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Inslee lauds enactment of Bainbridge memorial bill

May 8, 2008

The president signed into law the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, S. 2739, an omnibus package of more than 60 public-lands bills that includes Bainbridge Island Japanese American memorial and Wild Sky wilderness legislation.

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), the sponsor of legislation that would give National Park status to a memorial on Bainbridge Island in Washington state for the first Japanese Americans sent to internment camps during World War II, made the following statement on the law’s enactment: 

“It seemed like it took forever for this designation to become law because the process took about three years longer than people like Fumiko Hayashida lived in internment camps,” said Inslee, a resident of Bainbridge Island.  “I’m proud of our community for fashioning this memorial and hope federal designation will help raise funds necessary to bring it to completion.”