[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 48 (Monday, December 8, 2008)]
[Pages 1481-1484]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 8327--Establishment of the World War II Valor in the 

Pacific National Monument

 December 5, 2008

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Beginning at Pearl Harbor with the day of infamy that saw the 
sinking of the USS ARIZONA and ending on the deck of the USS MISSOURI in 
Tokyo Bay, many of the key battles of World War II were waged on and 
near American shores and throughout the Pacific. We must always remember 
the debt we owe to the members of the Greatest Generation for our 
liberty. Their gift is an enduring peace that transformed enemies into 
steadfast allies in the cause of democracy and freedom around the globe.
    Americans will never forget the harrowing sacrifices made in the 
Pacific by soldiers and civilians that began at dawn on December 7, 
1941, at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. The surprise attack killed 
more than 2,000 American military personnel and dozens of civilians and 
thrust the United States fully into World War II.
    America responded and mobilized our forces to fight side-by-side 
with our allies in the European, Atlantic, and Pacific theaters. The 
United States Navy engaged in epic sea

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battles, such as Midway, and our Armed Forces fought extraordinary land 
battles for the possession of occupied islands. These battles led to 
significant loss of life for both sides, as well as for the island's 
native peoples. Battlegrounds such as Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, 
Peleliu, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa are remembered for the 
heroic sacrifices and valor displayed there.
    The conflict raged as far north as the Alaskan territory. The United 
States ultimately won the encounter in the Aleutian Island chain but not 
without protracted and costly battles.
    There were also sacrifices on the home front. Tens of millions of 
Americans rallied to support the war effort, often at great personal 
cost. Men and women of all backgrounds were called upon as industrial 
workers, volunteers, and civil servants. Many Americans valiantly 
supported the war effort even as they struggled for their own civil 
rights.
    In commemoration of this pivotal period in our Nation's history, the 
World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument adds nine historic 
sites to our national heritage of monuments and memorials representing 
various aspects of the war in the Pacific.
    Five of those sites are in the Pearl Harbor area, which is the home 
of both the USS ARIZONA and the USS MISSOURI--milestones of the Pacific 
campaign that mark the beginning and the end of the war. The sites in 
this area include: the USS ARIZONA Memorial and Visitor Center, the USS 
UTAH Memorial, the USS OKLAHOMA Memorial, the six Chief Petty Officer 
Bungalows on Ford Island, and mooring quays F6, F7, and F8, which 
constituted part of Battleship Row. The USS ARIZONA and USS UTAH vessels 
will not be designated as part of the national monument, but instead 
will be retained by the Department of Defense (through the Department of 
the Navy) as the final resting place for those entombed there.
    Three sites are located in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The first is 
the crash site of a Consolidated B-24D Liberator bomber--an aircraft of 
a type that played a highly significant role in World War II--located on 
Atka Island. The second is the site of Imperial Japan's occupation of 
Kiska Island, beginning in June 1942, which marks the northern limit of 
Imperial Japan's expansion in the Pacific. The Kiska site includes 
historic relics such as Imperial Japanese coastal and antiaircraft 
defenses, camps, roads, an airfield, a submarine base, a seaplane base, 
and other installations, as well as the remains of Allied defenses, 
including runway facilities and gun batteries.
    The third Aleutian designation is on Attu Island, the site of the 
only land battle fought in North America during World War II. It still 
retains the scars of the battle: thousands of shell and bomb craters in 
the tundra; Japanese trenches, foxholes, and gun encampments; American 
ammunition magazines and dumps; and spent cartridges, shrapnel, and 
shells located at the scenes of heavy fighting. Attu later served as a 
base for bombing missions against Japanese holdings.
    The last of the nine designations will bring increased understanding 
of the high price paid by some Americans on the home front. The Tule 
Lake Segregation Center National Historic Landmark and nearby Camp Tule 
Lake in California were both used to house Japanese-Americans relocated 
from the west coast of the United States. They encompass the original 
segregation center's stockade, the War Relocation Authority Motor Pool, 
the Post Engineer's Yard and Motor Pool, a small part of the Military 
Police Compound, several historic structures used by internees and 
prisoners of war at Camp Tule Lake, and the sprawling landscape that 
forms the historic setting.
     Whereas much of the Federal property within the World War II Valor 
in the Pacific National Monument is easily accessible to visitors from 
around the world;
     Whereas the Secretary of the Interior should be authorized and 
directed to interpret the broader story of World War II in the Pacific 
in partnership with the Department of Defense, the States of Hawaii, 
Alaska, and California, and other governmental and non-profit 
organizations;
     Whereas the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument 
will promote understanding of related resources, encourage continuing 
research, present interpretive opportunities and programs for visitors 
to better

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understand and honor the sacrifices borne by the Greatest Generation, 
and tell the story from Pearl Harbor to Peace;
     Whereas section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 
U.S.C. 431) (the ``Antiquities Act'') authorizes the President, in his 
discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, 
historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or 
scientific interest that are situated upon lands owned or controlled by 
the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and to 
reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all 
cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper 
care and management of the objects to be protected;
     Whereas it is in the public interest to preserve the areas 
described above and on the attached maps as the World War II Valor in 
the Pacific National Monument;
     Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States 
of America, by the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Act of 
June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431), do proclaim that there are 
hereby set apart and reserved as the World War II Valor in the Pacific 
National Monument for the purpose of protecting the objects described 
above, all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the 
Government of the United States within the boundaries described on the 
accompanying maps, which are attached and form a part of this 
proclamation. The Federal lands and interests in land reserved consist 
of approximately 6,310 acres, which is the smallest area compatible with 
the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.
    All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries of 
this monument are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of 
entry, location, selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under 
the public land laws, including, but not limited to, withdrawal from 
location, entry, and patent under mining laws, and from disposition 
under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing.

Management of the National Monument

    The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the monument through the 
National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, pursuant 
to applicable legal authorities, to implement the purposes of this 
proclamation. The National Park Service shall generally administer the 
national monument, except that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shall 
administer the portions of the national monument that are within a 
national wildlife refuge. The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service may prepare an agreement to share, consistent with 
applicable laws, whatever resources are necessary to properly manage the 
monument.
    For the purposes of preserving, interpreting, and enhancing public 
understanding and appreciation of the national monument and the broader 
story of World War II in the Pacific, the Secretary of the Interior, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall prepare a management 
plan within 3 years of the date of this proclamation.
    The Secretary of the Interior shall have management responsibility 
for the monument sites and facilities in Hawaii within the boundaries 
designated on the accompanying maps to the extent necessary to implement 
this proclamation, including the responsibility to maintain and repair 
the Chief Petty Officer Bungalows and other monument facilities. The 
Department of Defense may retain the authority to control access to 
those sites. The Department of the Interior through the National Park 
Service and the Department of the Navy may execute an agreement to 
provide for the operational needs and responsibilities of each 
Department in implementing this proclamation.

Armed Forces Actions

    1. The prohibitions required by this proclamation shall not restrict 
activities and exercises of the Armed Forces (including those carried 
out by the United States Coast Guard).
    2. All activities and exercises of the Armed Forces shall be carried 
out in a manner that avoids, to the extent practicable and consistent 
with operational requirements, adverse impacts on monument resources and 
qualities.
    3. In the event of threatened or actual destruction of, loss of, or 
injury to a monument

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resource or quality resulting from an incident, including but not 
limited to spills and groundings, caused by a component of the 
Department of Defense or any other Federal agency, the cognizant 
component shall promptly coordinate with the Secretary of the Interior 
for the purpose of taking appropriate actions to respond to and mitigate 
the harm and, if possible, restore or replace the monument resource or 
quality.

    4. Nothing in this proclamation or any regulation implementing it 
shall limit or otherwise affect the Armed Forces' discretion to use, 
maintain, improve, or manage any real property under the administrative 
control of a Military Department or otherwise limit the availability of 
such real property for military mission purposes.

    The establishment of this monument is subject to valid existing 
rights.

    Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing 
withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the national 
monument shall be the dominant reservation.

    Nothing in this proclamation shall alter the authority of any 
Federal agency to take action in the monument area where otherwise 
authorized under applicable legal authorities, except as provided by 
this proclamation.

    Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not to 
appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature of this monument and 
not to locate or settle upon any lands thereof.

     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of 
December, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
third.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., December 9, 
2008]

Note: This proclamation and its annexes will be published in the Federal 
Register on December 10.