Madeleine Bordallo: “February 9th marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt…”

“February 9th marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which authorized the forcible removal of 120,000 Japanese Americans--two-thirds of whom were United States citizens and the remainder of whom were permanent residents--living in the western United States to internment camps throughout the country. Today I rise in strong support of House Resolution 122, which recognizes February 19th as the National Day of Remembrance of these acts of injustice committed against Japanese Americans and of the curtailing of the rights of Italian and German Americans in the United States. I urge my colleagues' support for this resolution. Nearly 3 months after the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor precipitated the United States' entrance into World War II, this executive order led to the incarceration and relocation of loyal Americans of Japanese descent. I stand here today to acknowledge the pain and suffering that they, along with many Italian Americans and German Americans, endured.”