WHEREAS, U.S. Congressman Howard Coble of North Carolina stated on a radio call-in program on February 4, 2003, that he agreed with the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II; and

WHEREAS, this statement was made when a caller suggested Arabs in the United States should be confined; and

WHEREAS, Congressman Coble explained his position by stating "they (Japanese Americans) were an endangered species... for many of these Japanese-Americans, it wasn’t safe for them to be on the street...like most Arab-Americans today, most Japanese-Americans during World War II were not America’s enemies some probably were intent on doing harm to us, just as some of these Arab-Americans are probably intent on doing harm to us;" and

WHEREAS, it is extremely troubling that Congressman Coble felt it justifiable that an entire ethnic group be interred on the basis that "some" were perceived to be "intent on doing us harm;" and

WHEREAS, not only is Congressman Coble a member of the highest policy-making body in the U.S. but is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security; and

WHEREAS, the people of Hawaii have an especially vivid recollection of the uprooting and confiscation of property of many relatives, friends, and acquaintances whose only crime was having the same ethnic make-up as our enemies at that time, the citizens of the nation of Japan; and

WHEREAS, March 2003 will mark the Sixtieth Anniversary of the forming of the 442^nd Regimental Combat Team, a combat organization made up of many Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJAs) whose fathers, mothers, wives, sons, daughters, and other loved ones were imprisoned behind barbed wire in desolate areas; and

WHEREAS, these AJAs whose relatives and friends were being unfairly incarcerated in internment camps amassed a record of heroism unparalleled in the annals of our military history, having a higher Purple Heart award rate than any other unit of comparable size; and

WHEREAS, the Japanese American Citizens League asked Congressman Coble to apologize and stated, "we are flabbergasted that a man who supports racial profiling and ethnic scapegoating chairs the subcommittee;" and

WHEREAS, during these difficult times, when this nation is under attack by individuals and groups that are difficult to identify and locate, we must be extremely careful that we do not undo the very protections that made this country the great nation that it is; and

WHEREAS, it is particularly troubling that someone in as critical a position as Congressman Coble is in harbors the kind of beliefs that he expressed on that radio talk show; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the Senate concurring, that the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is requested to educate and sensitize members of Congress on the unfortunate circumstances of the internment of civilians during World War II; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and to Hawaii's Congressional delegation.

Report Title:

Congressman Howard Coble