RELEASED BY THE OFFICE OF SENATOR DANIEL K. INOUYE:

WASHINGTON - A Senate committee today approved legislation authored by U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye that would create a commission to determine the facts and circumstances involving the relocation, internment, and deportation of Latin Americans of Japanese descent during World War II and the late 1940s.

As a result of the approval by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the bill, S. 381, now advances to the full Senate.

Senator Inouye's bill would establish a nine-member Commission. The President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the president pro tempore of the Senate would each appoint three members.

The panel would have the power to hold public hearings, receive evidence, and give testimony. It will be able to recommend remedies, if any, based on what it uncovers.

"In 1980, the Congress established the fact-finding Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, which made widely known the story of American citizens of Japanese ancestry who were forced from their homes on the West Coast, and confined in camps in desolate parts of the United States," said Senator Inouye. "That was a painful exercise because we learned that the U.S. government, in its treatment of its own citizens of Japanese ancestry, failed to uphold our nation's democratic ideals in the face of wartime hysteria. The Commission's report, however, led our government to take the bold and honorable step of apologizing for the massive wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans.

"From what I have learned so far, Latin Americans of Japanese descent were taken from their home countries, stripped of their passports, involuntarily brought to the United States, and confined in camps for apparently one purpose only: to be used for prisoner exchanges with Japan. Determining the facts of this history is both important and difficult. But the truth, no matter how painful, can also strengthen our commitment to America's democratic principles."

Senator Daniel K. Akaka, the No. 2 Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and an original cosponsor of the measure, added: "It is only right that the circumstances surrounding the involuntary internment of more than 2,000 Latin Americans of Japanese descent in this country during World War II be reviewed by an independent, public Commission. School children in the U.S. learn about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, but the details of the internment of Latin Americans of Japanese descent remain relatively unknown. Moving forward with this Commission would bring closure to these individuals."

In addition to Senator Akaka, the other original cosponsors of the Inouye-authored bill are Senators Robert F. Bennett of Utah, Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Carl Levin of Michigan, and Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens, both of Alaska.

Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and Thomas R. Carper, both of Delaware, Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, and Bernard Sanders of Vermont are cosponsors.

-30-