[Senate Report 111-261]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 531
111th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 111-261
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HEART MOUNTAIN RELOCATION CENTER STUDY ACT
_______
August 5, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2722]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 2722) 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, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the
bill do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 2722 is 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.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive
Order 9066, authorizing the War Department to exclude persons
of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast military areas and
intern them in relocation centers. The Heart Mountain
Relocation Center (Center) is nationally significant because it
is one of ten relocation centers built by the War Relocation
Authority during World War II. The Center was occupied from
August 1942 to November 1945 and, at its peak, housed 10,767
people of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of whom were U.S.
citizens.
In 1992, Congress enacted Title II of Public Law 102-248,
which authorized and directed the Secretary of the Interior to
prepare a Japanese American National Historic Landmark (NHL)
Theme Study, titled the ``Japanese Americans in World War II.''
The study identified, evaluated, and nominated as national
historic landmarks those sites that best commemorate the period
in American history from 1941-46 when Japanese Americans were
interned pursuant to Executive Order 9066. The Heart Mountain
Relocation Center was recommended for study for possible
National Historic Landmark designation.
Today, four of the approximately 650 buildings constructed
for the Heart Mountain Relocation Center remain, including a
housing unit, a boiler house, a warehouse and a mess hall. The
Bureau of Reclamation owns the 71 acre-parcel where the four
buildings stand. In 1985, 30 acres were listed in the National
Register.
S. 2722 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct a special resource study of the Heart Mountain
Relocation Center to evaluate the national significance of the
site and to assess the suitability and feasibility of
designating the site as a unit of the National Park System.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 2722 was introduced by Senators Barrasso and Enzi on
November 3, 2009. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a
hearing on the bill on December 3, 2009. The Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources considered the bill at its
business meeting on June 16, 2010, and ordered S. 2722
favorably reported without amendment at its business meeting on
June 21, 2010.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on June 21, 2010, by a voice vote of a quorum
present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 2722.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 provides the short title, the ``Heart Mountain
Relocation Center Study Act of 2009.''
Section 2(a) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct a special resource study.
Subsection (b) provides that the study shall determine the
suitability and feasibility of adding the Heart Mountain
Relocation Center as a unit of the National Park System, and
shall consider other alternatives for the preservation,
protection and interpretation of the site by Federal, State or
local government entities or any other interested individuals.
The study is also required to identify the costs estimates for
any Federal acquisition, development, interpretation, operation
and maintenance associated with the range of management
alternatives.
Subsection (c) directs the study to be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of section 8 of Public Law 91-
383, relating to National Park Service study requirements.
Subsection (d) requires the Secretary to prepare and submit
for review the results, conclusions, and recommendations of the
study within 3 years after the date funds are made available
for the study.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 2722--Heart Mountain Relocation Center Study Act of 2009
S. 2722 would require the National Park Service (NPS) to
conduct a special resource study of the Heart Mountain
Relocation Center in Wyoming. In the study, the NPS would
evaluate the national significance of the site, which was used
to intern Japanese Americans during World War II, and determine
the suitability and feasibility of designating it as a unit of
the National Park System. The NPS would have three years to
complete the study and report to the Congress on its results.
Based on information provided by the NPS and assuming the
availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that carrying
out the study required by S. 2722 would cost about $200,000
over the next three years. Enacting the legislation would not
affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures would not apply.
S. 2722 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, and tribal governments.
On June 21, 2010, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
3989, the Heart Mountain Relocation Center Study Act of 2009,
as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources
on June 16, 2010. The two pieces of legislation are similar,
and the CBO cost estimates are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUTION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 2722.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 2722, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
S. 2722, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the
December 3, 2009 Subcommittee hearing on S. 2722 follows:
Statement of Katherine H. Stevenson, Assistant Director, Business
Services, National Park Service, Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to appear before you today to present the
Department of the Interior's views on S. 2722, 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 Department supports S. 2722. However, we feel that
priority should be given to the 49 previously authorized
studies for potential units of the National Park System,
potential new National Heritage Areas, and potential additions
to the National Trails System and the National Wild and Scenic
River System that have not yet been transmitted to Congress.
S. 2722 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary) to conduct a special resource study to determine
the suitability and feasibility of designating the Heart
Mountain Relocation Center as a unit of the National Park
System. The study would also consider other alternatives for
the preservation, protection and interpretation of the site by
federal, State, or local governmental entities, or private and
nonprofit organizations. The bill also directs the Secretary to
identify any potential impacts to private landowners if the
site is designated as a unit of the National Park System and
specifies that the Secretary, through the study process, shall
consult with interested federal, State, or local governmental
entities, federally recognized Indian tribes, private and
nonprofit organizations, and owners of private property that
may be affected by any designation. Not later than three years
after funds are made available, the Secretary is directed to
submit the results and recommendations of the study to
Congress. We estimate that this study will cost approximately
$240,000.
Located in northwest Wyoming, in the Shoshone River Valley,
the Heart Mountain Relocation Center is one of 10 relocation
centers established by the U.S. military to incarcerate
Japanese Americans during World War II. The Center opened on
August 11, 1942, and operated for 39 months, closing on
November 10, 1945. At its peak, Heart Mountain contained 10,767
Japanese Americans, nearly all of whom were former residents of
California, Oregon, and Washington, and two-thirds of whom were
United States citizens.
The site tells the story of a group of American citizens
whose constitutional rights were abrogated during a time when
our nation was at war. Heart Mountain is also directly
associated with one of the largest single draft resistance
movements in United States history. To protest theconfinement
of their families, 315 Japanese Americans from all 10 relocation
centers were imprisoned for resisting induction into the military.
Heart Mountain had the highest rate of resistance with 85 men
imprisoned for their resistance to the draft.
The Heart Mountain Relocation Center originally encompassed
21,521 acres. However, the center's core developed area, which
included the residential and administrative areas, contained
approximately 740 acres.
Jointly managed by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Heart
Mountain, Wyoming Foundation, the current Heart Mountain
National Historic Landmark contains 124 acres with the
remaining parts of the area privately owned. The Bureau of
Reclamation owns and administers 74 acres, which includes the
site of the original hospital complex and a portion of the
administrative complex. The Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation
owns 50 acres, which includes the relocation center's military
police compound. The Foundation is currently engaged in a
significant fundraising campaign to construct an 11,000 square
foot Interpretive Learning Center at the site. To date, nearly
one-half of the needed funds have been raised.
Although, as a nation, we are not proud of what happened at
the Heart Mountain Relocation Center and the other nine
detention sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated
during World. War II, such sites allow us to learn from our
history and remind us of how far we have come. The designation
of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center as a National Historic
Landmark has brought increased public recognition and awareness
of the site. However, this designation does not guarantee
additional safeguards or protection of the site. The special
resource study process would allow all interested parties to
comment on ways to preserve and allow for visitor enjoyment of
the Heart Mountain Relocation Center.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would
be happy to answer any questions you or any other members of
the subcommittee may have.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 2722, as
ordered reported.