III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 126 

Honoring Fred T. Korematsu for his loyalty and patriotism to the United 

States and expressing condolences to his family, friends, and supporters 

on his death. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2005 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. INOUYE, and Mr. STEVENS) submitted the 

following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring Fred T. Korematsu for his loyalty and patriotism 

to the United States and expressing condolences to his 

family, friends, and supporters on his death. 

Whereas on January 30, 1919, Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu 

was born in Oakland, California, to Japanese immigrants; 

Whereas Fred Korematsu graduated from Oakland High 

School and tried on 2 occasions to enlist in the United 

States Army but was not accepted due to a physical disability; 

Whereas on December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United 

States military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, forcing the 

United States to enter World War II against Japan, Germany, and Italy; 
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Whereas on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order number 9066 (42 Federal 

Register 1563) as ‘‘protection against espionage and 

against sabotage to national defense’’, which authorized 

the designation of ‘‘military areas . . . from which any 

or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to 

which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or 

leave shall be subject to whatever restriction the . . . Military Commander may impose in his discretion’’; 

Whereas the United States Army issued Civilian Exclusion 

Order Number 34, directing that after May 9, 1942, all 

persons of Japanese ancestry were to be removed from 

designated areas of the West Coast because they were 

considered to be a security threat; 

Whereas in response to that Civilian Exclusion Order, Fred 

Korematsu’s family reported to Tanforan, a former racetrack in the San Francisco area that was used as 1 of 

15 temporary detention centers, before being sent to an 

internment camp in Topaz, Utah; 

Whereas more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were similarly detained in 10 permanent War Relocation Authority 

camps located in isolated desert areas of the States of 

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, 

and Wyoming, without any charges brought or due process accorded; 

Whereas Fred Korematsu, then 22 years old and working as 

a shipyard welder in Oakland, California, refused to join 

his family in reporting to Tanforan, based on his belief 

that he was a loyal American and not a security threat; 

Whereas on May 30, 1942, Fred Korematsu was arrested 

and jailed for remaining in a military area, tried in 
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United States district court, found guilty of violating Civilian Exclusion Order Number 34, and sentenced to 5 

years of probation; 

Whereas Fred Korematsu unsuccessfully challenged that Civilian Exclusion Order as it applied to him, and appealed 

the decision of the district court to the United States 

Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where his conviction 

was sustained; 

Whereas Fred Korematsu was subsequently confined with his 

family in the internment camp in Topaz for 2 years, and 

during that time, he appealed his conviction to the 

United States Supreme Court; 

Whereas on December 18, 1944, the Supreme Court issued 

its decision in Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 

214, which upheld Fred Korematsu’s conviction by a vote 

of 6-to-3, based on the finding of the Supreme Court that 

Fred Korematsu was not removed from his home ‘‘because of hostility to him or his race’’ but because the 

United States was at war with Japan and the United 

States military ‘‘feared an invasion of our West Coast’’; 

Whereas Fred Korematsu continued to maintain his innocence for decades following World War II; 

Whereas, under section 552 of title 5, United States Code 

(commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’), 

an historian discovered numerous government documents 

indicating that, at the time Korematsu v. United States, 

323 U.S. 214, was decided, the Federal Government suppressed findings that Japanese Americans on the West 

Coast were not security threats; 

Whereas in light of this newly discovered information, Fred 

Korematsu filed a writ of error coram nobis with the 
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United States District Court for the Northern District of 

California; 

Whereas on November 10, 1983, United States District 

Judge Marilyn Hall Patel overturned Fred Korematsu’s 

conviction, concluding that senior government officials 

knew there was no factual basis for the claim of ‘‘military 

necessity’’ when they presented their case before the Supreme Court in 1944; 

Whereas in that decision, Judge Patel stated that, while 

Korematsu v. United States ‘‘remains on the pages of 

our legal and political history...[as] historical precedent it 

stands as a constant caution that in times of war or declared military necessity our institutions must be vigilant 

in protecting constitutional guarantees’’; 

Whereas the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, authorized by Congress in 1980 to review the facts and circumstances surrounding the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans under Executive Order Number 9066 (42 Federal Register 1563), 

concluded that ‘‘today the decision in Korematsu lies 

overruled in the court of history’’; 

Whereas the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians concluded that 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’’, and that those acts were ‘‘motivated largely by 

racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership’’; 
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Whereas the overturning of Fred Korematsu’s conviction and 

the findings of Commission on Wartime Relocation and 

Internment of Civilians influenced the decision by Congress to pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. 

App. 1989b et seq.) to request a Presidential apology and 

symbolic payment of compensation to persons of Japanese ancestry who lost liberty or property because of discriminatory action by the Federal Government; 

Whereas on August 10, 1988, President Reagan signed that 

Act into law, stating, ‘‘[H]ere we admit a wrong; here we 

reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice 

under the law’’; 

Whereas on January 15, 1998, President Clinton awarded 

the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the 

United States, to Fred Korematsu, stating, ‘‘In the long 

history of our country’s constant search for justice, some 

names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls: 

Plessy, Brown, Parks. To that distinguished list, today 

we add the name of Fred Korematsu.’’; 

Whereas Fred Korematsu remained a tireless advocate for 

civil liberties and justice throughout his life, particularly 

speaking out against racial discrimination and violence 

targeting Arab, Muslim, South Asian, and Sikh Americans in the wake of the September 11, 2001, tragedy, 

and cautioning the Federal Government against repeating 

mistakes of the past by singling out individuals for 

heightened scrutiny on the basis of race, ethnicity, or religion; 

Whereas on March 30, 2005, Fred Korematsu died at the 

age of 86 in Larkspur, California; and 
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Whereas Fred Korematsu was a role model for all Americans 

who love the United States and the promises contained 

in the Constitution, and his strength and perseverance 

serve as an inspiration for all people striving for equality 

and justice: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors Fred T. Korematsu for his loyalty 

3 and patriotism to the United States, his work to ad4 vocate for the civil rights and civil liberties of all 

5 Americans, and his dedication to justice and equal6 ity; and 

7 (2) expresses its deepest condolences to his 

8 family, friends, and supporters on his death. 

Æ