[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7495 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7495
To designate the Civil War Defenses of Washington National Historical
Park comprised of certain National Park System lands, and by
affiliation and cooperative agreements other historically significant
resources, located in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland,
that were part of the Civil War defenses of Washington and related to
the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, to study ways in which the
Civil War history of both the North and South can be assembled,
arrayed, and conveyed for the benefit of the public, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 11, 2022
Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To designate the Civil War Defenses of Washington National Historical
Park comprised of certain National Park System lands, and by
affiliation and cooperative agreements other historically significant
resources, located in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland,
that were part of the Civil War defenses of Washington and related to
the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, to study ways in which the
Civil War history of both the North and South can be assembled,
arrayed, and conveyed for the benefit of the public, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Civil War Defenses
of Washington National Historical Park Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 3. Redesignation.
Sec. 4. Areas included in Civil War Defenses of Washington National
Historical Park.
Sec. 5. Possible inclusion of additional areas.
Sec. 6. National Civil War History Education Center report.
Sec. 7. Administration.
Sec. 8. Definitions.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds and declares as follows:
(1) It is fitting and helpful for Americans to remember the
Civil War, 1861-1865, and to reflect upon, and learn from, the
storied history, valor, heartbreak, and suffering of both sides
in this tragic war that so divided and scarred the young
Nation, but that also served as a crucible for the Nation to
secure itself as the United States and preserve the Union,
abolish the injustice of slavery, and become the beacon of hope
as a democracy that it has become for the world.
(2) The significance of the Civil War to the future of the
United States is incalculable. The war's lessons and meaning to
the history of the United States, what it stands for, and its
place in the world today must be remembered and conveyed to
future generations. The war pitted family against family,
brother against brother, friend against friend, Blue against
Gray. Its battlegrounds were consecrated with blood that was
shed by many who gave their last full measure of devotion. The
reunited democracy that emerged, after such a heavy loss of
life on both sides and the difficult decades of healing that
followed, made the United States stronger. It helped the Nation
advance toward achieving the inalienable rights and noble goals
and values its founders sought, but had not fully achieved, in
their lifetimes.
(3) The defenses of Washington played a key role in the
outcome of the Civil War. They were constructed at the
beginning of the war in 1861 as a ring of fortifications in the
District of Columbia, Maryland, and northern Virginia, to
protect the Nation's capital. By the end of the war, these
defenses included 68 forts, 93 unarmed batteries, 807 mounted
cannon, 13 miles of rifle trenches, and 32 miles of military
roads.
(4) The major test of the Civil War defenses of Washington
came with the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 when
Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early marched from
Richmond to Lynchburg, Virginia, and through the Shenandoah
Valley to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and Frederick,
Maryland. His major objective, as directed to him by General
Robert E. Lee, was to attack the Nation's capital from the
north, causing Union Forces to be withdrawn from threatening
Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. He was delayed by
Union Major General Lew Wallace at the Battle of Monocacy on
July 9, 1864, and was stopped at the northern edge of the
District of Columbia at the Battle of Fort Stevens on July 11-
12, 1864. The Shenandoah Valley Campaign ended when Union
Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan defeated General Early at
the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, on October 19, 1864.
(5) The Battle of Fort Stevens was the second and last
attempt by the Confederate Army to attack Washington. The first
major effort to surround or capture the Nation's capital ended
at Gettysburg in July 1863. After that historic battle, in his
address at Gettysburg Cemetery on November 19, 1863, President
Abraham Lincoln redefined what was at stake: ``a new nation,
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal . . . that this nation, under God, shall
have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people,
by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the
earth.''.
(6) The Battle of Fort Stevens was the only verifiable time
that a sitting United States President (Abraham Lincoln) came
under hostile fire during a battle while in office. Nearly all
the individual forts in the defenses of Washington (on both
sides of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers) were involved in
stopping General Early's attack. Had that one battle at the
very edge of Washington been lost, the Nation's capital, the
Presidency, the Union Government, and emancipation all would
have been potentially lost and the history of the United States
dramatically changed. The victory at Fort Stevens not only
saved the city and the national government, but also led to the
October 1864 victories for the Union in the Shenandoah Valley,
which ensured Lincoln's re-election and preservation of the
Union at that critical moment.
(7) After the end of the war, most of the Civil War
defenses of Washington were returned to private land owners,
but many were retained by the military or the lands were
repurchased later by the United States. Of the remaining
fortifications in public ownership, 19 sites (including
Battleground Cemetery) are owned by the Federal Government and
managed by the National Park Service, four are owned by local
units of government in northern Virginia, and one is owned by
Montgomery County, Maryland.
(8) In 1902, the Senate McMillan Commission issued a Report
on the Improvement of the Park System of Washington (U.S.
Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, Senate Report No.
166, 57th Congress, 1st Session). The Report called for
development of a ``Fort Drive'' to connect the Civil War
defenses of Washington in the Nation's capital. Congress
appropriated funds to purchase lands for the Fort Drive during
the 1930s, but it was never fully completed.
(9) Most of the remaining Civil War defenses of Washington
contain significant natural and recreational resources, and
some offer sweeping vistas overlooking the Nation's capital.
With the lands acquired for the Fort Drive, they provide a
linkage of urban green spaces that contribute to the history,
character, and scenic values of the Nation's capital and offer
educational and recreational opportunities along with their
natural and important historical values.
(10) Sites associated with the Civil War defenses of
Washington that are in Federal ownership within the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the State of
Maryland are managed under three separate units of the National
Park Service (Rock Creek Park, National Capital Parks-East, and
the George Washington Memorial Parkway). Action by Congress is
needed to protect and aid the educational benefits of the
unique place in history of these sites through proper
management, stabilization, maintenance, development, use, and,
importantly, interpretation.
(11) It is fitting and proper that, as Americans reflect
upon the legacy of the Civil War, we more fully understand and
appreciate the roles of the battles in the District of
Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland related to the
defenses of Washington. Taken together, these battles were
pivotal to the outcome of the war and therefore to its impact
on the promise of the United States. It is therefore in the
national interest that these historically important sites and
resources be protected from further damage or loss and that
they be preserved, enhanced, and interpreted for the use,
enjoyment, and education of present and future generations.
(12) There is a genuine need and compelling reason for the
United States to rededicate itself to and honor the vision and
ideals of democracy as reflected in the Constitution by
commemorating and interpreting through this National Historical
Park the epic story of the American Civil War and the profound
and lasting impact of the war on the values, capabilities, and
strengths that the United States reflects through the ideals
that it stands for in the world today.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to protect, preserve, enhance, and interpret for the
benefit and use of present and future generations the cultural,
historical, natural, and recreational resources of the Civil
War defenses of Washington located in the District of Columbia,
Virginia, and Maryland; and
(2) to study and consider creative and cost-effective ways
that the storied history of the Civil War, including the
defenses of Washington and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of
1864, can be assembled, arrayed, and effectively conveyed to
and for the benefit of the public.
SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION.
The Civil War defenses of Washington are hereby redesignated as the
Civil War Defenses of Washington National Historical Park.
SEC. 4. AREAS INCLUDED IN CIVIL WAR DEFENSES OF WASHINGTON NATIONAL
HISTORICAL PARK.
(a) Areas Under the Administration of the National Park Service.--
The National Historical Park shall include all areas associated with
the Civil War defenses of Washington that are currently owned by the
Federal Government and under the administration of the National Park
Service, each as depicted on appropriate maps maintained by the
Secretary of the Interior, including the following:
(1) The following fortifications and associated lands:
(A) Battery Kemble.
(B) Fort Bayard.
(C) Fort Bunker Hill.
(D) Fort Carroll.
(E) Fort Chaplin.
(F) Fort Davis.
(G) Fort DeRussy.
(H) Fort Dupont.
(I) Fort Foote.
(J) Fort Greble.
(K) Fort Mahan.
(L) Fort Marcy.
(M) Fort Reno.
(N) Fort Ricketts.
(O) Fort Slocum.
(P) Fort Stanton.
(Q) Fort Stevens.
(R) Fort Totten.
(2) The following affiliated National Park Areas:
(A) Fort Circle Drive.
(B) Battleground National Cemetery.
(C) Fort Washington.
(D) Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm.
(b) Potential Affiliation of Eligible Areas Owned by Local
Governments.--Any site associated with the Civil War defenses of
Washington that is owned by a unit of local government in Virginia,
Maryland, or the District of Columbia, may become affiliated with the
National Historical Park pursuant to a cooperative agreement entered
into between the unit of local government concerned and the Secretary,
including the following:
(1) In Virginia:
(A) Fort Ward, City of Alexandria.
(B) Fort C.F. Smith, Arlington County.
(C) Fort Ethan Allen, Arlington County.
(D) Fort Willard, Fairfax County.
(2) In Maryland: Battery Bailey, Montgomery County.
SEC. 5. POSSIBLE INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL AREAS.
(a) Affiliation Authority.--Any site associated with the Civil War
defenses of Washington that is owned by a private individual or
organization or a unit of local government in the District of Columbia,
Virginia, or Maryland, other than those listed in section 4, that the
Secretary determines is eligible for affiliation with the National
Historical Park, may be affiliated with the National Historical Park
pursuant to a cooperative agreement entered into between the site owner
and the Secretary. The Secretary may purchase such properties from
willing sellers, subject to the availability of private sector donated
funding or appropriations.
(b) Consent Required.--No non-Federal property may be included in
the National Historical Park without the written consent of the owner
of the property.
(c) Prohibition on Use of Condemnation.--The Secretary may not
acquire by condemnation any land or interest in land under this Act or
for the purposes of this Act.
(d) Consultation and Public Participation.--The Secretary shall
consult with interested officials of State governments and units of
local government, representatives of interested organizations, and
interested members of the public before executing a cooperative
agreement under this section or section 7(d).
SEC. 6. NATIONAL CIVIL WAR HISTORY EDUCATION CENTER REPORT.
(a) In General.--In furtherance of and consistent with section 2,
the Secretary shall study and consider creative and cost-effective ways
to facilitate the storied history of the Civil War for both the North
and the South, including the history of the defenses of Washington and
the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, being assembled, arrayed, and
conveyed for the benefit of the public for the knowledge, education,
and inspiration of this and future generations about the impact of that
war on the United States and its fledgling democracy, abolition of
slavery, free enterprise economic system, culture, art, music, and
national security capabilities.
(b) Assistance.--In conducting the study, the Secretary shall seek
and coordinate the assistance of a wide array of expertise of
individuals and organizations regarding Civil War history, potential
locations where this storied history may be shared, including adaptive
reuse of existing structures, and donated funding resources to help
facilitate carrying out this section.
(c) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report with
recommendations regarding the study required by subsection (a) to the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall administer the National
Historical Park in accordance with this Act and the laws generally
applicable to units of the National Park System.
(b) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary may provide technical
assistance to local governments and private individuals and
organizations for the management, interpretation, and preservation of
historically significant resources associated with the Civil War
defenses of Washington.
(c) Donations.--The Secretary may accept, hold, administer, and use
gifts, bequests, devises, and other donations, including labor and
services, for purposes of this Act, including preserving or providing
access to sites and other resources relating to the Civil War defenses
of Washington.
(d) Other Cooperative Agreements.--In addition to the authority
provided by section 5(a), the Secretary may enter into cooperative
agreements with State governments, units of local government,
organizations, or individuals to further the purposes of the Act,
including to provide visitor services and administrative facilities
within reasonable proximity to the National Historical Park.
(e) Marking of Historical Sites.--The Secretary may identify
significant federally or nonfederally owned sites relating to the Civil
War history in Washington and adjacent environs in northern Virginia
and Montgomery County, Maryland, and, with the consent of the owner or
owners thereof, mark them appropriately and make reference to them in
any interpretive literature.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) National historical park.--The term ``National
Historical Park'' means the Civil War Defenses of Washington
National Historical Park designated by section 3.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
<all>