skip to navigation | skip to content
Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

Home > Issues > Japanese American memorial > Honoring Internees

Issues

Japanese American memorial

Bainbridge Japanese American memorial, Wild Sky finally through Congress
Long-awaited public-lands package heads to president’s desk

April 29, 2008

Bipartisan legislation that would provide federal designation to a historic site and a wilderness area in western Washington was approved by the House today and is headed to the president’s desk for signature into law.

The broad and long-awaited public-lands package, which was stalled in the Senate for over a year and approved earlier this month, included a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that would give national park status to a memorial at the former Eagledale Ferry Dock on Bainbridge Island in Washington state.  This was the site from which the first Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during World War II under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 and Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1. 

“This memorial proclaims that we should never again sacrifice liberty at the altar of fear," said Inslee, who lives on Bainbridge Island and has backed efforts to construct a memorial at Eagledale Ferry Dock for almost five years.  “Its federal designation comes none too soon for survivors of the 227 Bainbridge residents taken to internment camps on March 30, 1942, like Fumiko Hayashida and Frank Kitamoto.”

“I applaud Congressman Inslee's efforts to give historic site status to the Eagledale Ferry Dock on Bainbridge Island.  This memorial will serve as an important reminder of the injustice suffered by Japanese American citizens, and will provide an opportunity for future generations to learn from the past,” added Cantwell.  “Today, we are one step closer to ensuring that these scenic and historic landmarks are preserved for generations to come.  These are solid bills that will boost tourism and provide more opportunities for Washington state residents, and tourists, to take part in, and enjoy our natural heritage."

The measure sponsored by Inslee and Cantwell included in the lands package would make the former Eagledale Ferry Dock and a memorial currently being constructed there a satellite site of the Minidoka Internment National Monument in Jerome County, Idaho.  Inslee first introduced the House version of the bill in July 2006 and re-filed it on the first day of the current session of Congress, Jan. 4, 2007.  It was approved as a stand-alone measure in the House last February.

The omnibus public lands bill that won approval today by a vote of 291 to 117 also included the Wild Sky Wilderness Act, a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) and cosponsored by Inslee, which would designate over 106,000 acres of national forest in east Snohomish County as wilderness. 

“I hope people will note the stalwart and successful work of Senator Murray and Congressman Larsen in building such a wide consensus for this effort,” added Inslee.  “Their leadership will set the standard for how to write wilderness legislation in this country."
 
Called the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, S. 2739, the omnibus bill is a collection of more than 60 public-lands bills that have been passed by the House individually.  It was approved by the Senate on April 10 by a vote of 91 to 4.  Because the House passed the same version of the legislation, it now will go to the president for signature.  He is expected to sign it into law.