On the recordSeptember 21, 2010
Madam President, I wish to step back in history, if I may. On December 7, 1941, something terrible happened in Hawaii--Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. Three weeks later, the Government of the United States declared that all Japanese Americans, citizens born in the United States or of Japanese ancestry, were to be considered enemy aliens. As a result, like these undocumented people, they could not put on the uniform of this land. Well, I was 17 at that time, and naturally I resented this because I loved my country and I wanted to put on a uniform to show where my heart stood. But we were denied. So we petitioned the government, and a year later they said: OK, if you wish to volunteer, go ahead. Well, to make a long story short, the regiment I served in, made up of Japanese Americans, had the highest casualties in Europe but the most decorated in the history of the United States. I think the beneficiaries of the Senator from Illinois will do the same. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
