JACL: Advocacy for JACS Funding Still Needed

WASHINGTON — Although funding for the National Park Service’s Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grant program — which had been eliminated from the White House’s budget proposal — has been restored for the current fiscal year, the Japanese American Citizens League encourages continued advocacy for the continuation of funding in fiscal year 2019.

With a bipartisan letter from the House of Representatives, JACL is now focusing on the Senate.

“We hope to obtain the same broad, bipartisan support in the Senate that we did in the House,” JACL said in a statement.

JACL staff has been active on Capitol Hill, meeting with Senate staff to explain the benefits of the program, which educates the public about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and its relevance to civil liberties today.

Senators who have signed on to join Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) in support of JACS funding include Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris (both D-Calif.), Jeff Merkeley (D-Ore.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

The deadline for senators to co-sign is April 25.