From: Barbara Takei 
Date: July 12, 2008 

Subject: Help Us Preserve the Tule Lake Segregation Center

Hello Friends, opinion leaders and Tule Lake Supporters,

The Tule Lake Preservation Committee needs your help NOW to move
legislation through Congress that would help preserve Tule Lake.  We
would appreciate it if you would circulate this widely among your
contacts -- we especially need support from members of the Senate in
states other than California -- and ask that you request friends and
family who live in other parts of the U.S. to contact their Senators;
see links below.  Thank you for taking action on this legislation, S.
3213, and apologies for any cross postings.  

-Barbara Takei


URGENT REQUEST FOR HELP from the Tule Lake Preservation Committee
www.TuleLake.org

In 2006,  The Tule Lake Segregation Center was designated as a
National Historic Landmark.  That designation, the highest honor our
nation bestows on an historic site, was the first step towards the
future development of a visitor's center that will preserve and
interpret the history of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World
War II.  Tule Lake in Northern California was unique among the 10 War
Relocation Authority camps because it was where the WRA and Army chose
to segregate the 12,000 Japanese Americans who protested their
incarceration.

Congressional action is required to begin the research and planning to
bring Tule Lake under the authority of the National Park System and
enable the development of a visitor center at the site.  We now have
the opportunity to take the next step towards reaching that goal.
Senate Bill S 3213, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008,
contains many bills to support National Park Service activities across
the country. Among them is Section 723, which authorizes the National
Park Service to conduct a Special Resources Study to determine the
suitability and feasibility of establishing the Tule Lake Segregation
Center as a unit of the National Park System.  This bill is now on the
Senate floor and will soon come up for a vote.  If passed by the
Senate, it will be presented to the House of Representatives for
approval.

We need your help to move this bill through Congress.  We need you and
your friends and relatives scattered all over the United States to
contact your Senators and urge them to vote for this bill.  We need to
inform our respective Representatives that S. 3213 will need their
support if it comes over from the Senate before the end of August.
Please go to our website at www.TuleLake.org to download a form letter
that you can use or personalize to suit your own circumstances.
Contact information for your Senators and Representatives may easily
be found by going to the following links:

www.senate.gov  (use the "Find Your Senators" drop down box in the
upper right hand corner)

forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml  (enter your zip code to get
to the webpage of your Representative)

An email is fine if it is being sent to the Representative of your
Congressional District or to the Senator of your state.  We urge you
to also contact other Senators and Representative to ask for their
support, in which case we suggest you either fax or mail the letter.
We would appreciate it if you send an email copy to Roy Ikeda,
rhi2511@comcast.net  or your fax to 510-351-8147 or your mailed letter
to P.O. Box 170141, San Francisco, CA 94117.

The Tule Lake Committee thanks you for your support.
Since 1978,  the Tule Lake Committee, a tax-exempt, nonprofit
corporation, has planned and conducted biennial pilgrimages to the
site of the former Tule Lake Segregation Center.