Denver – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet requested funding for the Amache National Historic Site in a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.
In March 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Amache National Historic Site Act which established Amache, a former Japanese American incarceration facility outside of Granada, Colorado, as part of the National Park System. Bennet and Colorado U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper introduced the bill and shepherded it through the Senate. In his letter to Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bennet requested over $500,000 in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill to support operations at the newly authorized site for the upcoming year.
“Robust funding for the Amache National Historic Site in its inaugural year will ensure future generations have the opportunity to learn about what happened at Amache and the Americans who were interned there. We have a responsibility to carry their legacy forward,” wrote Bennet in his letter.
The text of the letter is available HERE.
Background
February 19, 2022 marked the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which began the forced internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans at sites like Amache. Located in Granada, Colorado, the site held nearly 10,000 Japanese Americans against their will during the Second World War. Bennet visited the site with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, survivors, and descendants to mark this solemn occasion.
Ahead of the anniversary, Bennet urged the Senate to pass the Amache National Historic Site Act. Ninety-nine senators supported Bennet’s request, but U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) objected. A week later, Bennet and Lee reached an agreement on the Senate floor, and the bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent shortly thereafter. View the exchange HERE.
Last year, survivors of Amache sent a letter to Senate leadership urging passage of this legislation and over 70 Colorado and national organizations expressed their support.
In May 2017, John Hopper, a social studies teacher who is currently the principal of Granada High School, guided Bennet during his visit to Amache. In May 2018, Bennet, U.S. Representative Ken Buck (R-Colo.), and former U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), introduced the Amache Study Act, which directed the Department of the Interior to conduct a Special Resource Study (SRS) to assess Amache’s historical significance and determine the feasibility of adding the site to the National Park System. The bill was signed into law in 2019 as part of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. While the study was already underway, the community asked Bennet, Hickenlooper, U.S. Representative Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), and Buck to introduce legislation to add Amache to the NPS, a process that requires Congressional designation. They introduced the Amache National Historic Site Act thereafter.