[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 119, 109th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

119 STAT. 2529

Public Law 109-119
109th Congress

An Act


 
To authorize appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior for the
restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station in the State of
California.  NOTE: Dec. 1, 2005 -  [H.R. 606]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress  NOTE: Angel Island Immigration
Station Restoration and Preservation Act.  assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Angel Island Immigration Station
Restoration and Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Angel Island Immigration Station, also known as the
Ellis Island of the West, is a National Historic Landmark.
(2) Between 1910 and 1940, the Angel Island Immigration
Station processed more than 1,000,000 immigrants and emigrants
from around the world.
(3) The Angel Island Immigration Station contributes greatly
to our understanding of our Nation's rich and complex
immigration history.
(4) The Angel Island Immigration Station was built to
enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and subsequent
immigration laws, which unfairly and severely restricted Asian
immigration.
(5) During their detention at the Angel Island Immigration
Station, Chinese detainees carved poems into the walls of the
detention barracks. More than 140 poems remain today,
representing the unique voices of immigrants awaiting entry to
this country.
(6) More than 50,000 people, including 30,000
schoolchildren, visit the Angel Island Immigration Station
annually to learn more about the experience of immigrants who
have traveled to our shores.
(7) The restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station
and the preservation of the writings and drawings at the Angel
Island Immigration Station will ensure that future generations
also have the benefit of experiencing and appreciating this
great symbol of the perseverance of the immigrant spirit, and of
the diversity of this great Nation.

SEC. 3. RESTORATION.

(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior $15,000,000 for restoring
the Angel Island Immigration Station in the San Francisco Bay, in
coordination with the Angel Island Immigration

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119 STAT. 2530

Station Foundation and the California Department of Parks and
Recreation.
(b) Federal Funding.--Federal funding under this Act shall not
exceed 50 percent of the total funds from all sources spent to restore
the Angel Island Immigration Station.
(c) Priority.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the funds
appropriated pursuant to this Act shall be used for the restoration of
the Immigration Station Hospital on Angel Island.
(2) Any remaining funds in excess of the amount required to carry
out paragraph (1) shall be used solely for the restoration of the Angel
Island Immigration Station.

Approved December 1, 2005.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 606:
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SENATE REPORTS: No. 109-157 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 151 (2005):
May 23, considered and passed House.
Nov. 16, considered and passed Senate.