49–010 

Calendar No. 249 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 109–157 

ANGEL ISLAND IMMIGRATION STATION RESTORATION 

AND PRESERVATION ACT 

OCTOBER 19, 2005.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. DOMENICI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 606] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the Act (H.R. 606) to authorize appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior for the restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station in the State of California, having considered the 

same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the Act do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

The purpose of H.R. 606 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide up to $15 million in grants to help restore the Angel 

Island Immigration Station in California. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 

20th century, millions of people came to America in pursuit of a 

better way of life. On the east coast, most of the immigrants were 

met by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. On the west coast, 

between 1910 and 1940, most entered the United States through 

the wooden buildings of Angel Island, in the San Francisco Bay. 

These immigrants were Australians and New Zealanders, Canadians, Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Russians, and in 

particular, Asians. There, during this period of the great migrations, they met with a reception quite unlike that given to European immigrants on the east coast. 

Around the middle of the 19th century, immigrants from southern China began arriving in the United States in large numbers, 

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fleeing from a land stricken by both natural and man-made disasters and a collapsing rural economy. Almost all of these immigrants arrived in San Francisco. Though initially welcomed, when 

the California economy took a downturn in the 1870s, economic 

problems were laid at the feet of this highly visible minority by organized labor, newspapers, and politicians. A number of laws were 

passed at the local and State levels targeting the Chinese. In addition, Congress passed several laws targeting immigration from 

Asia. With the passing of the first of these laws, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, America had limited immigration on the basis of 

nationality or race for the first time. Subsequent laws severely curtailed each successive wave of immigration from Asia which came 

to replace Chinese immigrant workers. 

The question soon arose of how to actually implement the Chinese Exclusion Act. Initially, customs service officers individually 

and arbitrarily administered exclusion policies; in time, procedures 

became standardized by the Bureau of Immigration. As part of this 

system, Immigration officials planned a new facility on Angel Island, the largest island in the San Francisco Bay, far from the 

mainland. The Angel Island facility prevented Chinese immigrants 

from communicating with those in San Francisco, isolated immigrants with communicable diseases, and, like the prison on nearby 

Alcatraz Island, was escape proof. In January 1910, over the objections of Chinese community leaders, this hastily-built immigration 

station was opened on the northeastern edge of Angel Island, ready 

to receive its first immigrants. The Chinese Exclusion Act was finally repealed in 1943, although immigration from China was 

strictly limited until 1965. 

The Angel Island Immigration Station was eventually closed 

after a fire destroyed many of the buildings in 1940. It was later 

used as a prisoner of war processing center during World War II. 

Following the war, the site was abandoned. In 1963 the State of 

California established Angel Island as a State park. 

In 1997, the Angel Island Immigration Station was designated as 

a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior. In 

1999, Save America’s Treasures, a project of the National Trust 

and the White House Millennium Council, designated the Angel Island Immigration Station as one of its Official Projects, providing 

$500,000 for the preservation of the Chinese poems carved into the 

barracks walls. In March 2000, California voters passed a State 

bond measure that set aside $15 million specifically for restoration 

of the Angel Island Immigration Station. 

H.R. 606 would authorize $15 million in matching Federal funds 

to be utilized for the restoration of the Angel Island Immigration 

Station. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 606 was introduced by Representative Woolsey on February 

2, 2005. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 606 by a voice 

vote on May 23, 2005. Identical legislation, S. 262, was introduced 

by Senators Feinstein, Boxer, and Akaka on February 2, 2005. 

Similar legislation, S. 2833, was introduced by Senator Feinstein in 

the 108th Congress. The House of Representatives passed a similar 

measure in the 108th Congress, H.R. 4469, sponsored by CongressVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:43 Oct 20, 2005 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR157.XXX SR157
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woman Woolsey. The House passed the bill by a voice vote on September 28, 2004, although no further action occurred in the Senate. 

The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S. 262 

on April 28, 2005 (S. Hrg. 109–74). At its business meeting on September 28, 2005 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

ordered H.R. 606 favorably reported. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on September 28, 2005, by a voice vote of a quorum 

present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 606 as described 

herein. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 entitles the bill ‘‘Angel Island Immigration Station Restoration and Preservation Act’’. 

Section 2 sets forth congressional findings. 

Section 3 authorizes the appropriation of $15 million to the Secretary of the Interior for the restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station, in coordination with the Angel Island Immigration 

Station Foundation and the California Department of Parks and 

Recreation. This section also requires that Federal funding not exceed 50 percent of the total from all sources spent to restore the 

Angel Island Immigration Station. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 606—Angel Island Immigration Station Restoration and Preservation Act 

H.R. 606 would authorize the appropriation of $15 million to restore the Angel Island Immigration Station, a California state park 

in the San Francisco Bay. Assuming appropriation of this amount, 

CBO estimates that the National Park Service would disburse the 

$15 million over the next three or four years as grants to the Angel 

Island Immigration Station Foundation, a local nonprofit organization. Most of this funding would be used to restore the station hospital. 

H.R. 606 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

H.R. 606. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant economic 

responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

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No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of H.R. 606, as ordered reported. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The views of the Administration on S. 262 were included in testimony received by the Committee at a hearing on the bill on April 

28, 2005 as follows: 

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL SOUKUP, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, 

NATURAL RESOURCE STEWARDSHIP AND SCIENCE, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear 

before your committee to present the views of the Department of the Interior on H.R. 606, to authorize appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior for the restoration of 

the Angel Island Immigration Station in the State of California. This legislation would authorize appropriations of 

$15 million for restoration of the Angel Island Immigration 

Station Hospital and for other station facilities if excess 

funds remained. 

The Department commends the work that is being done 

to restore the Angel Island Immigration Station at Angel 

Island State Park and to make it more accessible to visitors. In fact, the National Park Service has been an active 

partner in that effort. However, we oppose this legislation. 

We believe it is inappropriate to use limited National Park 

Service appropriations to pay for restoration projects for 

non-National Park Service structures. We encourage the 

State of California, California State Parks, and the Angel 

Island Immigration Station Foundation to continue seeking other sources of funding for this very worthy project. 

For many years, the Department has opposed legislation 

authorizing appropriations for non-National Park Service 

construction projects. Many of these projects, like the restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station, represent an important contribution to the preservation of our 

Nation’s history. However, each time such legislation is enacted and appropriations follow, it further reduces a limited amount of discretionary funds available to address the 

priority needs of our national parks and other programs 

administered by the National Park Service. With the emphasis we have placed on the President’s initiative to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog, it has become 

more important than ever to avoid authorizing funding for 

non-National Park Service projects that would likely draw 

funds from the National Park Service’s budget. 

Angel Island is located in San Francisco Bay, not far 

from Alcatraz Island. The Federal Government built the 

Angel Island Immigration Station in Winslow Cove and operated it between 1910 and 1940 to enforce the Chinese 

Exclusion Act. Over one million new arrivals to the United 

States, including Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Hispanics, 

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and others, were processed through the immigration station, although some never set foot on the island. 

The most poignant history associated with Angel Island 

is that of detained Chinese immigrants. Angel Island is 

often referred to as the ‘‘Ellis Island of the West,’’ although 

unlike Ellis Island, where immigrants typically spent one 

day, many of the Chinese immigrants were detained for 

weeks, months or even years. The Chinese Exclusion Act, 

in effect from 1882 until 1943, required Chinese immigrants to go to extra lengths to prove that they met the 

necessary requirements to be allowed to stay. Over 100 

poems carved by detainees on walls of the Detention Barracks, expressing the fear, hopes, and despair of those with 

uncertain futures, provide a first-hand historical commentary on the plight of these immigrants. 

The immigration station was closed in 1940 after a fire 

destroyed the Administration Building and American policy shifted in support of China in World War II. The U.S. 

Army used the buildings during World War II for internment of prisoners. The Army later vacated the site, and it 

fell into disrepair. Angel Island, which also had other military installations, was declared surplus to Federal needs 

and transferred to the State of California for park purposes in 1963. Today, on the 13–acre site, only the Detention Barracks, Hospital, Power House, Pump House and 

Mule Barn remain intact, and only the Detention Barracks 

is open to visitors. Angel Island State Park is reached by 

ferry and used for sightseeing, hiking, picnicking, educational trips, and limited camping. 

The Secretary of the Interior designated the Angel Island Immigration Station as a National Historic Landmark in 1997. In late 

1998, Congress appropriated $100,000 for the National Park Service to evaluate the feasibility and desirability of preserving and interpreting sites within Golden Gate National Recreation Area, including Angel Island Immigration Station, that are related to immigration; we are continuing to work to complete this study. A few 

months later, the National Park Service, California State Parks, 

and the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation formed a 

partnership consortium to undertake two major projects: (1) develop a restoration and interpretation strategy for restoration work 

at the Angel Island Immigration Station, and (2) explore the feasibility of developing a Pacific Coast Immigration Museum to provide 

interpretation and education related to immigration and migration 

to the West Coast. The consortium’s efforts led to securing $15 million in state funds and $1 million in grants and donations for restoration work on the immigration station. 

The National Park Service has also contributed technical assistance and managed contracts for reports that were completed in 

2002—an Historic Structures Report, Building Condition Assessments, a Poem Preservation Study, and Cultural Landscape Report 

for the immigration station. These reports were intended to serve 

as baseline studies to guide preservation and use decisions. In addition, in 2000, the Angel Island Immigration Station received a 

$500,000 grant for conservation work through the National Park 

Service’s Save America’s Treasures program. 

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As a follow through on the consortium’s agenda, the National 

Park Service has also been the conduit for appropriations from 

Congress of $280,000 in FY 2002 and $385,000 in FY 2004 for indepth feasibility studies for the Pacific Coast Immigration Museum. 

As the activities listed above show, the National Park Service is 

playing an active role in promoting the commemoration of immigration history on the West Coast, which is unquestionably a nationally significant story, by working in partnership with the State of 

California and the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. 

We are proud of the work the Service is doing toward planning and 

promoting the restoration of the immigration station and the Pacific Coast Immigration Museum, as these two entities will make 

an important contribution to the understanding of immigration history in this part of the country—and they will be significant additions to the historical attractions within Golden Gate National 

Recreation Area. However, we do not believe it is appropriate for 

the National Park Service budget to be used as a major funding 

source for the restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station, 

a state property. 

Mr. Chairman, that completes my statement. I would be happy 

to answer any questions you or the other members of the committee may have. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the Act H.R. 606, as ordered reported. 

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