[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6854-S6855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. Inouye):
  S. 1476. A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct 
a special resources study of the Tule Lake Segregation Center in Modoc 
County, California, to determine suitability and feasibility of 
establishing a unit of the National Park System; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today with Senators Barbara 
Boxer and Daniel Inouye to introduce legislation that would authorize 
the National Park Service to conduct a special resource study of the 
Tule Lake Segregation Center, a World War II-era Japanese American 
internment camp, located in Northern California.
  My colleagues in the House of Representatives, Congressman John 
Doolittle and Congresswoman Doris Matsui, also are introducing 
companion legislation today.
  In 1942, as part of a wave of anti-Japanese sentiment following the 
attack on Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 
9066 to authorize the U.S. military to incarcerate Japanese American 
families from California and other west coast States, in violation of 
their due process rights afforded to all Americans.
  Over the years, California's political leaders have led a national 
bipartisan effort to ensure that this chapter in American history is 
not forgotten.
  In 1992, my colleagues in the California congressional delegation 
passed bi-partisan legislation to establish the Manzanar National 
Historic Site, the Nation's first unit of the National Park System 
dedicated to telling the story of the wrongful internment of the 
Japanese American community during World War II.
  I am pleased to say that Manzanar has been a terrific success story. 
My colleague Representative Jerry Lewis and I were able to secure 
Federal appropriations to refurbish the camp auditorium to accommodate 
the tens of thousands of visitors to the site. Last year, nearly 90,000 
people visited the Manzanar National Historic Site to learn about this 
unfortunate chapter in United States history.
  As part of the Manzanar legislation, Congress directed the National 
Park Service to conduct a study of the other camp sites and to 
recommend National Historic Landmark designation for these sites. Based 
on this study, the Department of the Interior designated Tule Lake as a 
National Historic Landmark last year, upon finding that the remaining 
42 acres of federally owned land at the site possesses national 
significance.
  Of all of the camp sites, Tule Lake has retained some of the most 
significant historic features dating back to the internment. The 
federally owned lands include numerous camp buildings in their original 
locations, most notably the camp stockade, which was a ``jail within a 
jail.'' The finding of the site's national significance by the 
Secretary of the Interior last year is a key step forward in the 
process to evaluate the site's potential for management by the National 
Park Service.
  Over the past several years, the Tule Lake Preservation Committee, 
the Japanese American Citizens League, the Japanese American National 
Museum and other local, regional and national partners have worked with 
Modoc County and the local community to develop a recommendation to 
study the potential for designation of the Tule Lake Segregation Center 
as a National Historic Site. I am pleased that this legislation has 
been endorsed by the Modoc County Board of Supervisors.
  Although the Tule Lake Segregation Center is already a National 
Historic Landmark, the 42-acre site is not managed by the National Park 
Service. This bill would authorize the National Park Service to study 
the feasibility and suitability of managing the Federal lands at Tule 
Lake as a 42-acre National Historic Site, to be managed as part of the 
Lava Beds National Monument. Through this legislation, the NPS will 
develop various management alternatives for the site and give the 
public an opportunity to comment on the alternatives, through a public 
process. In light of the recent National Park Service work to prepare 
the national historic landmark designation, the cost to complete this 
study is quite modest. Upon completion of the study, the NPS would 
transmit the study to Congress for review.

  This year marks the 65th anniversary of the internment of Japanese-
Americans, when the Federal Government ordered Japanese American men, 
women and children to report to temporary assembly centers, including 
13 centers in California. Many families were broken up as fathers were 
sent to prisons, work camps and Department of Justice camps hundreds of 
miles away. Without hearings or any evidence of disloyalty, Japanese-
American families were transported to assembly centers in April and May 
of 1942. The largest assembly center was at the Santa Anita racetrack, 
which held over 18,000 people in horse stalls and other makeshift 
quarters.
  Deprived of their basic constitutional rights, Japanese-American 
citizens and resident aliens were held in these centers until the U.S. 
government built more permanent camps in 10 locations in California and 
throughout the Western States and Arkansas. Together, these camps held 
over 120,000 Japanese Americans, of which about three quarters were 
living in California before the war.
  My good friend, the late-Representative Robert Matsui, was just an 
infant when his family was ordered from their home in Sacramento to the 
Pinedale Assembly Center. From there, he was sent to the Tule Lake, 
Segregation Center in Modoc County, CA not far from the Oregon border.
  Like the other camps, the Tule Lake Relocation Center was constructed 
in a remote area, on a large tract of federally owned land, managed by 
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Prisoners there held frequent 
demonstrations and strikes, demanding their rights under the U.S. 
Constitution. As a result, Tule Lake was made a ``segregation camp,'' 
and internees from other camps who had refused to take the loyalty oath 
or had caused disturbances were sent there.
  Despite these injustices, many young men in camp answered the call to 
serve in the U.S. Army and demonstrated their loyalty to the United 
States and to defend the same basic constitutional freedoms that had 
been violated by the U.S. Government's actions. Japanese Americans 
served with great valor and bravery in Europe, including our colleague 
Senator Daniel Inouye.
  During its operation, Tule Lake was the largest of the 10 camps, with 
18,789 people housed in makeshift barracks. Opened on May 27, 1942, 
Tule Lake was one of the last camps to be closed, staying open until 
March 20, 1946, 7 months following the end of World War II.
  Following World War II, our Nation has recognized that the forced 
evacuation and incarceration of Japanese Americans was wrong and that 
there was no basis to question the loyalty and patriotism of Japanese 
Americans.
  The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was a grim 
chapter in America's history. Conducting this special resources study,

[[Page S6855]]

and the potential creation of the Tule Lake National Historic Site, 
will help ensure that we honor surviving internees during their 
lifetime and will serve as a lasting reminder of our ability to inflict 
pain and suffering upon our fellow Americans.
  It is important that we recognize the historic significance of Tule 
Lake Segregation Center within the lifetimes of the few surviving 
Japanese-American internees, before many of their stories are lost.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. I ask 
unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1476

       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 ``Tule Lake Segregation Center 
     Special Resource Study Act''.

     SEC. 2. STUDY.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior (referred to 
     in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall conduct a special 
     resource study of the national significance, suitability, and 
     feasibility of including the Tule Lake Segregation Center in 
     the National Park System.
       (b) Inclusion of Sites in the National Park System.--The 
     study under subsection (a) shall include an analysis and any 
     recommendations of the Secretary concerning the suitability 
     and feasibility of designating the site as a unit of the 
     National Park System that relates to the themes described in 
     section 3.
       (c) Study Guidelines.--In conducting the study authorized 
     under subsection (a), the Secretary shall use the criteria 
     for the study of areas for potential inclusion in the 
     National Park System contained in section 8 of Public Law 91-
     383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5).
       (d) Consultation.--In preparing and conducting the study 
     under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with Modoc 
     County, the State of California, appropriate Federal 
     agencies, Tribal and local government entities, private 
     organizations, and private land owners.

     SEC. 3. THEMES.

       The study authorized under section 2 shall evaluate the 
     Tule Lake Segregation Center with respect to the following 
     themes:
       (1) The significance of the site as a component of World 
     War II.
       (2) The significance of the site as it related to other war 
     relocation centers.
       (3) Historic buildings, including the stockade, that are 
     intact and in place, along with numerous other resources.
       (4) The contributions made by the local agricultural 
     community to the war effort.
       (5) The potential impact of designation of the sire as a 
     unit of the National Park Service on private land owners.

     SEC. 4. REPORT.

       Not later than 1 year after funds are made available for 
     this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
     Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a 
     report describing the findings, conclusions, and 
     recommendations of the study.
                                 ______