President Obama has officially recognized a new name for the Bainbridge Island memorial to Japanese Americans forced into internment camps during World War II.

The bill, brought forward by Representative Derek Kilmer this summer, recognizes the site as the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial.

“It was an honor to work with local folks in our region to see this bill become a law,” said Kilmer. “With their hard work we were able to get President Obama and Congress to properly recognize the unfair and unjust treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II.”

Previously referenced as the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial, the new name was signed into law at the urging of Bainbridge groups and residents to better reflect the history it commemorates.

“The moving and heartbreaking stories chronicled at the Bainbridge memorial, describing how families were rounded up and forcibly removed from their homes, remind us that we must always be vigilant in fighting prejudice and discrimination,” Kilmer said.

The memorial is located just steps from the former Eagledale ferry dock, where Bainbridge Japanese American residents departed the island for internment camps during World War II.

It’s the only national memorial to the World War II Japanese American internment that is not located at an incarceration site.

The bill was approved by the House and Senate before going to President Obama.

Just 25 bills authored by Democrats in the House of Representatives have been signed into law this year. Of that, Kilmer was one of seven House Freshman Democrats to have a bill signed.

Kilmer has worked throughout the summer to have the memorial renamed.

In August, he met with local Japanese American survivors of the internment camps as they gave him a tour of the names and families memorialized at the the site.

He was joined by Johnpaul Jones, the architect and designer of the wall who was recently awarded a National Humanities Medal from President Obama.