Bennet Requests Funding to Support the Amache National Historic Site in Granada, Colorado

Reconstructed Barracks and Water and Guard Tower

Bennet’s Bill to Protect Amache Became Law in March

Denver – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet requested funding for the Amache National Historic Site in a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

In March 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Amache National Historic Site Act which established Amache, a former Japanese American incarceration facility outside of Granada, Colorado, as part of the National Park System. Bennet and Colorado U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper introduced the bill and shepherded it through the Senate. In his letter to Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bennet requested over $500,000 in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill to support operations at the newly authorized site for the upcoming year.

“Robust funding for the Amache National Historic Site in its inaugural year will ensure future generations have the opportunity to learn about what happened at Amache and the Americans who were interned there. We have a responsibility to carry their legacy forward,” wrote Bennet in his letter which follows.

Dear Chair Merkley and Ranking Member Murkowski:
As your committee develops its fiscal year (FY) 2023 appropriations bill, I write to request that you provide $505,000 for the Amache National Historic Site. On March 18, 2022, the President signed the Amache National Historic Site Act into law to designate a former Japanese American incarceration facility outside of Granada, Colorado, as part of the National Park System.

Funding will support the first year of operations and five staff at this newly authorized site. Although the original buildings associated with the incarceration camp were removed or demolished after Amache closed in 1945, several have since been reconstructed or returned to the site. According to the National Park Service, the cemetery, a reservoir, a water well and tank, the road network, concrete foundations, watch towers, the military police compound, and trees that the internees planted still remain and will require maintenance.

Robust funding for the Amache National Historic Site in its inaugural year will ensure future generations have the opportunity to learn about what happened at Amache and the Americans who were interned there. We have a responsibility to carry their legacy forward. I look forward to working with you to ensure funding for this important site.

Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet