My name is Kent Pullen. I'm a state senator from the 47th Legislative District in King County. I have been a Republican state legislator from King County for the past nine years. I presently serve as the chairman of the Senate Constitutions & Elections Committee, thorough which all matters relating to the constitution must pass. I am also the current platform chairman for the King County Republican Party, and I chaired the committee which developed our local Republican party's position on the issue of redress for Japanese-Americans who were interned during World War II.

My purpose is being here today is to relate that position to you. Section 8.2.2 of our present platform, as adopted by delegates to the 1980 convention, was worded as follows:

"8.2.2. REPARATIONS FOR JAPANESE-AMERICANS

We condemn the unconstitutional internment of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps during World War II as ordered by Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt. We ask that the United States Congress authorize reparations for the taking of their property, wages, and liberty without due process. We apologize to Japanese-Americans whose rights were violated and we express our gratitude to all Asian-Americans for their valuable contributions to our society."

I must emphasize that there was only one reason that we put this plank into our platform. It was not because the issue was in vogue; it was not because of political expediency; it was not because Japanese-Americans have any special influence in the Republican Party; it was not because Japanese-Americans have done any favors for the Republican Party. We did it because it was the right thing to do!

You will hear many silly arguments why we should not grant redress. Some people will say it happened a long time ago; some will say it is too expensive; Some will say that internment was actually good for Japanese-Americans; and, some others will say that internment was actually good for Japanese-Americans; and, some others will say that internment was justified because it was wartime.

When I hear such silly arguments, I become very angry. Are our constitutional rights so insignificant that they deteriorate with age? Is freedom held in such low esteem that just financial compensation is considered some kind of an obstacle? Is there any way a rational person could really think that imprisonment might actually have been good for Japanese-Americans? Such a paternalistic and presumptuous suggestion is not only insulting to freedom-loving Japanese-Americans, it would have been insulting to the founding fathers of our country, who were willing to risk everything for freedom, including their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.

To those who would suggest that trampling on the constitutional rights of Japanese-Americans was justified because of the wartime condition, I would simply point out that it was a war -- the Revolutionary war -- which spawned our constitutional rights in the first place. That war, in which freedom-loving Americans fought to overcome the tyranny of King George III of England, and, in fact, all wars in which we have fought have been to preserve liberty.

George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and other founding fathers would be horrified to see a United States war being used as an excuse for trampling on the constitutional rights of American citizens.

Before I conclude my remarks and summarize the position of the King County Republican Party, I would like to leave you with the following thoughts: (1) What was done to Japanese-Americans was one of the saddest episodes in the history of our country; (2) Internment of Japanese-Americans represents perhaps the only situation in U.S. history in which all ten amendments of the bill of rights were violated at one time against a single class of citizens; (3) Most of the damage to nine of the first ten amendments, which states in part that no person shall "be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."

In conclusion, I must point out that many Japanese-Americans are still waiting for their due process and just compensation!

Perhaps the compensation they actually receive will constitute an admission that a serious wrong was done. Perhaps such an admission and the awarding of compensation will help prevent a future similar internment.

I believe in summary that it is the position of the King County Republican Party that, number one, we must right the wrong that was done, and number two, we must never again allow such a gross violation of constitutional rights to occur.

Thank you very much.