[Senate Report 114-326]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 599
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 114-326
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TULE LAKE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ESTABLISHMENT ACT OF 2016
_______
September 6, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2412]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 2412) to establish the Tule Lake National
Historic Site in the State of California, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 2412 is to establish the Tule Lake
National Historic Site in the State of California.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
On February 19, 1942, during World War II, President
Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, authorizing the
Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones
``from which any or all persons may be excluded.'' On March 9,
1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9102,
providing for the removal of persons from the exclusion zones.
Two days later, Congress passed legislation ratifying and
confirming Executive Order 9066 and providing for its
enforcement. The law made violations of military orders a
misdemeanor punishable by up to $5,000 in fines and up to one
year in prison. As a result of military exclusion orders issued
pursuant to Executive Order 9066, approximately 120,000 men,
women, and children of Japanese ancestry were evicted from the
West Coast of the United States and held in internment camps
across the country.
Tule Lake opened on May 26, 1942, detaining persons of
Japanese descent removed from western Washington, Oregon, and
Northern California. With a peak population of 18,700, Tule
Lake was the largest of the internment camps--the only one
converted into a maximum-security segregation center, ruled
under martial law and occupied by the Army. Due to turmoil and
strife, Tule Lake was the last to close, on March 28, 1946.
Tule Lake is currently a part of the World War II Valor in
the Pacific National Monument, alongside eight other sites in
Pearl Harbor and Alaska. This legislation would separate Tule
Lake from the World War II Valor in the Pacific National
Monument, and provide for recognition as a standalone National
Historic Site.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Senators Boxer and Feinstein introduced S. 2412 on December
17, 2015. The Subcommittee National Parks conducted a hearing
on the legislation on June 15, 2016.
In the House of Representatives, Representative LaMalfa
introduced similar legislation, H.R. 4387, on January 13, 2016.
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open
business session on July 13. 2016, and ordered S. 2412
favorably reported.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on July 13, 2016, by a majority voice
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S.
2412.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 contains the short title.
Section 2. Definitions
Section 2 contains key definitions.
Section 3. Tule Lake National Historic Site
Section 3(a) establishes the Tule Lake National Historic
Site in California as a unit of the National Park System in
order to preserve, protect, and interpret the site of
incarceration and segregation of U.S. citizens of Japanese
descent and resident immigrants of Japanese citizenry at Tule
Lake during World War II.
Subsection (b) depicts the boundaries of the Historic Site
on the map.
Subsection (c) directs the map to be on file at National
Park Service offices and available for public inspection.
Subsection (d) requires the Secretary to administer the
Historic Site according to this Act and the laws applicable to
units of the National Park System. The Directors of the
National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service are required to enter into an interagency agreement to
allow the NPS to manage and interpret the resources of the
portions of the Historic Site within the Tule Lake National
Wildlife Refuge consistent with the management requirements of
the Refuge. The Secretary is authorized to use resources of the
Lava Beds National Monument to administer the Historic Site and
required to prepare and implement a general management plan for
the Historic Site, in coordination with the Tule Lake Wildlife
Refuge, within three years after funds are made available.
Section 4. Removal of Tule Lake Unit from the World War II Valor in the
Pacific National Monument
Section 4(a) specifies revised boundaries of the World War
II Valor in the Pacific National Monument which excludes the
land and interests in land from the Tule Lake Unit, consisting
of portions of the Tule Lake Segregation Center National
Historic Landmark and Camp Tule Lake.
Subsection (b) incorporates lands and interests excluded
from the Monument into the Historic Site, and states that any
funds for the purpose of land and interests shall be made
available to the Historic Site.
Subsection (c) stipulates that any reference in a law,
regulation, document, record, map, or other paper of the United
States to the Tule Lake Unit of World War II Valor in the
Pacific National Monument shall be considered to be a reference
to the Tule Lake National Historic Site.
Section 5. Authorization of appropriations
Section 5 authorizes such sums as are necessary to carry
out this Act.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the costs of this measure has
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, September 1, 2016.
Hon. Lisa Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Madam Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2412, the Tule Lake
National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2015.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall.
Enclosure.
S. 2412--Tule Lake National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2015
S. 2412 would establish the Tule Lake National Historic
Site in the state of California, consisting of portions of the
Tule Lake Segregation Center in Modoc County and Camp Tulelake
in Siskyou County. The two units would be detached from the
Pacific National Monument to form a distinct historic site
focused on the experience of first-generation Japanese
Americans at Tule Lake during World War II.
The Tule Lake Unit is currently administered jointly by the
National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. To implement the legislation, the NPS would need to
produce new signage and interpretative materials. Based on
information from the agency, CBO estimates that spending for
those activities would not be significant; such spending would
be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Enacting the legislation would have no effect on direct
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do
not apply. CBO estimates that enacting S. 2412 would not
increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of
the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
S. 2412 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
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. 2412. 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. 2412, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
S. 2412, 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
June 15, 2016, Subcommittee on National Parks hearing on S.
2412 follows:
Statement of Dr. Stephanie Toothman, Associate Director, Cultural
Resources, Partnerships, and Science, National Park Service, Department
of the Interior
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's
views on S. 2412, to establish the Tule Lake National Historic
Site in the State of California, and for other purposes.
The Department supports S. 2412.
S. 2412 would establish the Tule Lake National Historic
Site as a stand-alone unit of the National Park Service,
separating it from the World War II Valor in the Pacific
National Monument. It would include portions of the Tule Lake
Segregation Center National Historic Landmark and Camp
Tulelake.
The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument,
including the Tule Lake Unit, was created by a presidential
proclamation on December 5, 2008. The monument consists of nine
sites in Alaska, California, and Hawaii. Eight of the nine
sites in the monument are World War II battle sites that
memorialize battles on American soil and actual engagement with
foreign enemies. This is in stark contrast to the purpose of
the Tule Lake site, which is to preserve, study, and interpret
the history and setting of the incarceration and later
segregation of nikkei, first-generation Japanese Americans, at
Tule Lake during World War II.
Since designation, many former detainees have expressed
concerns about whether the name of the monument, ``World War II
Valor in the Pacific,'' is appropriate for a site aimed at
remembering the grave injustice done to more than 120,000
Japanese Americans nationwide during the war. Additionally,
public input from over 30 public scoping meetings held in
western states in 2013 for the park's general management plan
revealed strong public opinion to detach the Tule Lake Unit
from World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. The
rationale expressed that the name is inappropriate, and even
offensive, for an internment site to be associated with wartime
valor.
The Tule Lake Segregation Center, which was opened in May
1942, was the largest of the 10 War Relocation Authority camps.
More than 29,000 Japanese Americans from western Washington,
Oregon, and northern California were interned there. Its
population made up a quarter of the 120,000 people affected by
World War II Japanese American internment. Tule Lake also
imprisoned the largest number of individuals categorized as
disloyal, and was subsequently converted to a maximum-security
segregation center. Due to turmoil and strife, Tule Lake was
the last camp to close, on March 28, 1946.
Presently the park includes Camp Tulelake, where there are
several historic structures once used to imprison Japanese
Americans and detain German and Italian prisoners of war; the
Peninsula, an iconic landscape to those who lived there and
where detainees tended livestock that supported the self-
contained camp; and the Segregation Center, which encompasses
the original segregation center's stockade, the War Relocation
Authority motor pool, the post engineer's yard and motor pool,
and a small part of the military police compound.
The Tule Lake Unit is currently administered jointly by the
National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge) and is managed in
accordance with both NPS and USFWS laws and regulations. This
bill would not affect existing land rights or alter the site's
current management scheme or operational costs.
Establishing the Tule Lake National Historic Site will
enable us to increase focus on understanding the high price
paid by Japanese Americans on the home front during World War
II. It would elevate the recognition of this site to be
consistent with our other Japanese relocation centers Manzanar
National Historic Site and Minidoka National Historic Site as
stand-alone parks in the National Park System. And, it is in
keeping with the public's and former detainees' expressed
opinions on the matter.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. I would be happy
to answer any questions you or 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 as ordered
reported.
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