As Asian Americans nationwide face discrimination and violent attacks, the community and advocates alike are demanding action be taken. In efforts to combat hate against Asian Americans, the House passed legislation on Wednesday to preserve the sites of Japanese American internment camps during World War II. This effort will promote education about the history of violence Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have faced and the imprisonment that occurred after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The vote for the legislation passed 406-16 and came around the one-year anniversary of the Atlanta shooting in which at least six Asian American women were killed. Additionally, according to The Hill, the vote follows the anniversary of when former President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order that led to about 120,000 people of Japanese descent being forced to live in detention camps until the end of World War II.
If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill known as the “Japanese American World War II History Network” would also direct the National Park Service to oversee the program in order to expand educational opportunities about internment camps across the country.
"Many of the U.S. government's activities during World War II were done in secrecy and were not accurately represented to the public in the years after the war," House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva said. ”Designating this network will support education and awareness of the people, places, and events that were associated with the wrongful incarceration of Japanese Americans.”
Of course, all the votes in opposition to the bill were Republicans. The Republicans who voted against the measure include Reps. Lauren Boebert, Mo Brooks, Louie Gohmert, Chip Roy, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. While most did not disclose why they voted against it, some said they believed the issue was not relevant to the government.
“Rep. Roy believes this matter should not be the responsibility of the federal government and that it would be best handled by private and charitable entities,” a spokesperson for the GOP lawmaker said.
A spokesperson for Rep. Doug LaMalfa told The Hill that while LaMalfa supports the overall idea behind the bill, his opposition comes from local concerns that a historical site in his district does not currently have sufficient capacity for tourists.
On the other hand, Rep. Andy Harris said the government should focus on more important issues.
“While a war is raging in Europe, gas prices are over four dollars a gallon, our open southern border allows fentanyl to enter our country and kill our youth, and there is record violence in our cities, Americans expect Congress should be spending our time on these issues,” he said in a statement.
Clearly Harris and others have not been keeping up with the increase of hate crimes across the country.
In addition to the bill on education, the House also passed a separate bill by voice vote on Tuesday that would permanently authorize another program dedicated to preserving the confinement sites. The author of the measure, Rep. Doris Matsui, was born in one of the internment camps.
"My parents were among those who lived in these appalling conditions, incarcerated solely because of their ancestry," Matsui said.
"Those of us in the Japanese American community know all too well if we do not learn from history, we risk the chance of it repeating. That is why we must continue to lift up these stories. That is why we must continue to listen to those who came before us and teach this history to our future generations.”