[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.

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