the opposite view. by march 1956, it was being said in washington, d.c. that the amount of correspondence on the bill exceeded anything seen since the previous high-water mark of public controversy, the lend-lease act of 1941. numerous letter-writers protested to their congressional representatives that the bill was "anti-religious" or that the land to be transferred to the alaska mental health trust would be fenced off and used as a concentration camp for the political enemies of various state governors. the well-known broadcaster fulton lewis described how he had "received, literally, hundreds of letters protesting bitterly against the bill. i have had telephone calls to the same effect from california, texas and other parts of the country. members of congress report identical reactions." a letter printed in the daily oklahoman newspaper in may 1956 summed up many of the arguments made by opponents of the bill: the advocates of world government, who regard patriotism as the symptom of a diseased mind, took a step closer to their goal of compulsory asylum 'cure' for opponents of unesco, when, on january 18, the u.s. house of representatives passed the alaska mental health act. the act was prepared by the u.s. department of justice, department of the interior and the socialist-oriented department of health, education and welfare. it closely follows the model code, drafted by the american psychiatric association, which has been working with the world health organization, a specialized agency of the united nations ... all of you who don't want members of your family railroaded to an asylum had better start writing your senator, now. during february and march 1956, hearings were held before the senate subcommittee on territories and insular affairs. proponents and opponents of the bill faced off in a series of tense exchanges, with strong accusations being made against the people and groups involved in the bill's introduction. stephanie williams of the american public relations forum said that the bill would enable russia to reclaim its former alaskan territory: " contains nothing to prevent russia from buying the entire million acres — they already say alaska belongs to them." mrs. ernest w. howard of the women's patriotic committee on national defense castigated the slackness of congress for not picking up on the bill's perceived dangers: "those of us who have been in the study and research work of the united nations, we feel that we are experts in this ... you as senators with all the many commitments and the many requirements, are not able to go into all these things." john kaspar, a white citizens' council organizer who had achieved notoriety for starting a race riot in clinton, tennessee, declared that "almost one hundred percent of all psychiatric therapy is jewish and about eighty percent of psychiatrists are jewish ... one particular race is administering this particular thing." he argued that jews were nationalists of another country who were attempting to "usurp american nationality". passing the bill senator barry goldwater, the sponsor of the final version of the alaska mental health bill the arguments of the bill's opponents attracted little support in the senate. the eisenhower administration, the alaska territorial government and mainstream religious groups were all in favor of the bill. the alaska presbyterian church gave the bill its unanimous support, issuing a statement declaring: "as christian citizens of alaska we believe this is a progressive measure for the care and treatment of the mentally ill of alaska. we deplore the present antiquated methods of handling our mentally ill." it also urged the national council of churches to mobilize support for the bill. an overwhelming majority of senators of both parties were also supportive. the bill's original author, alaska delegate bob bartlett, spoke for many of the bill's proponents when he expressed his bafflement at the response that it had received: i am completely at a loss in attempting to fathom the reasons why certain individuals and certain groups have now started a letter-writing campaign ... to defeat the act. i am sure that if the letter writers would consult the facts, they would join with all others not only in hoping this act would become law but in working for its speedy passage and approval. other senators expressed similar mystification at the agitation against the bill. senator henry m. jackson of washington stated that he was "at a loss" to see how the bill affected religion, as its opponents said. senator alan bible of nevada, the acting chairman of the subcommittee on territories and insular affairs, told the bill's opponents that nothing in the proposed legislation would permit the removal of any non-alaskan to the territory for confinement. republican senator barry goldwater of arizona proposed an amended bill that removed the commitment procedures in title i of the house bill and stated that "nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize the transfer to alaska, pursuant to any agreement or otherwise, of any mentally ill person who is not a resident of alaska." in effect, this eliminated the bill's most controversial element—the provision for the transfer of mental patients from the lower 48 states to alaska. the final recommendation of the senate committee on interior and insular affairs followed goldwater's lead that the bill be amended to strike all the controversial "detailed provisions for commitment, hospitalization, and care of the mentally ill of alaska" included in title i of the original house bill. this amended proposal left only the transfer of responsibility for mental health care to the territory of alaska and the establishment of land grants to support this care. the committee stressed that they were not invalidating the title i provisions of the original bill but that they had been misunderstood, a recurrent theme in supporters of the bill:however, the proposed provisions were misunderstood by many persons in parts of the country other than alaska. partly as a result of this misunderstanding, but more because the members of the committee are convinced that the people of alaska are fully capable of drafting their own laws for a mental health program for alaska, the committee concluded that authority should be vested in them in this field comparable to that of the states and other territories. thus amended, the senate bill (s. 2973) was passed unanimously by the senate on july 20, after only ten minutes of debate. aftermath following the passage of the act, an alaska mental health trust was set up to administer the land and grants appropriated to fund the alaskan mental health program. during the 1970s, the issue of the trust's land became increasingly controversial, with the state coming under increasing pressure to develop the land for private and recreational use. in 1978, the alaska legislature passed a law to abolish the trust and transfer the most valuable parcels of lands to private individuals and the government. by 1982, 40,000 acres (160 km2) had been conveyed to municipalities, 50,000 acres (200 km2) transferred to individuals, and slightly over 350,000 acres (1,400 km2) designated as forests, parks or wildlife areas. around 35 percent of the land trust remained unencumbered and in state ownership. in 1982, alaska resident vern weiss filed a lawsuit on behalf of his son, who required mental health services that were not available in alaska. the case of weiss v state of alaska eventually became a class action lawsuit involving a range of mental health care groups. the alaska supreme court ruled in 1985 that the abolition of the trust had been illegal and ordered it to be reconstituted. however, as much of the original land had been transferred away, the parties had to undergo a long and complex series of negotiations to resolve the situation. a final settlement was reached in 1994 in which the trust was reconstituted with 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) of original trust land, 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) of replacement land, and $200 million to replace lost income and assets. scientology and the alaska mental health bill the alaska mental health bill plays a major part in the church of scientology's account of its campaign against psychiatry. the church participated in the campaign against the bill and still refers to it as the "siberia bill". scientology may also have provided an important piece of the "evidence" which the anti-bill campaigners used — a booklet titled brain-washing: a synthesis of the russian textbook on psychopolitics. miscavige on nightline similarly, david miscavige, the church's leader, in 1992 told ted koppel in an interview on the nightline program: i don't know if you're aware that there was a plan in 1955 in this country, ted, to repeat what was done in russia. there was going to be a siberia, usa, set up on a million acres in alaska to send mental patients. they were going to lessen the commitment laws, you could basically get into an argument with somebody and be sent up there. this sounds very odd. nobody's ever heard about it. that's in no small part thanks to the church of scientology. i must say, though, that when that bill was killed in congress, the war was on with psychiatry where they declared war on us ... it was a major, major, major flap for the psychiatrists when it got voted down, because then the slogan around the country began, 'siberia, usa,' and it was really the first time that psychiatry had been denigrated publicly, that they weren't the science that they had been promoting themselves to be. and they took it upon themselves then to start dealing with anybody who would oppose them. conspiracy theories in ron's journal 67, hubbard identified "the people behind the siberia bill", who he asserted were less than twelve men. they are members of the bank of england and other higher financial circles. they own and control newspaper chains, and they are, oddly enough, directors in all the mental health groups in the world which have sprung up. now these chaps are very interesting fellows: they have fantastically corrupt backgrounds; illegitimate children; government graft; a very unsavory lot. and they apparently, sometime in the rather distant past, had determined on a course of action. being in control of most of the gold supplies of the planet, they entered upon a program of bringing every government to bankruptcy and under their thumb, so that no government would be able to act politically without their permission. according to david miscavige, the bill was the product of a conspiracy by the american psychiatric association. in a public address in 1995, he told scientologists that it was "in 1955 that the agents for the american psychiatric association met on capitol hill to ram home the infamous siberia bill, calling for a secret concentration camp in the wastes of alaska." it was "here that mr. hubbard, as the leader of a new and dynamic religious movement, knocked that siberia bill right out of the ring — inflicting a blow they would never forget." the assertion that scientologists defeated the bill is made frequently in scientology literature. in fact, the original version of the bill with the offending title i commitment provisions only passed the house of representatives; it was subsequently amended in conference to strike the commitment portion and retain the transfer of responsibility for mental health care. the revised bill passed easily without further changes. contemporary publications contemporary church publications suggest that although hubbard was tracking progress of the bill at least as early as february 1956, scientology did not become involved in the controversy until the start of march 1956, over two months after the american public relations forum had first publicized the bill. a march "professional auditor's bulletin" issued by hubbard, who was staying in dublin at the time, includes a telegram from his washington-based son l. ron hubbard, jr. and two other scientologists alerting him to the upcoming february senate hearings: house bill 6376 passed january 18th stop goes senate next week stop bill permits admission of person to mental institution by written application of interested person before judicial proceedings are held stop dispenses with requirement that patient be present at hearing stop anyone can be excluded from hearing stop bill pertains to alaska at moment stop bill sets up one million acres siberial in alaska for institutions stop letter and bill follow stop what action you want