[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 31, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H9452-H9454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR DISPOSAL OF PUBLIC LANDS IN SUPPORT OF MANZANAR HISTORIC
SITE
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the immediate
consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 3006) to provide for
disposal of public lands in support of the Manzanar Historic Site in
the State of California, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object,
I yield to the gentleman from California [Mr. Lewis] to explain the
purpose of the bill.
(Mr. LEWIS of California asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. LEWIS of California. I appreciate the gentleman yielding.
Mr. Speaker, responding to the gentleman from California, this bill
is designed to add additional land to the Manzanar Historic Site. I
think the House knows that that was a major location whereby Americans
of Japanese descent were interned during World War II, and it is
combined with a rather fantastic environmental project taking place
between the country of Inyo and the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power.
Mr. MILLER of California. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I yield to the
gentleman from California [Mr. Matsui].
(Mr. MATSUI asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. MATSUI. I thank the gentleman from California for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California [Mr. Lewis] for
leading the way on this piece of legislation. We really appreciate all
he has done as well as, of course, the gentleman from Utah [Mr.
Hansen], the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young], the gentleman from
California [Mr. Miller], and the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr.
Richardson].
I just want to thank all the gentlemen for all the help on behalf of
the Japanese-American community.
Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman will yield
further under his reservation, I must say I very much appreciate the
cooperation of my colleague from California as well, all of my
colleagues from California. This is a very important measure.
Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased that we are moving
forward tonight with this important legislation, H.R. 3006, the Owens
River Valley Environmental Restoration and Manzanar Land Transfer Act
of 1996. This bill will allow us to complete the process of creating a
National Historic Site on the grounds of the former Manzanar Internment
Camp.
During World War II, 11,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry were
confined at the Manzanar Internment Camp. These individuals were some
of the over 120,000 Japanese-Americans interned at 10 sites throughout
the United States.
The National Park Service determined in the 1980's that of the 10
former internment camps, Manzanar was best suited to be preserved and
to thus serve as a reminder to Americans of the glaring violation of
civil rights that the internment represented. As a result, the 102d
Congress passed Public Law 102-248 establishing a national historic
site at Manzanar.
H.R. 3006 will finish this process by allowing the Federal Government
to obtain the
[[Page H9453]]
Manzanar site through a land exchange with the Los Angeles Department
of Water and Power [LADWP], which currently owns the property. The
parties that would be involved in this land transfer--LADWP, the
National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and Inyo County--
reached agreement in February on a land exchange that can occur rapidly
once our legislation is passed. All of these parties strongly support
this legislation.
When completed, the Manzanar National Historic Site will stand as
powerful testimony to the tragedy of the internment. Through its
ability to educate future generations of Americans, the site will make
an important contribution to our efforts to prevent any group in the
United States from ever suffering such a widespread abrogation of its
constitutional liberties.
I want to express my deep gratitude to my colleague, Jerry Lewis, for
his hard work in introducing this legislation and moving it forward. In
addition, I deeply appreciate the assistance of the Resources
Committee, particularly Chairman Don Young and the ranking minority
member George Miller, as well as Jim Hansen and Bill Richardson,
chairman and ranking minority member of the National Parks, Forests and
Lands Subcommittee respectively.
I also want to thank Sue Embrey and the other members of the Manzanar
National Historic Site Advisory Commission. Their tireless commitment
to the realization of the Manzanar NHS has been the critical force
behind this effort. Finally, we could not have reached this stage
without the help of Director of the National Park Service Roger
Kennedy, the regional staff of the National Park Service and Bureau of
Land Management, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power [LADWP],
and Inyo County.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in this body and in the
Senate to achieve final passage of this important bill.
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3006 will facilitate the
disposal of certain public lands for the benefit of the Manzanar
National Historic Site by revoking some outdated public land
withdrawals. It is our understanding that these lands, which the BLM
has identified for disposal, will then be used in an exchange for lands
owned by the city of Los Angeles which are inside the boundary of the
Manzanar National Historic Site. In addition, the bill expands the
Boundaries of the Manzanar National Historic Site to include an
additional 300 acres of land that has been found to have important
archaeological elements.
This is a good initiative that is supported by the administration,
and on a bipartisan basis by Members of the California delegation. We
support the bill and have no objection to its consideration today.
Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the bill, as follows:
H.R. 3006
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TERMINATION OF WITHDRAWALS.
(a) Unavailability of Certain Lands.--The Congress, by
enacting the Act entitled ``An Act to establish the Manzanar
National Historic Site in the State of California, and for
other purposes'', approved March 3, 1992 (106 Stat. 40;
Public Law 102-248), (1) provided for the protection and
interpretation of the historical, cultural, and natural
resources associated with the relocation of Japanese-
Americans during World War II and established the Manzanar
National Historic Site in the State of California, and (2)
authorized the Secretary of the Interior to acquire lands or
interests therein within the boundary of the Historic Site by
donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or by
exchange. The public lands identified for disposal in the
Bureau of Land Management's Bishop Resource Area Resource
Management Plan that could be made available for exchange in
support of acquiring lands within the boundary of the
Historic Site are currently unavailable for this purpose
because they are withdrawn by an Act of Congress.
(b) Termination of Withdrawal.--To provide a land base with
which to allow land exchanges in support of acquiring lands
within the boundary of the Manzanar National Historic Site,
the withdrawal of the following described lands is terminated
and such lands shall not be subject to the Act of March 4,
1931 (chap. 517; 46 Stat. 1530):
Mount Diablo Meridian
Township 2 North, Range 26 East
Section 7:
North half south half of lot 1 of southwest quarter, north
half south half of lot 2 of southwest quarter, north half
south half southeast quarter,
Township 4 South, Range 33 East
Section 31:
Lot 1 of southwest quarter, northwest quarter northeast
quarter, southeast quarter;
Section 32:
Southeast quarter northwest quarter, northeast quarter
southwest quarter, southwest quarter southeast quarter,
Township 5 South, Range 33 East
Section 4:
West half of lot 1 of northwest quarter, west half of lot 2
of northwest quarter,
Section 5:
East half of lot 1 of northeast quarter, east half of lot 2
of northeast quarter,
Section 9:
Northwest quarter southwest quarter northeast quarter,
Section 17:
Southeast quarter northwest quarter, northwest quarter
southeast quarter,
Section 22:
Lot 1 and 2,
Section 27:
Lot 2, west half northeast quarter, southeast quarter
northwest quarter, northeast quarter southwest quarter,
northwest quarter southeast quarter,
Section 34:
Northeast quarter, northwest quarter, southeast quarter,
Township 6 South, Range 31 East
Section 19:
East half northeast quarter southeast quarter.
Township 6 South, Range 33 East
Section 10:
East half southeast quarter;
Section 11:
Lot 1 and 2, west half northeast quarter, northwest
quarter, west half southwest quarter, northeast quarter
southwest quarter;
Section 14:
Lots 1 thru 4, west half northeast quarter, southeast
quarter northwest quarter, northeast quarter southwest
quarter, northwest quarter southeast quarter.
Township 7 South, Range 32 East
Section 23:
South half southwest quarter;
Section 25:
Lot 2, northeast quarter northwest quarter.
Township 7 South, Range 33 East
Section 30:
South half of lot 2 of northwest quarter, lot 1 and 2 of
southwest quarter,
Section 31:
North half of lot 2 of northwest quarter, southeast quarter
northeast quarter, northeast quarter southeast quarter.
Township 8 South, Range 33 East
Section 5:
Northwest quarter southwest quarter.
Township 13 South, Range 34 East
Section 1:
Lots 43, 46, and 49 thru 51.
Section 2:
North half northwest quarter southeast quarter southeast
quarter.
Township 11 South, Range 35 East
Section 30:
Lots 1 and 2, east half northwest quarter, east half
southwest quarter, and west half southwest quarter southeast
quarter.
Section 31:
Lot 8, west half west half northeast quarter, east half
northwest quarter, and west half southeast quarter.
Township 13, South, Range 35 East
Section 18:
South half of lot 2 of northwest quarter, lot 1 and 2 of
southwest quarter, southwest quarter northeast quarter,
northwest quarter southeast quarter;
Section 29:
Southeast quarter northeast quarter, northeast quarter
southeast quarter.
Township 13 South, Range 36 East
Section 17:
Southwest quarter northwest quarter, southwest quarter;
Section 18:
South half of lot 1 of northwest quarter, lot 1 of
southwest quarter, northeast quarter, southeast quarter;
Section 19:
North half of lot 1 of northwest quarter, east half
northeast quarter, northwest quarter northeast quarter;
Section 20:
Southwest quarter northeast quarter, northwest quarter,
northeast quarter southwest quarter, southeast quarter;
Section 28:
Southwest quarter southwest quarter;
Section 29:
East half northeast quarter;
Section 33:
Northwest quarter northwest quarter, southeast quarter
northwest quarter.
Township 14 South, Range 36 East
Section 31:
Lot 1 and 2 of southwest quarter, southwest quarter
southeast quarter.
aggregating 5,630 acres, more or less.
(c) Availability of Lands.--Upon enactment of this Act, the
lands specified in subsection (b) shall be open to operation
of the public land laws, including the mining and mineral
leasing laws, only after the Secretary of the Interior has
published a notice in the Federal Register opening such
lands.
committee amendment
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the committee
amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Committee amendment: Page 8, after line 4, insert the
following:
[[Page H9454]]
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AREA.
Section 101 of Public Law 102-248 is amended by inserting
in subsection (b) after the second sentence ``The site shall
also include an additional area of approximately 300 acres as
demarcated as the new proposed boundaries in the map dated
March 8, 1996, entitled `Manzanar National Historic Site
Archaeological Base Map'.''
The committee amendment was agreed to.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read
the third time, and passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to provide
for disposal of public lands in support of the Manzanar National
Historic Site in the State of California, and for other purposes.''
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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