At Hearing, Hickenlooper Urges Support for Bill to Protect Amache National Historic Site

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper urged support for his bipartisan bill to add Amache National Historic Site to the National Park System during a hearing of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

"The Amache National Historic Site would provide an unparalleled opportunity for Coloradans and Americans to learn about the horrors of Japanese internment, and ensure that our collective memory of these atrocities does not diminish with time," Hickenlooper said while discussing the bill with a National Park Service witness.

The Amache National Historic Site is a former Japanese-American incarceration facility outside of Granada, Colorado. The Amache National Historic Site Act,which Hickenlooper introduced alongside Senator Michael Bennet, would help honor those who were imprisoned by preserving the site's history and educating future generations.

Dozens of organizations, survivors, and family members submitted letters of support, which Hickenlooper added to the Congressional Record.

"Preserving and interpreting Amache National Historic Site for present and future generations will help the public better understand the unique stories of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated there, including those who served our nation in the Armed Forces; worked with Colorado farmers to support local agriculture; and built religious institutions and businesses in camp," wrote the Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium.

"Our national parks and the stories they honor reflect our values as a nation. Adding Amache to the National Park System would allow us to protect a unique story that has largely been forgotten and can only be told through the power of place. The site is a physical reminder that incarceration affected Japanese American communities across the country," wrote 48 former Amache survivors in a letter to the committee.

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