IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 144 
Recognizing the importance of establishing a national ‘‘Fred Korematsu Day 
of Civil Liberties and the Constitution’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2017 
Mr. TAKANO (for himself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. AL GREEN of 
Texas, Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, Ms. HANABUSA, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LEE, Mr. 
TED LIEU of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MENG, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PETERS, Ms. SPEIER, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the importance of establishing a national ‘‘Fred 
Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution’’. 
Whereas Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu was born on January 
30, 1919, in Oakland, California, to Japanese immigrant 
parents; 
Whereas Fred Korematsu attempted to enlist in the United 
States National Guard and the United States Coast 
Guard after the United States entered World War II and 
was rejected because of his Japanese ancestry; 
Whereas after the signing of Executive Order 9066 on Feb-
ruary 19, 1942, by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 
which authorized the forced imprisonment of 120,000 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:53 Feb 17, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR144.IH
HR144
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
•HRES 144 IH 
people of Japanese descent into prison camps, the major-
ity of whom were American citizens, Fred Korematsu re-
sisted that infringement of American civil liberties and 
attempted to continue his life as an American citizen 
until he was arrested, convicted, and incarcerated at a 
concentration camp in Topaz, Utah; 
Whereas, in 1944, Fred Korematsu appealed his case to the 
United States Supreme Court, which ruled against him, 
declaring in Korematsu v. United States that Japanese 
incarceration was a ‘‘military necessity’’ rather than an 
egregious act of racial discrimination; 
Whereas, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter created the Com-
mission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civil-
ians (CWRIC), which concluded in 1983 that the forced 
removal and imprisonment of people of Japanese ancestry 
was motivated by ‘‘race prejudice, war hysteria, and a 
failure of political leadership’’; 
Whereas during this time, researchers at the University of 
California, San Diego uncovered documents from the 
United States Department of Justice in which intel-
ligence agencies, including the FBI, the FCC, and the 
Office of Naval Intelligence, denied that Japanese-Ameri-
cans ever committed wrongdoing, but which were never 
presented to the United States Supreme Court during 
Korematsu v. United States; 
Whereas following the conclusion of the Commission on War-
time Relocation and Internment of Civilians and the find-
ings on governmental misconduct, Fred Korematsu re-
opened his case, and on November 10, 1983, the United 
States District Court of Northern California in San 
Francisco overturned his conviction; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:53 Feb 17, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR144.IH
HR144
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS
•HRES 144 IH 
Whereas Fred Korematsu’s courageously fought injustice by 
challenging the constitutionality of Executive Order 
9066, and his lawsuit remains an important lesson about 
the fragility of individual civil liberties during a time 
when the Nation is experiencing threats to its national 
security; 
Whereas Fred Korematsu continued to fight injustice and de-
fend the liberties of Muslim people when, in 2003, he 
warned in an amicus brief that the United States ex-
treme national security measures following the terrorist 
attacks of September 11, 2001, were reminiscent of the 
mistakes of the past that undermined American civil lib-
erties, including the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, the 
suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War, the 
prosecution of dissenters during World War I, the Red 
Scare of 1919–1920, the interment of people of Japanese 
descent during World War II, and the era of loyalty 
oaths and McCarthyism during the Cold War; 
Whereas the United States is once again threatening Amer-
ican civil liberties in violation of the Constitution as a 
disproportionate reaction to the state of our national se-
curity; 
Whereas the democratic character of the American people will 
be nourished and enhanced by opportunities for civic edu-
cation on the significant challenges that have been posed 
to our Constitution; 
Whereas a day of annual national reflection on how the Fred 
Korematsu quest for justice is important to educating the 
American people about preserving civil liberties and the 
principle of equality before the law; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:53 Feb 17, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR144.IH
HR144
emcdonald on DSK9F6TC42PROD with BILLS