PROCLAMATION 7395—JAN. 17, 2001 115 STAT. 2573 of an important chapter in American history—the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the Secretary of War and military commanders to designate military areas from which "any or all persons may be excluded" and to "provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary." Starting in early 1942, military authorities began designating military exclusion areas in the States of California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona, and the territory of Alaska. Following the signing of Executive Order 9066, American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry living in the designated exclusion areas were ordered to evacuate their homes and businesses and report to temporary assembly centers located at fairgrounds, horse racetracks, and other make-shift facilities. To provide more permanent accommodations for the evacuees, President Roosevelt established the War Relocation Authority (WRA) in March 1942. The WRA oversaw the construction of ten relocation centers on Federally owned lands in remote areas of six western States and Arkansas, including the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho. Alaskan Native residents of the Aleutian and Pribiloff Islands and members of other ethnic and religious groups were also relocated or interned during the course of the war. Established in August 1942, the Minidoka Relocation Center, also known as the Hunt Site, was located on Federal lands in Jerome County, in south central Idaho. During its operation from August 1942 to October 1945, the population reached a peak of 9,397 Japanese Americans from Washington State, Oregon, and Alaska. The Center included over 33,000 acres of land with administrative and residential facilities located on approximately 950 acres. The Center had more than 600 buildings including administrative, religious, residential, educational, mess, medical, manufacturing, warehouse, security, and other structures. Living conditions at Minidoka and the other centers were harsh. Internees were housed in crude barracks and cramped quarters, and they shared communal facilities. Internees engaged in irrigated agriculture, livestock production, and light manufacturing to produce food and garments for the camp. Approximately 1,000 internees from Minidoka served in the U.S. military. Fifty-four Japanese American servicemen from Minidoka were killed in action. Section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431), authorizes the President, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of lands, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected. WHEREAS it appears that it would be in the public interest to reserve such lands as a national monument to be known as the Minidoka Internment National Monument:
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