[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 103 (Tuesday, July 13, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H5512-H5513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HEART MOUNTAIN RELOCATION CENTER STUDY ACT OF 2009
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3989) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct
a special resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility
of adding the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, in the State of
Wyoming, as a unit of the National Park System.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3989
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 ``Heart Mountain Relocation
Center Study Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.
(a) Study.--The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a
special resource study of the Heart Mountain Relocation
Center, in Park County, Wyoming.
(b) Contents.--In conducting the study under subsection
(a), the Secretary shall--
(1) evaluate the national significance of the Heart
Mountain Relocation Center and surrounding area;
(2) determine the suitability and feasibility of
designating the Heart Mountain Relocation Center as a unit of
the National Park System;
[[Page H5513]]
(3) consider other alternatives for preservation,
protection, and interpretation of the site by Federal, State,
or local governmental entities, or private and nonprofit
organizations;
(4) identify cost estimates for any Federal acquisition,
development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance
associated with the alternatives;
(5) identify any potential impacts of designation of the
site as a unit of the National Park System on private
landowners; and
(6) consult with interested Federal, State, or local
governmental entities, federally recognized Indian tribes,
private and nonprofit organizations, owners of private
property that may be affected by any such designation, or any
other interested individuals.
(c) Applicable Law.--The study required under subsection
(a) shall be conducted in accordance with section 8 of Public
Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5).
(d) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date on which
funds are first made available for the study under subsection
(a), 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
containing the results of the study and any conclusions and
recommendations of the Secretary.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.
General Leave
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Guam?
There was no objection.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3989 was introduced by Congresswoman
Cynthia Lummis in November of 2009.
Heart Mountain Relocation Center was one of 10 Japanese internment
camps set up during World War II when anti-Japanese sentiment was
running rampant following the attack on Pearl Harbor. At its peak,
nearly 11,000 Japanese Americans who were forced from their communities
in California, Washington and Oregon, were detained in Heart Mountain's
tar-paper barracks.
H.R. 3989 would direct the National Park Service to construct a
special resource study to determine the national significance of Heart
Mountain and the suitability and feasibility of designating it as a
unit of the National Park System.
Mr. Speaker, we support the passage of H.R. 3989.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, between 1942 and 1945, Heart Mountain was one of 10
confinement facilities for Japanese Americans run by Franklin
Roosevelt's War Relocation authority. At its peak, the camp confined
nearly 11,000 people, most of whom were United States citizens.
This bill would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a
Special Resource Study to determine the suitability and feasibility of
designating the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in the State of
Wyoming as a unit of the National Park System.
The park, if created, would be on Bureau of Land Management land and
on land owned by the Wyoming Heart Mountain Foundation.
Former United States Senator Alan Simpson and former Congressman and
Secretary of Commerce and Transportation, Norman Mineta, met each other
as boys when the future Secretary Mineta was interned at Heart Mountain
and future Senator Simpson was growing up in Park County.
{time} 1450
Both now serve on the board of the Wyoming Heart Mountain Foundation.
Under their leadership, the foundation is currently building an
interpretive center that is scheduled to open next year. If the park is
created, the Wyoming Heart Mountain Foundation has indicated its
willingness to donate its land to the Park Service. No additional
acquisition of private land is contemplated. Creation of this park has
strong local support in Park County, Wyoming. And as the author of the
bill, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for it.
Mr. Speaker, though the gentlelady from Guam raises an excellent
point about the fact that I have questioned the propriety during these
tough economic times of purchasing land in the previous bill, H.R.
4686, that is a proposal for the National Park Service to purchase
land, and authorizing $4 million to do so, whereas the Heart Mountain
proposal is to donate the land if the National Park Service chooses to
accept it and recommend it as a unit of the National Park Service. That
is the difference in the bills, Mr. Speaker.
I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support the bill.
I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3989.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________