Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. My legislation would make technical corrections to a 2008 law to reflect the renaming of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. I would also like to thank Chairman Bishop and Ranking Member Grijalva, as well as Chairman Hastings and Ranking Member DeFazio, for their efforts to move this legislation through their committee and ensure that Congress is properly recognizing this memorial. The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 included the site now known as the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial as a unit of a national historic site. The memorial was established to recognize the historical injustice that was committed against the Japanese American community on Bainbridge Island. In the wake of this surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, facing fears about potential threats among people of Japanese heritage, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, forcing more than 120,000 people with Japanese ancestry to leave their homes, leave their jobs, their neighbors, their friends, and their communities. They were forced to travel great distances in order to be held indefinitely in one of ten relocation centers. This order, now rightly denounced, first went into effect on March 30, 1942, when more than 200 residents of Bainbridge Island, Washington, were forced to leave their homes, gather at Eagledale Ferry Dock, and then were transported to a so-called relocation center.…”