Wartime Treatment Study Act

Bill: 109-s-1354
Sponsor: Sen. Feingold, Russell D. [D-WI]
Introduced: 2005-06-30 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Aggression
Armed Forces and National Security
Arrest
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Compensation (Law)
Concentration camps
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Deportation
Detention of persons
Directories
Europe
European American ethnic groups
Executive orders
Expropriation
Federal advisory bodies
Foreign agents
Genocide
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
History
International Affairs
Jewish holocaust (1939-1945)
Jews
Labor and Employment
Latin America
Latin Americans
Law
Legislation
Military personnel
Political persecution
President and foreign policy
Public meetings
Recruiting and enlistment
Refugees
Repatriation
Right of property
Right to travel
War
World War II

Summary:
action_date: 2005-06-30
text: 
Wartime Treatment Study Act - Establishes the Commission on Wartime Treatment of European Americans to review U.S. government wartime treatment (from September 1, 1939, through December 31, 1948) of European Americans and European Latin Americans. Requires the Commission to review: (1) civil liberties violations resulting from enforcement of the Alien Enemies Acts, Presidential Proclamations 2526, 2527, 2655, 2662, Executive Orders 9066 and 9095, and related directives pertaining to the registration, arrest, exclusion, internment, exchange, or deportation of European Americans and European Latin Americans; (2) U.S. government actions against European Americans under the Alien Enemies Acts and Executive Order 9066, including registration requirements, travel and property restrictions, internment, and forced abandonment of property; (3) participation by European Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces; and (4) appropriate remedies, including future protection of civil liberties during wartime.
 
 Establishes the Commission on Wartime Treatment of Jewish Refugees to review the U.S. government's refusal to allow entry into the United States of Jewish and other refugees fleeing persecution in Europe. Directs the Commission to include reviews of: (1) the rationale for such refusal, its perceived benefit, and its impact on refugees; and (2) federal refugee policy concerning those fleeing persecution or genocide.

action_date: 2005-11-17
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

 
Wartime Treatment Study Act - 
Title I: Commission On Wartime Treatment Of European Americans 
- (Sec. 101) Establishes a seven member Commission on Wartime Treatment of European Americans. Requires the Commission to include two members representing the interests of Italian Americans and two members representing the interests of German Americans. 
 
(Sec. 102) Directs the Commission to review U.S. government wartime treatment (from September 1, 1939, through December 31, 1948) of European Americans and European Latin Americans and include in such review: (1) civil liberties violations resulting from enforcement of the Alien Enemies Acts, Presidential Proclamations 2526, 2527, 2655, 2662, Executive Orders 9066 and 9095, and related directives pertaining to the registration, arrest, exclusion, internment, exchange, or deportation of European Americans and European Latin Americans; (2) U.S. government actions against European Americans under the Alien Enemies Acts and Executive Order 9066, including registration requirements, travel and property restrictions, internment, and forced abandonment of property; (3) participation by European Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces; and (4) appropriate remedies, including future protection of civil liberties during wartime. 
 
Requires the Commission to: (1) hold public hearings; and (2) submit a written report to Congress on its findings and recommendations. Terminates the Commission 60 days after it submits its report. Authorizes appropriations.
 

Title II: Commission On Wartime Treatment Of Jewish Refugees
 - (Sec. 201) Establishes a seven member Commission on Wartime Treatment of Jewish Refugees. Requires the Commission to include two members representing the interests of Jewish refugees. 
 
(Sec. 202) Directs the Commission to review the U.S. government's refusal to allow entry into the United States of Jewish and other refugees fleeing persecution in Europe between January 1, 1933, and December 31, 1945, including: (1) the underlying rationale for such refusal; (2) the perceived benefits of such refusal; (3) the impact of such refusal on the refugees; and (4) federal refugee policy, including recommendations for improving access of future victims of persecution or genocide to refuge in the United States. 
 
Requires the Commission to: (1) hold hearings; and (2) submit a written report to Congress on its findings and recommendations. Terminates the Commission 60 days after it submits its report to Congress. Authorizes appropriations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-11-17
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 296.
action_date: 2005-11-17
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Specter without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2005-11-17
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Specter without amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2005-11-17
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2005-06-30
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR 7/1/2005 S7838-7840)
action_date: 2005-06-30
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR 7/1/2005 S7837-7838)
action_date: 2005-06-30
text: Introduced in Senate