Dana Rohrabacher: “let me also note, and it is important for us to make this point because not only are we talking today to the Japanese…”

“let me also note, and it is important for us to make this point because not only are we talking today to the Japanese people and to the American people, we are talking about our relations between our countries and I do not want anyone to think that the American people or even this American thinks less of the Japanese people and that this is in some way anti-Japanese. The co-author of this bill, the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda), is one of two Japanese Americans who is a Member of Congress. The gentleman from California (Mr. Honda), during the Second World War, his family was interned during the Second World War here in the United States. The gentleman from California (Mr. Honda) is certainly not anti-Japanese whatsoever, and I do not consider myself anti-Japanese at all. I, in fact, lived in Japan when I was a younger person, and I visited Japan on numerous occasions. My family has many Japanese friends. This in no way is an attack on the Japanese people of today. What we are suggesting in H.R. 1198 is that there is a debt to be paid. Japanese corporations, as the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) has just stated, have a legal debt to pay and our State Department and our government should not be thwarting these heroic Americans in trying to go to court and receive justice that they deserve for being treated like they were by Japanese corporations during the Second World War. However, the Japanese people themselves did not commit these crimes today.”