CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as introduced, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED SEC. 4. * * (g) The Commission may make such expenditures (including expenditures for rent and personal services at the seat of government and elsewhere, for office supplies, law books, periodicals, and books of reference [and] for printing and binding, for land for use as sites for radio monitoring stations and related facilities, including living quarters where necessary in remote areas, for the construction of such stations and facilities, and for the improvement, furnishing, equipping, and repairing of such stations and facilities and of laboratories and other related facilities (including construction of minor subsidiary buildings and structures not exceeding $25,000 in any one instance) used in connection with technical research activities) as may be necessary for the execution of the functions vested in the Commission and as from time to time may be appropriated for by Congress. All expenditures of the Commission, including all necessary expenses for transportation incurred by the commissioners or by their employees, under their orders, in making any investigation or upon any official business in any other places than in the city of Washington, shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the chairman of the Commission or by such other member or officer thereof as may be designated by the Commission for that purpose. SADAKO TAKAGI MAY 10, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. GOSSETT, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 623] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 623) for the relief of Sadako Takagi, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The amendment is as follows: Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: That in the administration of the immigration and naturalization laws the provisions of section 13 (c) of the Immigration Act of 1921, as amended, which excludes from admission to the United States persons who are ineligible to citizenship, shall not hereafter apply to Sadako Takagi of Kyoto, Japan, fiancée of Lieutenant William M. Marutani, of Chicago, Illinois, presently a tubercular patient at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and a retired United States Army officer of World War II, and that if otherwise admissible under the immigration laws she shall be granted admission to the United States for permanent residence upon application hereafter filed. PURPOSE OF THE BILL The sole purpose of the bill is to waive the racial ineligibility clause of the immigration laws in the case of a Japanese-born fiancée of Lt. William M. Marutani, a retired United States Army officer. The amendment, suggested by the Department of Justice, achieves the purpose of this legislation using language which follows the existing law. GENERAL INFORMATION The facts in this case are set forth in a letter from the assistant to the Attorney General, dated June 18, 1948, to the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary in the Eightieth Congress, with reference to a bill, H. R. 6082, then pending for the relief of the same beneficiary, JUNE 18, 1948. Hon. EARL C. MICHENER, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of this Department relative to the bill (H. R. 6082) for the relief of Sadako Takagi. The bill would provide that notwithstanding any provision of law excluding persons of certain races from admission to the United States for permanent residence, Sadako Takagi shall be admitted for permanent residence, if she is otherwise admissible under the immigration laws. The files of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of this Department disclose that the alien is a 20-year-old native and citizen of Japan of the Japanese race, having been born on March 14, 1928, at Kyoto, Japan, of Japanese parents. She wishes to enter the United States to marry her financée, an American Army officer of Japanese extraction, and to remain permanently in this country. She is racially ineligible to citizenship and is therefore inadmissible for permanent residence because of her race. The alien is the financée of Lt. William M. Marutani, a medically retired United States Army officer. Lieutenant Marutani states that he is a member of the Japanese race and that he met the alien in a Japanese Red Cross hospital while he was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis contracted while serving in the Army. He states that she was nursing at the hospital and that he saw her almost daily until he departed for the United States in July of 1947. He further states that he was returned to the United States for medical treatment before he was able to marry the alien and they were therefore unable to take advantage of Public Law 213 of the Eightieth Congress which, had he been able to marry her, would have permitted him to bring her to the United States as his wife. The alien's prospective husband is still taking treatment for tuberculosis but expects to be discharged as an arrested case in the near future. He will receive retirement or disability pay and in addition is financially able to support the alien if she is admitted for permanent residence. There is no evidence tending to show that the alien is other than a person of good moral character. Whether in this case the general provisions of the immigration laws should be waived presents a question of legislative policy concerning which this Department prefers not to make any recommendation. If, however, the bill should receive favorable consideration, it is suggested that it be amended to read as follows: That in the administration of the immigration and naturalization laws the provisions of section 13 (c) of the Immigration Act of 1924 as amended, which excludes from admission to the United States persons who are ineligible to citizenship, shall not hereafter apply to Sadako Takagi of Kyoto, Japan, fiancee of Lt. William M. Marutani of Chicago, Illinois, presently a tubercular patient at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and a retired United States Army officer of World War II, and that if otherwise admissible under the immigration laws she shall be granted admission to the United States for permanent residence upon application hereafter filed." Yours sincerely, PEYTON FORD, The Assistant to the Attorney General. Mr. Dawson, the author of the bill, appeared before a subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary and urged the enactment of the measure submitting additional information contained in a statement prepared by Lt. William M. Marutani, which statement is quoted below. VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION HOSPITAL, Subject: H. R. 623, Eighty-first Congress. I, William M. Marutani, herewith submit this brief on H. R. 623, Eighty-first United States Congress, to the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives convened in Washington, D. C. During a military tour of duty as an officer in the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps serving in the occupation of Japan, I met and became quite fond of a very fine Japanese-national girl. Subsequently, on June 22, 1947, I began proceedings to make application for marriage, making contact with proper military authorities by correspondence. However, before formal application could be completed and filed, I was evacuated on July 3, 1947, to the United States to receive specialized treatment for illness incurred in the line of duty. While in transit from Japan to the United States for hospitalization, Public Law 213, Eightieth Congress, came into effect on July 22, 1947, a law making possible marriages between United States military personnel and Japanese nationals in Japan and the subsequent immigration of the latter into the United States as spouses of such United States military personnel. Without a question, Public Law 213, Eightieth_Congress, would have applied to and taken advantage by myself. But because I was in transit for hospitalization at the time and was otherwise unable to take advantage of the law, such was impossible. If it were at all possible, I would most certainly return to active military duty with our forces in Japan or possibly accept a War Department civilian assignment in Japan. However, the nature of my incapacity prevents further military service and will require medical supervision for a protracted period. Under these circumstances, I could not even resort to the final, desperate alternative of renouncing my American citizenship-which I cherish highly-in order that I might return to Japan to marry this girl of my choice. Furthermore, I believe in all candor that because of the special nature of my past activities and duties required of me as an officer and special agent in the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps, a residence in Japan would place me in jeopardy; my familiarity with many native radical organizations and facts concerning their leaders would make a residence in Japan dangerous for me. In short, may I briefly summarize the individual factors concerning this matter which prompts me to seek congressional relief as the only solution: 1. That I had every intention and good faith of marrying even before Public Law 213 was enacted by the United States Congress, having begun proceedings as early as June 22, 1947, for a marriage application. On this fact, I have documentary proof which I shall be glad to produce upon request. 2. That I was physically unable to take advantage of the benefits of Public Law 213 as I was in transit from duty in Japan to the hospital in the United States for illness incurred in the line of duty. 3. That it is and will be medically impossible for me to return to Japan under any circumstances as I am hospitalized at present and will require medical supervision for a protracted period after release from the hospital. 4. That, furthermore, because of the nature of past activities required of me as an officer and agent of the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps and my consequent familiarity with groups and personalities in Japan, a residence in Japan would place me under certain jeopardy. I hereby attest that the above-given information is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge, in support of which I affix my signature below. Attached: Brief personal history. PERSONAL DATA Name: William M. Marutani. Age: 26. WILLIAM M. MARUTANI. Address: United States Veterans' Administration Hospital, Downey, Ill. Birthplace: Kent, Wash. Date of birth: March 31, 1923. Citizenship: United States. Family: (a) Father: George G. Marutani, born in Hiroshima, Japan; now living in the United States; (b) mother: Haruno Marutani, born in Hiroshima, Japan; living in the United States; (c) Brothers and sisters (3): Tom M. Marutani, age 33, natural-born United States citizen, World War II veteran, living; Mary S. Oseto (Mrs.), age 30, natural-born United States citizen, living; Max A. Marutani, age 29, natural-born United States citizen, World War II veteran, living. Education: Kent Elementary School, Kent, Wash. (6 years); Kent Junior High School, Kent, Wash. (3 years); Enumclaw High School, Enumclaw, Wash. (3 years); University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. (1 year); Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, S. Dak., prelegal major (21⁄2 years); United States Army Military Intelligence School, Fort Snelling, Minn. (9 months); United States Army Counter Intelligence School, Tokyo, Japan (2 months); American Extension School of Law, Chicago, Ill., 3-year course; to date (1 year). Military: Reserve Officers' Training Corps, University of Washington, September 1941-May 1942; enlisted Reserve Corps, Chicago, Ill., September 1944-Feb ruary 1945; active military duty, Fort Sheridan, Ill.; Camp Robinson, Ark.; Fort Snelling, Minn.; Fitzsimons General Hospital, Denver, Colo. February 1945-October 1947; overseas duty, occupation of Japan, May 1946-July 1947. Hospitalization: May 1947, present date (continuing). Financial status: $5,000 bank deposit officer's retirement pension, $135 monthly; $2,000 invested in real estate property, Chicago, Ill. Future plans: It is my plan to return to college studies upon discharge from the hospital, to obtain my bachelor of arts degree and continue to a professional school of law and political science. This study will be pursued under the benefits of the GI bill as provided. The above-given information is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge, in support of which I hereby affix my signature. WILLIAM M. MARUTANI. The committee, after consideration of all the facts in the case, is the opinion that the bill, H. R. 623, as amended, should be enacted. |