Veto of Bill for Relief of Harry H. Nakamura.

To the Senate:

I return herewith, without my approval, S. 611, "For the relief of Harry H. Nakamura."

The bill would allow Mr. Nakamura, within a one-year period, to file a claim under a 1948 law entitled "An Act to Authorize the Attorney General to Adjudicate Certain Claims Resulting from the Evacuation of Certain Persons of Japanese Ancestry under Military Orders."

It is alleged that Mr. Nakamura lost approximately $113,000 when liquidation of his business was forced by the evacuation in 1942 from California of him and his family.

Although the deadline for filing claims under the 1948 law was January 3, 1950, Mr. Nakamura's claim was not filed in time because of the illness of his attorney.

After the enactment of the 1948 law, a considerable effort was made by the Department of Justice to acquaint potential claimants with the necessity for presenting their claims on time. Despite these efforts, a number of claims were not presented prior to the filing deadline.

The record on this bill furnishes no valid basis for distinguishing Mr. Nakamura from others who similarly failed to file timely claims. The relief proposed by S. 611 would, therefore, be discriminatory and would create an undesirable precedent.

For these reasons, I am constrained to withhold my approval from the bill.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER