As most Congressmen are aware. the JACL is the only national organization representing Americans of Japanese ancestry. As such. it has. in the words of its twin ntional slogans. achieved "security through unity" for all Japanese Americans. while encouraging them to become "better Americans in a greater America." We in the West are familiar with the story of the Japanese and their contributions to the Nation. The earliest immigrants came to our Pacific shores some 75 years ago to work on the railroads. in the mines. and on the farms. Especially inthe field of agriculture. did they aid in the conquest of the frontier. taking wastelands and converting them into fertile fields. Subjected to the traditional antiorientalism of the west coast. they were persecuted as perhaps no other Immigrant group in our history. climaxed by their arbitrary mass evacuation. together with their Americanborn citizen children. from their homes and associations In California. western Arizona. Oregon. and Washington during the early days of World War II. That today. Americans of Japanese ancestry and their immigrant parents enjoy unprecedented acceptance and opportunities for social and economic development. is the measure of JACLs leadership of one of the smallest yet significant nationality groups in our country during its most tumultous quartercentury. JACLs history is an epic of democracy in action. proof positive that our way of life. with all of its faults and abuses. allows for corrective and remedial action. Many of us in the Congress. especially since the end of World War II. have participated in the enactment of legislation that has removed the legal sanctions for the discriminations against them.
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