Utah senator blocks internment camp designation, draws ire

By JAMES ANDERSON and SAM METZ
Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Utah Sen. Mike Lee is facing backlash from Japanese Americans and conservation groups after blocking a proposal to create a national historic site at a former internment camp in rural Colorado. Lee was the lone U.S. senator to oppose designating Camp Amache as a national historic site. His opposition comes close to the 80th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt’s order creating the internment camps. And it’s outraged Japanese American and other groups who say the bill will mark one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history. The Camp Amache site is about a square mile in size. Lee and bill co-sponsor Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado say they’ll talk about resolving the dispute.