Providing For Preservation Of Historic Confinement Sites
PROVIDING FOR PRESERVATION OF HISTORIC CONFINEMENT SITES -- (House of Representatives - December 05, 2006)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Guam for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II is a painful part of our past. The memories of the time that so many innocent Americans spent in stark and isolated camps continue to resonate today.
We honor the memories of those people not by forgetting what happened, nor do we honor them by proclaiming that such events could never occur in today's United States. Instead, we honor the past by preserving the sites where the internment took place. In doing so, we deepen our understanding of the internment, and we help educate future generations about how to avoid this recurrence.
Preserving these internment sites is a solemn task we all bear. That is why the legislation before us today is so important.
It directs the Federal Government to partner with local entities to identify and protect internment sites. In the process, it will help to demonstrate our country's commitment to equality, justice and liberty for all.
These are the founding principles of our Republic. We have no greater responsibility as Members of Congress than to protect and further these ideals. This legislation will help us do so by communicating the lessons of the internment to our children and grandchildren.
It has been a distinct pleasure of mine to collaborate with so many of my colleagues to bring this legislation to the House today. I would like to extend my special thanks to my colleague from California, Chairman Thomas; and, as he mentioned, he came to the class with my late husband, Bob. His leadership has been absolutely instrumental in helping to craft this bill and to advance it to the point of passage. I would also like to thank my dear colleague Mr. Honda for his tireless advocacy. He has proven to be a leader on internment preservation issues. He has shepherded this bill through the legislation process, and I truly appreciate his efforts. I am proud to stand with him and with Chairman Thomas as original cosponsors of this timely and necessarily legislation.
Let us pass it today so that those who come after us, like my two young grandchildren Anna and Robby, can visit the places where their grandparents, great grandparents, and great, great grandparents were wrongly imprisoned. Let us pass it today so that those who come after us will know the places where their ancestors struggled for freedom in the country that they loved, and let us pass it today so that those who come after us will have a physical reminder of what they will never allow to happen again.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov/