[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 606 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.606
One Hundred Ninth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fourth day of January, two thousand and five
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress 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 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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.