SENATE BILL REPORT

HB 1460

As Reported By Senate Committee On:

Government Operations & Elections, March 25, 2003

Title: An act relating to a Washington state day of remembrance.

Brief Description: Creating a Washington state day of civil liberties remembrance.

Sponsors: Representatives Pettigrew, Santos, Sullivan, Chase, Linville, Schual-Berke, Veloria, Rockefeller, Conway, Darneille, Wallace, Upthegrove, Kenney and McDermott.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Government Operations & Elections: 3/25/03 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ELECTIONS

Majority Report: Do pass.

      Signed by Senators Roach, Chair; Stevens, Vice Chair; Horn, Kastama and McCaslin.

Staff: Diane Smith (786-7410)

Background: Sixty-one years ago, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. This order authorized the military to: (1) designate military areas; and (2) remove any person considered a danger. On March 2, 1942, Lt. General John L. DeWitt, West Coast Commander U.S. Army, issued Public Proclamation No. 1 which designated the entire West Coast a restricted military area. The Army issued the first Civilian Exclusion Order for Japanese Americans on Bainbridge Island on March 24, 1942. By June 1942, more than 110,000 Japanese had been forced from their homes and into temporary assembly centers. Over 7,000 residents from Bellevue, Renton, Tukwila, Kent, Auburn, and Seattle were sent to Camp Harmony, a temporary assembly center on the grounds of the Puyallup Fair. From the temporary assembly centers, Japanese Americans were moved to ten camps scattered throughout the west. After the war, these Japanese Americans returned home. In 1988, HR 442 was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan which provided reparations for surviving internees. Beginning in 1990, $20,000 per person in redress payments was sent to all eligible Japanese Americans.

Summary of Bill: February 19 is recognized as Civil Liberties Day of Remembrance, but is not considered a legal holiday.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: This bill reminds our citizens of a fact of history that must not be forgotten.

Testimony Against: None.

Testified: Representative Pettigrew, prime sponsor (pro).