in similar educational, research, and development efforts;

(e) Coordinate and collaborate with organizations and individuals engaging in similar educational, research, and development endeavors to maximize the effect of grants;

(f) Utilize creative and innovative methods and approaches in the research, development, and implementation of their projects;

(g) Seek matching funds, in-kind contributions, or other sources of support to supplement their proposal;

(h) Use a variety of media, including new technology, and the arts to creatively and strategically appeal to a broad American public while enhancing and enriching community-based educational efforts;

(i) Include in the grant application, scholarly inquiry related to the variety of experiences and impact of the exclusion and detention of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II, as well as its relationship to the experience of other populations so that the causes, circumstances, lessons, and contemporary applications of this and similar events will be illuminated and understood; and

(j) Add relevant materials to or catalogue relevant materials in libraries and other repositories for the creation, publication, and distribution of bibliographies, curriculum guides, oral histories, and other resource directories and supporting the continued development of scholarly work on this subject by making a broad range of archival, library, and research materials more accessible to the American public.

(5) The superintendent of public instruction may adopt other criteria as it deems appropriate for its review of grant proposals. In reviewing projects for funding, scoring shall be based on an evaluation of all application materials including narratives, attachments, support letters, supplementary materials, and other materials that may be requested of applicants.

(6)(a) In the review process, the superintendent of public instruction shall assign the following order of priority to the criteria set forth in subsection (3) of this section:

(i) Subsection (3)(a) through (d) of this section, inclusive, shall be given highest priority; and

(ii) Subsection (3)(e) through (f) of this section, inclusive, shall be given second priority.

(b) The superintendent of public instruction shall consider the overall breadth and variety of the field of applicants to determine the projects that would best fulfill its program and mission. Final grant awards may be for the full amount of the grant requests or for a portion of the grant request.

(7) Applicants for grants under the program may include any of the following:

(a) Nonprofit organizations exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code;

(b) Four-year colleges and universities, community colleges, and K‑12 public educational institutions;

(d) Individual artists, writers, journalists, scholars, and educators;

(e) Units of government; and

(f) Consortia composed of any of the entities described in (a) through (e) of this subsection, inclusive.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. On or before January 1, 2002, the superintendent of public instruction shall report to the governor and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of each house of the legislature on the types of grants awarded and the accomplishments of the program established under sections 1 through 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The sum of forty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, from the general fund to the office of the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. This act shall be known as the Washington civil liberties public education act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 1 through 6 and 8 of this act are each added to chapter 28A.300 RCW.