[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4469 Received in Senate (RDS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 4469


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 29, 2004

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To authorize appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior for the 
  restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station in the State of 
                              California.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Angel Island Immigration Station 
Restoration and Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Angel Island Immigration Station, also known as the 
        Ellis Island of the West, is a National Historic Landmark.
            (2) Between 1910 and 1940, the Angel Island Immigration 
        Station processed more than 1,000,000 immigrants and emigrants 
        from around the world.
            (3) The Angel Island Immigration Station contributes 
        greatly to our understanding of our Nation's rich and complex 
        immigration history.
            (4) The Angel Island Immigration Station was built to 
        enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and subsequent 
        immigration laws, which unfairly and severely restricted Asian 
        immigration.
            (5) During their detention at the Angel Island Immigration 
        Station, Chinese detainees carved poems into the walls of the 
        detention barracks. More than 140 poems remain today, 
        representing the unique voices of immigrants awaiting entry to 
        this country.
            (6) More than 50,000 people, including 30,000 
        schoolchildren, visit the Angel Island Immigration Station 
        annually to learn more about the experience of immigrants who 
        have traveled to our shores.
            (7) The restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station 
        and the preservation of the writings and drawings at the Angel 
        Island Immigration Station will ensure that future generations 
        also have the benefit of experiencing and appreciating this 
        great symbol of the perseverance of the immigrant spirit, and 
        of the diversity of this great Nation.

SEC. 3. RESTORATION.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior $15,000,000 for restoring 
the Angel Island Immigration Station in the San Francisco Bay, in 
coordination with the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and 
the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
    (b) Priority.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the funds 
appropriated pursuant to this Act shall be used for the restoration of 
the Immigration Station Hospital on Angel Island.
    (2) Any remaining funds in excess of the amount required to carry 
out paragraph (1) shall be used solely for the restoration of the Angel 
Island Immigration Station.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 28, 2004.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.