Congressional Record: September 17, 2003 (Senate)
Page S11644-S11647


                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

[...]


       POM-293. A concurrent resolution adopted by the House of
     Representatives of the Legislature of the State of New
     Hampshire relative to Italian-American citizens of the United
     States during World War II; to the Committee on the
     Judiciary.

                   House Concurrent Resolution No. 27

       Whereas, more than 500,000 Italian-Americans served in
     World War II for the United States of America; and
       Whereas, recently it has become known that up to 600,000
     members of the families of those who served in World War II
     were placed under wartime restrictions which included random
     arrests and searches of their person and property, curfews,
     forced relocation, so-called ``prohibited zones,'' and
     internment camps; and
       Whereas, these individuals were placed under such
     restrictions solely based on their Italian-American heritage;
     and
       Whereas, Italian-Americans nationwide were affected by
     these wartime restrictions; and
       Whereas, the United States government has acknowledged the
     wartime campaign against Japanese-Americans, but to date has
     ignored the plight of Italian-Americans affected by wartime
     decrees; and
       Whereas, the full extent of the United States government's
     wartime restrictions on Italian-Americans is not known
     because the Federal Bureau of Investigation refuses to
     declassify World War II documents describing the nature of
     these events; and
       Whereas, the United States Department of Justice is
     conducting an inquiry for the purpose of documenting the
     mistreatment of Italian-Americans during World War II: Now,
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate
     concurring,
       That the United States Department of Justice complete its
     inquiry into the mistreatment of Italian-Americans during
     World War II with all due speed and release the results of
     such inquiry to the public; and
       That the Federal Bureau of Investigation take the necessary
     steps to allow public access to the documents regarding the
     mistreatment of Italian-Americans during World War II; and
       That copies of this resolution shall be sent by the house
     clerk to the Speaker of the United States House of
     Representatives, the President of the United States Senate,
     the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
     chairpersons of the Judiciary Committees of the United States
     House of Representatives and Senate, and the New Hampshire
     congressional delegation.
                                  ____