p . November 3,1989 $1.00 rA\ YAĪĒA iisiaaai» Hawaii's Japanese American Journal Vol. 10, No. 21 EAD STORY/ ARNOLD T. HIURA ENTITLEMENT PLAN PASSES CONGRESS Hawaii Sen. Dan Inouye Engineers a Way to Guarantee Full Redress Funding ntitlement.The word sounds dry and coldly Elegalistic. It fails to conjure up either drum Inouye: “By rolls or fanfare of trumpets. But perhaps it making It Into an should. entitlement Entitlement first emerged from the U.S. Senate program, we will appropriations subcommittee on September 12. be assured to pay Initiated by Hawaii Sen. Dan Inouye, senior off everyone In member of the committee, the entitlement provi­ three years ... sion was actually passed as an amendment to the Otherwise, it might 1990 appropriations bill for the departments of State, Justice and Commerce. take 50 years— Its debut played to mixed reviews across the $20 million one country. Redress activists, who had been anx­ year, $10 million iously waiting to see how much money would be the next, $50 allocated for next year, focused largely on the million, $100 fact that the committee recommended no funding million. It goes on for FY1990 (see Dialogue, page 2). For the most and on and on. part, entitlement was lost in the uproar. Each year, we “Traitors!” shouted one angry Californian. would have to fight “They ’re the ones who should be thrown in con­ the same battle centration camps!” over and over But entitlement slowly began to pick up sup­ again. port, especially after it was passed by the full Senate on September 29. By then, a working definition of entitlement had been circulated—it There is no assuming how much, if any, it would by asking senators to waive the provision, as al­ would provide up to $500 million annually, receive. If times are bad, redress would be hard lowed under the Budget Act. guaranteed, to pay the estimated 60,000 former pressed to receive anything. Inouye then rose to respond with a powerful internees who qualify under the provisions of the “This year’s San Francisco earthquake and personal appeal, which was immediately followed Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Qualified persons Hurricane Hugo, for example, require unantici­ by an avalanche of personal testimony by fellow would begin receiving their individual payments pated expenditures,” he explained. “And, when senators in support of Inouye and entitlement. of $20,000 beginning in October 1990, and every­ you come down to it, (those needs) are more im­ Noting first that his own participation in the one would be paid within three years. portant to my colleagues than the payment of redress debates thus far “has been rather mini­ When entitlement made its way through a Sen­ redress. It may seem cruel, but those are the facts mal,” Inouye proceeded to tell the chamber, “I ate-House conference committee on October 19, of life,” said Inouye frankly. believe the time has come for me to tell my col­ it had really gained momentum. It was not just a But how does one take a somewhat controver­ leagues what has been in my heart for all these pipe dream. Within the week, the full House sial, oft-threatened appropriations item and ele­ many years.” passed the appropriations package and sent it vate it into an entitlement program? “Well, when Inouye explained how he first learned about back to the Senate for a final vote. At the time of I approached the chairman of the the internment camps from Mainland Japanese this writing, the bill is expected to easily pass the appropriations committee (Sen. Ernest Hollings, American soldiers with whom he served as a Senate, where it had originated, and then be sent D-S.C.) regarding this idea, he was not inclined member of the 442nd RCT. Almost reluctantly, to the President for his signature. to support it,” Inouye admitted. “He was not for Inouye said, the Mainland nisei told of how they It could not have been better timed. The elation redress to begin with. But, after some discussion, had volunteered from behind barbed wire enclo­ surrounding the passage of redress legislation in he agreed to support it. But he told me at the sures, and how their families had been forced to 1988 had slowly given way to anger and frustra­ time, ‘Dan, I hope you won’t ask for any funds give up personal property as well as their consti­ tion. President Bush had recommended funding for this year.’ And I agreed not to press for tutional rights. Most of the young men still had for fiscal 1990 at a paltry $20 million. The House funding this year,” said Inouye. families detained in the camps when they went off then managed to increase the figure to $50 mil­ Inouye knew that not providing any funds for to fight for their country. He recounted their lion. As a member of the powerful Senate 1990 would elicit some criticism, but such com­ unrivaled heroism in battle. appropriations committee, the question being promises are part of the political process. And he “Mr. President, I have oftentimes asked myself raised was: “How much money can Inouye get knew that entitlement was worth the trade-off. the question: ‘Would I have volunteered under from the Senate?” “Of course this means that this year some of these circumstances? In all honesty, I cannot give It was a question made even more intriguing the old folks will die, and they will not have the you a forthright answer,” Inouye admitted. by the fact that Inouye, by his own admission, good feeling of receiving their redress payments. Inouye also cited precedence for direct payment had not been as active as others in the earlier But in the decades following the war, many oth­ of redress. In 1980, $10,000 was awarded to each redress drive. ers have preceded them. By making it into an en­ of 1,318 anti-Vietnam war demonstrators who “I see it simply as a division of effort,” Inouye titlement program, we will be assured to pay off were found to have been wrongly jailed for one explained to the Herald in a telephone interview everyone in three years ... Otherwise, it might weekend, he reminded them. “They spent two from his Washington, D.C. office. “The man take 50 years—$20 million one year, $10 million days and one night and we paid $10,000—no who should take nearly all of the credit for the the next, $50 million, $100 million. It goes on and fuss.” In 1986, American hostages were compen­ passage of the redress bill is Sen. Sparky Mat- on and on. Each year, we would have to fight the sated $22,000. “We were not the ones who incar­ sunaga. He is the one who sponsored the bill and same battle over and over again.” cerated these hostages, but we felt that they were organized the vote on that in the Senate. If Sen Still, enticement seemed too much to ask for. entitled to $22,000. Mr. President, the internment M atsunaga’s efforts were to be weighted at 10 “Very few people thought it was feasible,” Inouye of most of the families of those with whom I units, mine would be 1. admits. “I thought it was feasible.” It was inher­ served in combat was for over three years ...” “In the House, (Rep. Norman) Mineta, (Rep. ent in the language of the law (“You are filing a Following Inouye’s stirring floor speech, Sen. Robert) Matsui, (Rep. Pat) Saiki and (Rep. Dan) claim against the federal government.”), he said. Warren Rudman (R-N. H.) rose in support, Akaka, along with others, did all of the work. And, he added, “In a lot of ways it is easier to calling the internment of Japanese Americans But when it came to appropriations, I am the authorize than it is to appropriate, for if you are “probably the darkest day in terms of the treat­ one on the appropriations committee. They had appropriating, you have to put money where ment of citizens of this country since the days of a right to expect more from me at this point than your mouth is.” slavery.” Then, the co-architect of the Gramm- from Sparky or the others,” Inouye explained. Still, the amendment drew predictable fire from Rudman Act said, “Mr. President, there is a time Inouye said he had planned all along to seek conservative Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) when it when one whose name is part of the Deficit entitlement. “When the matter was authorized reached the Senate floor on September 29. Helms Control Act of 1985 believes the Budget Act about two years ago, I suggested to the JACL raised the legal objection that no new entitlement ought to be waived, and this is one of those times.” that the only sensible course was to make it into program could be created for a given year until an entitlement program,” he noted. “Otherwise, it the budget for that year has been approved. would have to compete with other demands. Sen. Hollings responded to Helms’ objection Continued on page 3 2 THE HAWAII HERALD Friday, November 3, 1989 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ DIALOGUE/ARNOLD T. HIURA Commentary ™eH ajam H e r a l d CLOUT ON CAPITOL HILL Hawaii's Japanese American Journal t t ’T'he team was in the huddle, the captain “We’re angered and disappointed,” said Alan (USPS 738-330) X lowered his head, they all got together Nishio, co-chair of the National Coalition for The Hawaii Herald is published semi-monthly and this is what he said, ‘We’re gonna f-i-g-h-t! Redress and Reparations (NCRR), when the on the first and third Friday of each month for We’re gonna f-i-g-h-t! We’re gonna fight, we’re original Senate subcommittee report, with no $20 yearly, $10 semi-annually, or $1 per copy gonna fight, we’re gonna fight, fight, F IG H T!’” appropriations allocated for 1990, was made by The Hawaii Hochi, Ltd., 917 Kokea Street, In football terms, it was already late in the public.