United States declaration of war on Japan

Declaration of state of war with Japan

Long title	"Joint Resolution Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same."
Enacted by	the 77th United States Congress
Effective	December 8, 1941
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 77–328
Statutes at Large	55 Stat. 795
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S.J.Res.116 Passed the Senate on 8 December 1941 (82-0) Passed the House on 8 December 1941 (388-1) Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 8 December 1941

On December 8, 1941, at 12:30 PM ET the United States Congress declared war, (Pub. L. 77–328, 55 Stat. 795) on the Empire of Japan in response to its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent declaration of war the prior day. The Joint Resolution Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same was formulated an hour after the Infamy Speech of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Following the U.S. declaration, Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, bringing the United States fully into World War II. The Japanese government had originally intended to deliver their own declaration of war thirty minutes before the attack, but the Japanese embassy in Washington took too long to decode the 5,000-word document.^[1]