WASHINGTON — The House is expected to vote tomorrow on a bill to create a monument to thousands of people diagnosed with Hansen's disease in Hawai'i and forcibly exiled to a remote island colony to live.

Under the bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai'i, the monument would be built on Molokai's Kalaupapa Peninsula, where the colony was located, to honor the memory of some 8,000 people who were relocated there from 1866 to 1969.

The monument would be in the Kalaupapa National Historical Park. The U.S. interior secretary would have to approve the design and size of the monument.

In the past, the National Park Service has opposed the monument to the victims of Hansen's disease, formerly known as leprosy, because there wasn't agreement on whether a monument was needed or desired.

A similar bill, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka, D-Hawai'i, is waiting action in the Senate.

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.