II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 137 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Fred Korematsu, 

in recognition of his contributions to civil rights, his loyalty and patriotism to the United States, and his dedication to justice and equality. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2023 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CASEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Fred 

Korematsu, in recognition of his contributions to civil 

rights, his loyalty and patriotism to the United States, 

and his dedication to justice and equality. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fred Korematsu Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) On January 30, 1919, Fred Toyosaburo 

4 Korematsu was born in Oakland, California, to Jap5 anese immigrants. 

6 (2) Fred Korematsu graduated from 

7 Castlemont High School in 1937 and attempted to 

8 enlist in the military twice but was unable to do so 

9 because his selective service classification was 

10 changed to enemy alien, even though Fred 

11 Korematsu was a United States citizen. 

12 (3) Fred Korematsu trained as a welder and 

13 worked as a foreman at the docks in Oakland until 

14 the date on which he and all Japanese Americans 

15 were fired. 

16 (4) On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the 

17 military base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing the 

18 United States to declare war against Japan. 

19 (5) On February 19, 1942, President Franklin 

20 D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 (7 Fed. 

21 Reg. 1407 (February 25, 1942)), which authorized 

22 the Secretary of War to prescribe military areas— 

23 (A) from which any or all people could be 

24 excluded; and 

25 (B) with respect to which, the right of any 

26 person to enter, remain in, or leave would be 


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1 subject to any restriction the Military Com2 mander imposed in his discretion. 

3 (6) On May 3, 1942, the Lieutenant General of 

4 the Western Command of the Army issued Civilian 

5 Exclusion Order 34 (May 3, 1942) (referred to in 

6 this Act as the ‘‘Civilian Exclusion Order’’) directing 

7 that all people of Japanese ancestry be removed 

8 from designated areas of the West Coast after May 

9 9, 1942, because people of Japanese ancestry in the 

10 designated areas were considered to pose a threat to 

11 national security. 

12 (7) Fred Korematsu refused to comply with the 

13 Civilian Exclusion Order and was arrested on May 

14 30, 1942. 

15 (8) After his arrest, Fred Korematsu— 

(A) was held for 21 16 ⁄2 months in the Pre17 sidio stockade in San Francisco, California; 

18 (B) was convicted on September 8, 1942, 

19 of violating the Civilian Exclusion Order and 

20 sentenced to 5 years of probation; and 

21 (C) was detained at Tanforan Assembly 

22 Center, a former horse racetrack used as a 

23 holding facility for Japanese Americans before 

24 he was exiled with his family to the Topaz in25 carceration camp in the State of Utah. 


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1 (9) More than 120,000 Japanese Americans 

2 were similarly detained, with no charges brought and 

3 without due process, in 10 permanent War Reloca4 tion Authority camps located in isolated desert areas 

5 of the States of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colo6 rado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. 

7 (10) The people of the United States subject to 

8 the Civilian Exclusion Order lost their homes, liveli9 hoods, and the freedoms guaranteed to all people of 

10 the United States. 

11 (11) Fred Korematsu unsuccessfully challenged 

12 the Civilian Exclusion Order as it applied to him 

13 and appealed the decision of the United States Dis14 trict Court to the United States Court of Appeals 

15 for the Ninth Circuit, which sustained his conviction. 

16 (12) Fred Korematsu was subsequently con17 fined with his family in the incarceration camp in 

18 Topaz, Utah, for 2 years, and during that time, 

19 Fred Korematsu appealed his conviction to the Su20 preme Court of the United States. 

21 (13) On December 18, 1944, the Supreme 

22 Court of the United States issued Korematsu v. 

23 United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), which— 

24 (A) upheld the conviction of Fred 

25 Korematsu by a vote of 6 to 3; and 


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1 (B) concluded that Fred Korematsu was 

2 removed from his home not based on hostility 

3 toward him or other Japanese Americans but 

4 because the United States was at war with 

5 Japan and the military feared a Japanese inva6 sion of the West Coast. 

7 (14) In his dissenting opinion in Korematsu v. 

8 United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), Justice Frank 

9 Murphy called the Civilian Exclusion Order the ‘‘le10 galization of racism’’. 

11 (15) Two other Supreme Court Justices dis12 sented from the majority decision in Korematsu v. 

13 United States, including Justice Jackson who de14 scribed the validation of the principle of racial dis15 crimination as a ‘‘loaded weapon, ready for the hand 

16 of any authority that can bring forward a plausible 

17 claim of an urgent need’’. 

18 (16) Fred Korematsu continued to maintain his 

19 innocence for decades following World War II, and 

20 his conviction hampered his ability to gain employ21 ment. 

22 (17) In 1982, legal historian Peter Irons and 

23 researcher Aiko Yoshinaga-Herzig gained access to 

24 Government documents under section 552 of title 5, 

25 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘FreeVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S137.IS S137

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1 dom of Information Act’’), that indicate that while 

2 the case of Fred Korematsu was before the Supreme 

3 Court of the United States, the Federal Government 

4 misled the Supreme Court of the United States and 

5 suppressed findings that Japanese Americans on the 

6 West Coast were not security threats. 

7 (18) In light of the newly discovered informa8 tion, Fred Korematsu filed a writ of error coram 

9 nobis with the United States District Court for the 

10 Northern District of California, and on November 

11 10, 1983, United States District Judge Marilyn Hall 

12 Patel issued her decision in Korematsu v. United 

13 States, 584 F. Supp. 1406 (N.D. Cal. 1984), that— 

14 (A) overturned the Federal conviction of 

15 Fred Korematsu; 

16 (B) concluded that, at the time that senior 

17 Government officials presented their case before 

18 the Supreme Court of the United States in 

19 1944, the senior Government officials knew 

20 there was no factual basis for the claim of mili21 tary necessity for the Civil Exclusion Order; 

22 (C) acknowledged that ‘‘the government 

23 knowingly withheld information from the courts 

24 when they were considering the critical question 

25 of military necessity’’ in the original case; 


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1 (D) recognized that ‘‘there is substantial 

2 support in the record that the government de3 liberately omitted relevant information and pro4 vided misleading information in papers before 

5 the court. The information was critical to the 

6 court’s determination’’; and 

7 (E) stated that although the decision of 

8 the Supreme Court of the United States in 

9 Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 

10 (1944), remains on the pages of United States 

11 legal and political history, ‘‘[a]s historical 

12 precedent it stands as a constant caution that 

13 in times of war or declared military necessity 

14 our institutions must be vigilant in protecting 

15 constitutional guarantees’’. 

16 (19) The Commission on Wartime Relocation 

17 and Internment of Civilians, authorized by Congress 

18 in 1980 to review the facts and circumstances sur19 rounding the relocation and incarceration of Japa20 nese Americans under Executive Order 9066 (7 Fed. 

21 Reg. 1407 (February 25, 1942)), concluded that— 

22 (A) the decision of the Supreme Court of 

23 the United States in Korematsu v. United 

24 States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), is overruled by 

25 the court of history; 


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1 (B) a grave personal injustice was done to 

2 the United States citizens and resident aliens of 

3 Japanese ancestry who, without individual re4 view or any probative evidence against them, 

5 were excluded, removed, and detained by the 

6 United States during World War II; and 

7 (C) the exclusion, removal, and detention 

8 of United States citizens and resident aliens of 

9 Japanese ancestry were motivated largely by 

10 ‘‘racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a fail11 ure of political leadership’’. 

12 (20) The overturning of the conviction of Fred 

13 Korematsu and the findings of the Commission on 

14 Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in15 fluenced the decision by Congress to pass the Civil 

16 Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. 4211 et seq.) to 

17 request a Presidential apology and the symbolic pay18 ment of compensation to people of Japanese ances19 try who lost liberty or property due to discriminatory 

20 actions of the Federal Government. 

21 (21) On August 10, 1988, President Reagan 

22 signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. 

23 4211 et seq.), stating, ‘‘[H]ere we admit a wrong; 

24 here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to 

25 equal justice under the law.’’. 


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1 (22) On January 15, 1998, President Clinton 

2 awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 

3 highest civilian award of the United States, to Fred 

4 Korematsu, stating, ‘‘[i]n the long history of our 

5 country’s constant search for justice, some names of 

6 ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls: Plessy, 

7 Brown, Parks. To that distinguished list, today we 

8 add the name of Fred Korematsu.’’. 

9 (23) Fred Korematsu remained a tireless advo10 cate for civil liberties and justice throughout his life 

11 by— 

12 (A) speaking out against racial discrimina13 tion and violence; and 

14 (B) cautioning the Federal Government 

15 against repeating mistakes of the past that sin16 gled out individuals for heightened scrutiny on 

17 the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or reli18 gion. 

19 (24) On March 30, 2005, Fred Korematsu died 

20 at the age of 86 in Marin County, California. 

21 (25) Fred Korematsu is a role model for all 

22 people of the United States who love the United 

23 States and the promises contained in the Constitu24 tion of the United States, and the strength and perVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S137.IS S137

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1 severance of Fred Korematsu serve as an inspiration 

2 for all people who strive for equality and justice. 

3 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

4 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

5 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem6 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

7 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 

8 of a single gold medal of appropriate design in commemo9 ration to Fred Korematsu, in recognition of his contribu10 tions to civil rights, his loyalty and patriotism to the 

11 United States, and his dedication to justice and equality. 

12 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

13 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

14 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec15 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

16 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec17 retary. The design shall bear an image of, and inscription 

18 of the name of, ‘‘Fred Korematsu’’. 

19 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

21 gold medal in honor of Fred Korematsu, the gold 

22 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 

23 where it will be available for display as appropriate 

24 and available for research. 


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1 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

2 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

3 make the gold medal awarded pursuant to this Act 

4 available for display elsewhere, particularly at the 

5 National Portrait Gallery, and that preference 

6 should be given to locations affiliated with the 

7 Smithsonian Institution. 

8 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

9 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

10 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 

11 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

12 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

13 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

14 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck pursuant to 

15 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

16 of title 31, United States Code. 

17 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

18 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

19 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

20 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

21 SALE. 

22 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

23 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

24 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S137.IS S137

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1 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

2 this Act. 

3 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

4 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

5 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

6 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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