Bill Lee: “I wish to speak for a few minutes about an amendment I have offered to the National Defense Authorization Act. The name…”

“I wish to speak for a few minutes about an amendment I have offered to the National Defense Authorization Act. The name of this amendment is the Due Process Guarantee Act. Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist No. 84, called arbitrary imprisonment one of the ``favorite and most formidable instruments of tyrants.'' The Constitution includes safeguards against this form of tyranny, including the right of habeas corpus and the guarantee that American citizens will not be deprived of life, liberty, or property by the government without due process of law. Our commitment to these rights is tested from time to time. It is most tested in times of crisis. We have not always passed these tests. During the Second World War, President Franklin D. Roosevelt unilaterally authorized the internment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans for fear they would spy against the United States. The government presented no evidence that these Americans posed any threat to their country because the government had no evidence. Most of the detainees were themselves native-born citizens of the United States of America. Many had never even visited Japan during their entire lives. That episode in our Nation's history is sadly personal to the State I represent. The U.S. Government unjustly detained thousands of Japanese Americans in Utah at the Topaz War Relocation Center.…”