I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 619
To allow certain individuals of Japanese ancestry who were brought forcibly
to the United States from countries in Latin America during World
War II and were interned in the United States to be provided restitution
under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
Mr. BECERRA (for himself, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. WU, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr.
FRANK, Mr. STARK, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. UNDER-
WOOD, Mr. FILNER, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California,
Ms. LEE, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. HORN, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. BACA,
Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. REYES, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. NADLER,
Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. GUTIERREZ,
Ms. WATERS, and Mr. HONDA) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To allow certain individuals of Japanese ancestry who were
brought forcibly to the United States from countries
in Latin America during World War II and were interned
in the United States to be provided restitution under
the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wartime Parity and
Justice Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS UNDER
CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT OF 1988.
(a) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of the Civil Liberties
Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. App. 1989 and following), the fol-
lowing individuals shall be deemed to be eligible individ-
uals:
(1) An individual who—
(A) is of Japanese ancestry, or is the
spouse or parent of an individual of Japanese
ancestry;
(B) was brought forcibly to the United
States from a country in Central America or
South America during the evacuation, reloca-
tion, and internment period;
(C) was living on August 10, 1988;
(D) otherwise meets the requirements of
subparagraph (B)(i) of section 108(2) of the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. App.
1989b–7(2)(B)(i)); and
(E) subject to section 4(f) of this Act, has
not otherwise received payment under the Civil
Liberties Act of 1988.
(2) An individual who was an eligible individual
under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 before the en-
actment of this Act and who was eligible for, but did
not receive, payment under that Act prior to the ter-
mination of the Civil Liberties Public Education
Fund under section 104(d) of that Act.
(3) An individual who—
(A) was born to an eligible individual
under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 during
the period beginning on January 20, 1945, and
ending on February 29, 1948, at a place in
which the eligible individual was confined, held
in custody, relocated, or otherwise located dur-
ing the evacuation, relocation, or internment pe-
riod; and
(B) was living on August 10, 1988.
(4)(A) An individual of Japanese ancestry who,
during the evacuation, relocation, or internment
period—
(i) was a United States citizen or a perma-
nent resident alien;
(ii) whose employment with a railroad or
mining company was terminated on account of
the individual’s Japanese ancestry; and
(iii) was living on August 10, 1988.
(B) An individual who—
(i) during the evacuation, relocation, or in-
ternment period, was a dependent child of an
individual described in subparagraph (A); and
(ii) was living on August 10, 1988.
(5) An individual of Japanese ancestry who—
(A) meets the requirements of paragraph
(2) of section 108(2) of the Civil Liberties Act
of 1988, other than subparagraph (A) of that
paragraph; and
(B) was legally in the United States during
the evacuation, relocation, or internment period
but was made ineligible for United States citi-
zenship or permanent residence status by law
enacted prior thereto, on account of the individ-
ual’s Japanese ancestry.
(b) PRISONER EXCHANGES.—An individual shall not
be precluded from being an eligible individual under sub-
section (a) if that individual was sent by the United States
to Japan or territories occupied by Japan at any time dur-
ing the period beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending
on September 2, 1945, in exchange for prisoners held by
Japan.
SEC. 3. APOLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES.
The United States apologizes to those individuals de-
scribed in section 2(a) for the fundamental violations of
their basic civil liberties and constitutional rights com-
mitted during the evacuation, relocation, or internment
period. The President should transmit to each such indi-
vidual a personal letter of apology on behalf of the United
States.
SEC. 4. PROCEDURES.
(a) APPLICABILITY OF PROVISIONS OF THE CIVIL
LIBERTIES ACT.—Except as otherwise provided in this
section, the provisions of section 105 of the Civil Liberties
Act of 1988 shall apply with respect to eligible individuals
under section 2 of this Act.
(b) RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
THE ATTORNEY GEN-
ERAL.—The Attorney General shall have the responsibility
to identify and locate, without requiring any application
for payment and using records already in possession of
the United States Government, eligible individuals under
section 2, within 12 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. Failure to be identified and located with-
in that 12-month period shall not preclude an eligible indi-
vidual under section 2 from receiving payment under the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
(c) NOTIFICATION BY ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—Any
eligible individual under section 2 may notify the Attorney
against the United States for acts described in section
108(2)(B) of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 or section
2(a)(1)(B) of this Act, may receive payment under the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988, except that any amount pay-
able to such individual, spouse, child, or parent under sec-
tion 105(a)(1) of that Act shall be reduced by the amount
of any payment received pursuant to such final judgment
or settlement.
SEC. 5. CORRECTION OF IMMIGRATION STATUS.
Those individuals described in paragraph (1) of sec-
tion 2(a) shall not be considered to have been present in
the United States unlawfully during the evacuation, relo-
cation, or internment period. Each department or agency
of the United States shall take the necessary steps to cor-
rect any records over which that department or agency
has jurisdiction that indicate that such individuals were
in the United States unlawfully during such period.
SEC. 6. FULL DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.
(a) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
OF INFORMATION.—The
appropriate departments and agencies of the United
States shall disclose to the public all information (other
than information which may not be disclosed under other
provisions of law) relating to the forcible removal of indi-
viduals from Central and South America during the evacu-
ation, relocation, or internment period and the internment
of those individuals in the United States during that pe-
riod, including information on individuals whose location
is unknown.
(b) SHARING OF INFORMATION WITH OTHER COUN-
TRIES.—The President shall take the necessary steps to
share information described in subsection (a) with other
countries and encourage those countries to make that in-
formation available to people in those countries.
SEC. 7. TRUST FUND.
(a) REESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—The Civil Lib-
erties Public Education Fund (in this Act referred to as
the ‘‘Fund’’) is reestablished in the Treasury of the United
States, and shall be administered by the Secretary of the
Treasury.
(b) INVESTMENT
OF AMOUNTS
IN
THE FUND.—
Amounts in the Fund shall be invested in accordance with
section 9702 of title 31, United States Code.
(c) USES OF THE FUND.—Amounts in the Fund shall
be available only—
(1) for disbursement of payments by the Attor-
ney General, under section 105 of the Civil Liberties
Act of 1988 and this Act, to eligible individuals
under section 2 of this Act; and
(2) for disbursement by the Board of Directors
of the Fund under section 8 of this Act.
(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund—
(1) such sums as may be necessary to carry out
paragraph (1) of subsection (b); and
(2) $45,000,000 for disbursements by the
Board of Directors of the Fund under section 8.
SEC. 8. BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE FUND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Civil
Liberties Public Education Fund Board of Directors,
which shall be responsible for making disbursements from
the Fund in the manner provided in this section.
(b) USES OF THE FUND.—The Board may make dis-
bursements from the Fund only—
(1) to sponsor research and public education ac-
tivities so that events surrounding the evacuation,
relocation, and internment of individuals of Japa-
nese ancestry will be remembered, and so that the
causes and circumstances of this and similar events
may be illuminated and understood; and
(2) for reasonable administrative expenses of
the Board, including compensation and expenses of
the members and staff of the Board and payment
for administrative support services.
(c) MEMBERSHIP, STAFF, ETC.—The provisions of
subsections (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g) of section 106 of the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. App. 1989b–5 (c),
(d), (e), (f), and (g)) shall apply to the Board of the Fund
to the same extent as they applied to the Board estab-
lished under that section.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the terms ‘‘evacuation, relocation, or in-
ternment period’’ and ‘‘permanent resident alien’’ have the
meanings given those terms in section 108 of the Civil Lib-
erties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. App. 1989b–7).
Æ