[Senate Report 114-326]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 599
114th Congress      }                                   {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session         }                                   {      114-326

======================================================================



 
       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.

                                  [all]