Wartime treatment of Germans questioned [View All]

Source: AP

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The stories of the Germans have gotten little attention so far, but the Senate took a step toward changing that this week, voting to look into the treatment of Germans and other Europeans in the U.S. during World War II.

The legislation's status is uncertain because it was passed as an amendment to the immigration bill, which stalled in the Senate this week.

Still, just getting a vote on the issue was an accomplishment for Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who represents a large German population. For the last six years, a hold placed by an anonymous Republican senator had kept it from coming up for a vote.

"Congress and the U.S. government did the right thing by recognizing and apologizing for the mistreatment of Japanese Americans during World War II," Feingold said. "That same respect has not been shown to the many German Americans, Italian Americans, and European Latin Americans."

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., opposed the bill, saying it was based on findings "that slander America incorrectly." Those findings say, in part, that U.S. wartime policies were "devastating" to Germans and Italians living in the United States.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4875836.html