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Contact Your Members of Congress to Support the JACS Program!
On March 15, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1931. Now we turn our attention to the Senate to pass H.R. 1931! We also want to make sure the JACS Program is funded for the next year for at least $3.1 million.
The Japanese American Confinement Education Act (H.R. 1931) would authorize $42 million in additional funding for the Japanese American Confinement Site (JACS) program within the National Park Service (NPS). It would also establish a new education program within the JACS program with funding of up to $10 million of the total JACS funding. The JACS program has been one of the primary resources in the preservation and interpretation of the U.S. Confinement Sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. Since 2009, 268 projects have received over $36 million. Funding has gone to 24 states plus the District of Columbia. Grants have been as small as $5,000 and as large as $800,000.
The new education grant program would be created as a type of JACS grant specifically to establish and disseminate educational materials about the Japanese American confinement. This grant would require the recipient museum to develop and nationally disseminate accurate, relevant, and accessible resources to improve awareness and understanding of Japanese American Confinement in WWII. This program is modeled after the Holocaust Education Act passed by Congress and signed into law in 2020. Grants would be at least $750,000 per year and would prioritize Japanese American organizations with less than 100 employees.
The JACE Act has passed the House of Representatives and is awaiting action in the Senate.
Send an email to your Senator asking them to support H.R. 1931 and for all of your Congressional members to support FY2023 appropriations of at least $3.1 million.
For more information about H.R.1931, click HERE.
For more information about JACS Appropriations, click HERE.
For more information about the JACS Consortium, click HERE.
Contact Your Members of Congress to Support the JACS Program!
Contact Your Members of Congress to Support the JACS Program
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Now Call Your Senator to Support the JACS Program!
Thank you for giving advocacy to the Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) Act!
Thank you for joining us in promoting HR 1931/ S 988, the Japanese American Confinement Education Act with your email message. If you want to further reinforce your message, there are two more things you can do.
1) If they are not already a co-sponsor, call your Senator's office to ask them to co-sponsor. Calls are more effective than emails in achieving advocacy success.
How to Call your Senator to ask them to co-sponsor S 988, the Japanese American Confinement Education Act and Ask for a Hearing on H.R. 1931
Call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to connect you to your Senator. You can provide them with your state and they will automatically make the connection, or you can identify your senators and call their offices directly by looking them up at: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Script:
Hello, my name is _____________________ and I live in ____________(Your State). I am calling today to ask Senator ___________ to sign on as a co-sponsor to S 988, the Japanese American Confinement Education Act. I would also like the Senator to request Chairman Manchin and Ranking Members Barrasso to hold an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on H.R.1931. This legislation would support continuing efforts through the National Park Service to educate Americans of the injustices of the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. It would authorize and additional 42 million dollars for the Japanese American Confinement Sites grant program, including 10 million dollars to create a new education program to develop and distribute curriculum and other materials about the incarceration experience. It has already passed in the House and I hope that the Senate will soon do the same.
Likely further conversation:
The person on the phone will probably ask for your contact information for their records and maybe for someone to call you back who is more familiar with the program or the National Park Service. If you want to have more background information, you can refer to our one page information sheet on the legislation located HERE.
Tips:
- Don’t be scared! Congressional staffers are usually very friendly.
- If the office is busy, don’t give up. Try again in a few minutes or leave a voicemail.
- If you don’t know the answer to a question about the legislation, don’t worry, you can either get the information to them later or refer them to JACL’s national office at 202-223-1240.
- Be sure to thank them for taking the time to talk.
- Email policy@jacl.org to let us know how your call went.
2) Spread the word!
Tell your friends and family why you support the Japanese American Confinement Education Act by sending an email with the link to send a letter themselves, or by sharing the letter on social media.
Send them this link to take immediate direct action.
For more information, refer them to JACL's Japanese American Confinement Education Act information page.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at policy@jacl.org
Thanks again for your support!
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