FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CR

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1998                                                                                      (202) 616-2777

                                                                                                                                                         TDD (202) 514-1888




ACTING ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL LANN LEE


TO MARK ANNIVERSARY OF SIGNING OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066





Order Led to the Internment of Japanese Americans During War





	WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Acting Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights, Bill Lann Lee, will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah
tomorrow to visit a former internment camp and to offer the keynote
speech at the state's first "Day of Remembrance" program.  February
19 marks the 56th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, the
presidential order that led to the internment of more than 110,000
people of Japanese ancestry, most of them American citizens.  




	Utah was home to one of the 10 internment camps located in the
western portion of America during the War.  Between 1942 and 1945,
more than 8,000 Japanese Americans were interned at the Topaz
Internment Camp, about 130 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.




	Last week, Attorney General Janet Reno urged any Japanese
Americans who were interned during World War II to file claims to
seek compensation.  A program established to provide redress ends
in six months.  Since the program's inception, the Office of
Redress Administration in the Civil Rights Division of the
Department of Justice has provided $20,000 in redress to more than
81,000 eligible claimants.  Only 2,200 individuals remain
unaccounted for.




	The program, at which Mr. Lee will speak, will also include an
examination of the internment experience, a performance by the
Taiko Drummers, and a reading of a proclamation issued by Utah
Governor Michael Leavitt.




TOPAZ INTERNMENT CAMP VISIT




			TIME:  8:30 AM 

			DATE:  Thursday, February 19, 1998

			SITE:  Topaz Internment Camp Visit

				  (meet at the Topaz Museum in Delta, Utah)




DAY OF REMEMBRANCE PROGRAM




			TIME:  7:30 PM

			DATE:  Thursday, February 19, 1998

			SITE:  Cottonwood High School Auditorium

				  5717 South 1300 East




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