[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 116 (Thursday, September 23, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9612-S9613]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mrs. Boxer):
  S. 2833. A bill to authorize appropriations to the Secretary of the 
Interior for the restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station in 
the State of California; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Angel 
Island Immigration Station Restoration and Preservation Act, with 
Senator Boxer as cosponsor.
  This legislation authorizes the use of up to $15 million in Federal 
funds for ongoing efforts to restore the Angel Island Immigration 
Station located on Angel Island within the San Francisco Bay.
  I offer this as companion legislation to H.R. 4469 which has been 
introduced by Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and to date has 45 cosponsors. 
Last week this bill was reported out of the House Resources Committee 
by unanimous consent.
  The Angel Island Immigration Station is an important piece of 
American

[[Page S9613]]

history, especially to our Nation's Asian American and immigrant 
communities.
  In the mid 19th Century millions of people, including ancestors of my 
own staff, came to America in pursuit of the American dream. Most 
people are familiar with Ellis Island and the stories of immigrants 
coming to America and seeing the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, 
but often forgotten are the experiences of those who made it to America 
by way of Angel Island. Just like those who came to New York City, 
there are many stories of triumph and tribulation associated with Angel 
Island.
  However, for the Chinese and those from other Asian countries the 
story goes a bit further.
  The economic downturn in the 1870s brought political pressures to 
deal with the increasing population of Chinese who were coming through 
the Golden Gate in search of a better life. Amongst the harshest of 
measures taken was the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
  The passage of this law and its subsequent implementation led to the 
creation of a national system to regulate the immigration of the 
Chinese.
  Part of this process included opening the Angel Island Immigration 
Station in 1910 on Angel Island. The purpose of this new facility was 
to isolate Chinese immigrants from the City of San Francisco and the 
rest of the Bay Area.
  After a difficult journey across the Pacific Ocean, potential 
immigrants were brought to the Station where they faced separation from 
their family, embarrassing medical examinations, grueling 
interrogations and long detainments that lasted months, even years, in 
living conditions that were considered deplorable.
  Testaments to these experiences can be found today on the wooden 
walls of the barracks. Many of the detainees told their stories through 
poems that they carved on the barrack walls.
  Using allegories and historical references, they described their 
aspirations for coming to America as well as expressed their anger and 
sadness at the treatment they received.
  Concerns about the safety of the Station were realized when part of 
the Administration Building burned down in 1940 and all those being 
held were moved to a mainland facility.
  Three years later Congress repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. For 
the next 20 years the Station remained mostly unused except for a short 
term during World War II, when it was used as a prisoner of war camp.
  In 1963, Angel Island became a State park and the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation assumed stewardship of the 
Immigration Station.
  In 1997, the Station was a declared a National Historic Landmark and 
in 1999, Save America's Treasures named the Angel Island Immigration 
Station one of its Official Projects and provided $500,000 for the 
preservation of poems carved into the walls.
  The Station is supported by the people of California as well as 
numerous private interests. The voters of California voted in 2000 to 
set aside $15 million for restoration of the Station through 
Proposition 12 and in addition approximately $1.1 million in private 
funds has been raised so far.
  The amount authorized by this bill and the committed State resources 
will raise about half the amount needed to restore the Station. The 
remaining money will be raised through private means making this a true 
public-private partnership.
  Today, approximately 200,000 visits are made each year to Angel 
Island by ferry from San Francisco, Tiburon and Alameda. In addition, 
60,000 visits are made to the Immigration Station, about half of which 
are students are on guided tours.
  The resources secured so far have set in motion designing and 
planning efforts to restore the Station.
  The bill I am introducing today will allow the State park to accept 
Federal funding to complete the restoration of the Angel Island 
Immigration Station, so that the stories of immigration on Angel Island 
will be preserved for future generations.
                                 ______