Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB338 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 338
5	5	To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Fred Korematsu,
6	6	in recognition of his contributions to civil rights, his loyalty and patriot-
7	7	ism to the United States, and his dedication to justice and equality.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	JANUARY30, 2025
10	10	Ms. H
11	11	IRONO(for herself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER,
12	12	Ms. C
13	13	ORTEZMASTO, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Ms. KLO-
14	14	BUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Ms.
15	15	S
16	16	MITH, Mr. WARNER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced
17	17	the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
18	18	on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
19	19	A BILL
20	20	To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Fred
21	21	Korematsu, in recognition of his contributions to civil
22	22	rights, his loyalty and patriotism to the United States,
23	23	and his dedication to justice and equality.
24	24	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
25	25	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
26	26	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
27	27	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fred Korematsu Con-4
28	28	gressional Gold Medal Act of 2025’’. 5
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32	32	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1
33	33	Congress finds the following: 2
34	34	(1) On January 30, 1919, Fred Toyosaburo 3
35	35	Korematsu was born in Oakland, California, to Jap-4
36	36	anese immigrants. 5
37	37	(2) Fred Korematsu graduated from 6
38	38	Castlemont High School in 1937 and attempted to 7
39	39	enlist in the military twice but was unable to do so 8
40	40	because his selective service classification was 9
41	41	changed to enemy alien, even though Fred 10
42	42	Korematsu was a United States citizen. 11
43	43	(3) Fred Korematsu trained as a welder and 12
44	44	worked as a foreman at the docks in Oakland until 13
45	45	the date on which he and all Japanese Americans 14
46	46	were fired. 15
47	47	(4) On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the 16
48	48	military base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing the 17
49	49	United States to declare war against Japan. 18
50	50	(5) On February 19, 1942, President Franklin 19
51	51	D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 (7 Fed. 20
52	52	Reg. 1407 (February 25, 1942)), which authorized 21
53	53	the Secretary of War to prescribe military areas— 22
54	54	(A) from which any or all people could be 23
55	55	excluded; and 24
56	56	(B) with respect to which, the right of any 25
57	57	person to enter, remain in, or leave would be 26
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61	61	subject to any restriction the Military Com-1
62	62	mander imposed in his discretion. 2
63	63	(6) On May 3, 1942, the Lieutenant General of 3
64	64	the Western Command of the Army issued Civilian 4
65	65	Exclusion Order 34 (May 3, 1942) (referred to in 5
66	66	this Act as the ‘‘Civilian Exclusion Order’’) directing 6
67	67	that all people of Japanese ancestry be removed 7
68	68	from designated areas of the West Coast after May 8
69	69	9, 1942, because people of Japanese ancestry in the 9
70	70	designated areas were considered to pose a threat to 10
71	71	national security. 11
72	72	(7) Fred Korematsu refused to comply with the 12
73	73	Civilian Exclusion Order and was arrested on May 13
74	74	30, 1942. 14
75	75	(8) After his arrest, Fred Korematsu— 15
76	76	(A) was held for 2
77	77	1
78	78	⁄2months in the Pre-16
79	79	sidio stockade in San Francisco, California; 17
80	80	(B) was convicted on September 8, 1942, 18
81	81	of violating the Civilian Exclusion Order and 19
82	82	sentenced to 5 years of probation; and 20
83	83	(C) was detained at Tanforan Assembly 21
84	84	Center, a former horse racetrack used as a 22
85	85	holding facility for Japanese Americans before 23
86	86	he was exiled with his family to the Topaz in-24
87	87	carceration camp in the State of Utah. 25
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91	91	(9) More than 120,000 Japanese Americans 1
92	92	were similarly detained, with no charges brought and 2
93	93	without due process, in 10 permanent War Reloca-3
94	94	tion Authority camps located in isolated desert areas 4
95	95	of the States of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colo-5
96	96	rado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. 6
97	97	(10) The people of the United States subject to 7
98	98	the Civilian Exclusion Order lost their homes, liveli-8
99	99	hoods, and the freedoms guaranteed to all people of 9
100	100	the United States. 10
101	101	(11) Fred Korematsu unsuccessfully challenged 11
102	102	the Civilian Exclusion Order as it applied to him 12
103	103	and appealed the decision of the United States Dis-13
104	104	trict Court to the United States Court of Appeals 14
105	105	for the Ninth Circuit, which sustained his conviction. 15
106	106	(12) Fred Korematsu was subsequently con-16
107	107	fined with his family in the incarceration camp in 17
108	108	Topaz, Utah, for 2 years, and during that time, 18
109	109	Fred Korematsu appealed his conviction to the Su-19
110	110	preme Court of the United States. 20
111	111	(13) On December 18, 1944, the Supreme 21
112	112	Court of the United States issued Korematsu v. 22
113	113	United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), which— 23
114	114	(A) upheld the conviction of Fred 24
115	115	Korematsu by a vote of 6 to 3; and 25
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119	119	(B) concluded that Fred Korematsu was 1
120	120	removed from his home not based on hostility 2
121	121	toward him or other Japanese Americans but 3
122	122	because the United States was at war with 4
123	123	Japan and the military feared a Japanese inva-5
124	124	sion of the West Coast. 6
125	125	(14) In his dissenting opinion in Korematsu v. 7
126	126	United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), Justice Frank 8
127	127	Murphy called the Civilian Exclusion Order the ‘‘le-9
128	128	galization of racism’’. 10
129	129	(15) Two other Supreme Court Justices dis-11
130	130	sented from the majority decision in Korematsu v. 12
131	131	United States, including Justice Robert H. Jackson 13
132	132	who described the validation of the principle of racial 14
133	133	discrimination as a ‘‘loaded weapon, ready for the 15
134	134	hand of any authority that can bring forward a 16
135	135	plausible claim of an urgent need’’. 17
136	136	(16) Fred Korematsu continued to maintain his 18
137	137	innocence for decades following World War II, and 19
138	138	his conviction hampered his ability to gain employ-20
139	139	ment. 21
140	140	(17) In 1982, legal historian Peter Irons and 22
141	141	researcher Aiko Yoshinaga-Herzig gained access to 23
142	142	Government documents under section 552 of title 5, 24
143	143	United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Free-25
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147	147	dom of Information Act’’), that indicate that while 1
148	148	the case of Fred Korematsu was before the Supreme 2
149	149	Court of the United States, the Federal Government 3
150	150	misled the Supreme Court of the United States and 4
151	151	suppressed findings that Japanese Americans on the 5
152	152	West Coast were not security threats. 6
153	153	(18) In light of the newly discovered informa-7
154	154	tion, Fred Korematsu filed a writ of error coram 8
155	155	nobis with the United States District Court for the 9
156	156	Northern District of California, and on November 10
157	157	10, 1983, United States District Judge Marilyn Hall 11
158	158	Patel issued her decision in Korematsu v. United 12
159	159	States, 584 F. Supp. 1406 (N.D. Cal. 1984), that— 13
160	160	(A) overturned the Federal conviction of 14
161	161	Fred Korematsu; 15
162	162	(B) concluded that, at the time that senior 16
163	163	Government officials presented their case before 17
164	164	the Supreme Court of the United States in 18
165	165	1944, the senior Government officials knew 19
166	166	there was no factual basis for the claim of mili-20
167	167	tary necessity for the Civil Exclusion Order; 21
168	168	(C) acknowledged that ‘‘the government 22
169	169	knowingly withheld information from the courts 23
170	170	when they were considering the critical question 24
171	171	of military necessity’’ in the original case; 25
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175	175	(D) recognized that ‘‘there is substantial 1
176	176	support in the record that the government de-2
177	177	liberately omitted relevant information and pro-3
178	178	vided misleading information in papers before 4
179	179	the court. The information was critical to the 5
180	180	court’s determination’’; and 6
181	181	(E) stated that although the decision of 7
182	182	the Supreme Court of the United States in 8
183	183	Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 9
184	184	(1944), remains on the pages of United States 10
185	185	legal and political history, ‘‘[a]s historical 11
186	186	precedent it stands as a constant caution that 12
187	187	in times of war or declared military necessity 13
188	188	our institutions must be vigilant in protecting 14
189	189	constitutional guarantees’’. 15
190	190	(19) The Commission on Wartime Relocation 16
191	191	and Internment of Civilians, authorized by Congress 17
192	192	in 1980 to review the facts and circumstances sur-18
193	193	rounding the relocation and incarceration of Japa-19
194	194	nese Americans under Executive Order 9066 (7 Fed. 20
195	195	Reg. 1407 (February 25, 1942)), concluded that— 21
196	196	(A) the decision of the Supreme Court of 22
197	197	the United States in Korematsu v. United 23
198	198	States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), is overruled by 24
199	199	the court of history; 25
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203	203	(B) a grave personal injustice was done to 1
204	204	the United States citizens and resident aliens of 2
205	205	Japanese ancestry who, without individual re-3
206	206	view or any probative evidence against them, 4
207	207	were excluded, removed, and detained by the 5
208	208	United States during World War II; and 6
209	209	(C) the exclusion, removal, and detention 7
210	210	of United States citizens and resident aliens of 8
211	211	Japanese ancestry were motivated largely by 9
212	212	‘‘racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a fail-10
213	213	ure of political leadership’’. 11
214	214	(20) The overturning of the conviction of Fred 12
215	215	Korematsu and the findings of the Commission on 13
216	216	Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in-14
217	217	fluenced the decision by Congress to pass the Civil 15
218	218	Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. 4211 et seq.) to 16
219	219	request a Presidential apology and the symbolic pay-17
220	220	ment of compensation to people of Japanese ances-18
221	221	try who lost liberty or property due to discriminatory 19
222	222	actions of the Federal Government. 20
223	223	(21) On August 10, 1988, President Reagan 21
224	224	signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (50 U.S.C. 22
225	225	4211 et seq.), stating, ‘‘[H]ere we admit a wrong; 23
226	226	here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to 24
227	227	equal justice under the law.’’. 25
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231	231	(22) On January 15, 1998, President Clinton 1
232	232	awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 2
233	233	highest civilian award of the United States, to Fred 3
234	234	Korematsu, stating, ‘‘[i]n the long history of our 4
235	235	country’s constant search for justice, some names of 5
236	236	ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls: Plessy, 6
237	237	Brown, Parks. To that distinguished list, today we 7
238	238	add the name of Fred Korematsu.’’. 8
239	239	(23) Fred Korematsu remained a tireless advo-9
240	240	cate for civil liberties and justice throughout his life 10
241	241	by— 11
242	242	(A) speaking out against racial discrimina-12
243	243	tion and violence; and 13
244	244	(B) cautioning the Federal Government 14
245	245	against repeating mistakes of the past that sin-15
246	246	gled out individuals for heightened scrutiny on 16
247	247	the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or reli-17
248	248	gion. 18
249	249	(24) On March 30, 2005, Fred Korematsu died 19
250	250	at the age of 86 in Marin County, California. 20
251	251	(25) Fred Korematsu is a role model for all 21
252	252	people of the United States who love the United 22
253	253	States and the promises contained in the Constitu-23
254	254	tion of the United States, and the strength and per-24
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258	258	severance of Fred Korematsu serve as an inspiration 1
259	259	for all people who strive for equality and justice. 2
260	260	SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 3
261	261	(a) P
262	262	RESENTATIONAUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 4
263	263	the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-5
264	264	pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 6
265	265	for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 7
266	266	of a single gold medal of appropriate design in commemo-8
267	267	ration to Fred Korematsu, in recognition of his contribu-9
268	268	tions to civil rights, his loyalty and patriotism to the 10
269	269	United States, and his dedication to justice and equality. 11
270	270	(b) D
271	271	ESIGN ANDSTRIKING.—For purposes of the 12
272	272	presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 13
273	273	of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-14
274	274	retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 15
275	275	devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec-16
276	276	retary. The design shall bear an image of, and inscription 17
277	277	of the name of, ‘‘Fred Korematsu’’. 18
278	278	(c) S
279	279	MITHSONIANINSTITUTION.— 19
280	280	(1) I
281	281	N GENERAL.—Following the award of the 20
282	282	gold medal in honor of Fred Korematsu, the gold 21
283	283	medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 22
284	284	where it will be available for display as appropriate 23
285	285	and available for research. 24
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289	289	(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS .—It is the sense of 1
290	290	Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 2
291	291	make the gold medal awarded pursuant to this Act 3
292	292	available for display elsewhere, particularly at the 4
293	293	National Portrait Gallery, and that preference 5
294	294	should be given to locations affiliated with the 6
295	295	Smithsonian Institution. 7
296	296	SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 8
297	297	The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 9
298	298	bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 10
299	299	sufficient to cover the costs thereof, including labor, mate-11
300	300	rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 12
301	301	SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 13
302	302	(a) N
303	303	ATIONALMEDALS.—Medals struck pursuant to 14
304	304	this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 15
305	305	of title 31, United States Code. 16
306	306	(b) N
307	307	UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 17
308	308	5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 18
309	309	struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 19
310	310	items. 20
311	311	SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 21
312	312	SALE. 22
313	313	(a) A
314	314	UTHORITYTOUSEFUNDAMOUNTS.—There is 23
315	315	authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 24
316	316	Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-25
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320	320	essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 1
321	321	this Act. 2
322	322	(b) P
323	323	ROCEEDS OFSALE.—Amounts received from the 3
324	324	sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4
325	325	4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 5
326	326	Enterprise Fund. 6
327	327	Æ
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