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Calendar No. 59
107th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 107-24
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PEOPLING OF AMERICA THEME STUDY ACT
_______
June 5, 2001.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 329]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 329) to require the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a theme study on the peopling of America,
and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the
bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of S. 329 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a theme study on the peopling of America to
provide a basis for identifying, interpreting, and preserving
sites related to the migration, immigration, and settling of
America.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The National Park Service includes only one significant
site that celebrates the peopling of America. Ellis Island,
which is now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument,
welcomed over 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954, an
overwhelming majority of whom crossed the Atlantic from Europe.
Ellis Island celebrates these immigrant experiences through a
museum, historic buildings, and a memorial wall. Ellis Island,
however, focuses on only Atlantic immigration and thus reflects
the experience only of those groups who were processed during
its active period.
Not all immigrants and their descendants can identify with
Ellis Island. Tens of millions of other immigrants traveled to
the United States through other ports of entry and at different
times in the Nation's history and prehistory.
S. 329 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
prepare a theme study to identify regions, areas, districts,
structures and cultures that illustrate and commemorate key
events or decisions in the peopling of America, and which can
provide a basis for the preservation and interpretation of the
peopling of America. The study would provide recommendations
concerning the designation of new national historic landmarks
and authorize the Secretary to make such designations based on
the study's recommendations. The study would also identify
those units of the National Park System at which the peopling
of America could be interpreted, and provide the Secretary with
information to make recommendations for potential inclusion of
new areas within the System. The bill also includes provisions
to facilitate the development of cooperative programs with
educational institutions, public history organizations, State
and local governments, and groups knowledgeable about the
peopling of America.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 329 was introduced by Senators Akaka and Graham on
February 14, 2001. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation, and Recreation held a hearing on an identical
bill, S. 2478, on May 11, 2000. At its business meeting on May
16, 2001, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered
S. 329, favorably reported without amendment.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on May 16, 2001, by a unanimous vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 329, without
amendment.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 designates the bill's short title.
Section 2 contains congressional findings regarding the
peopling of America.
Section 3 provides definitions for terms used in the bill.
Section 4(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary) to prepare and submit to Congress a theme study on
the peopling of America.
Subsection 4(b) describes the purpose of the study, which
are to identify regions, areas, trails, districts, communities,
sites, buildings, structures, objects, organizations,
societies, and cultures that best illustrate and commemorate
key events or decisions affecting the peopling of America; and
can provide a basis for the preservation and interpretation of
the peopling of America.
Subsection 4(c) requires the study to identify and make
recommendations for the designation of new national historic
landmarks, and directs the Secretary to make such designations
based on the study's findings.
Subsection 4(d) requires the study to identify units of the
National Park System at which the peopling of America may be
interpreted, and directs the Secretary to make recommendations
to Congress regarding sites for which studies for potential
inclusion within the System should be authorized.
Subsection 4(e) directs the Secretary, after submitting the
theme study to Congress, to continue the activities described
in sections 4(c) and (d).
Subsection 4(f) authorizes the Secretary to identify
appropriate means of establishing links between the entities
identified in subsections (b) and (d) and other groups of
people for the purpose of maximizing opportunities for
education and research on the peopling of America. The
Secretary is also authorized to enter into cooperative
arrangements to preserve and interpret key sites in the
peopling of America.
Section 5 authorizes the Secretary to enter into
cooperative agreements to prepare the theme study.
Section 6 authorizes the appropriation of such sums as are
necessary to carry out the act.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
S. 329--Peopling of America Theme Study Act
S. 329 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct a theme study on the peopling of America (defined as
the settlement and migration to and within the United States
and its territories). The legislation would require the
Secretary to identify and designate potential new National
Historic Landmarks.
Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO
estimates that the federal government would spend about
$300,000 over the next three years to conduct the required
study and enter into cooperative agreements with local
governments and other entities. The bill would not affect
direct spending or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures would not apply.
S. 329 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Peter Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 329.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 329, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
A legislative report was not requested on S. 329. The
testimony provided bythe National Park Service on S. 2478, an
identical bill introduced in the 106th Congress follows:
Statement of Denis P. Galvin, Deputy Director, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present the
Department of the Interior's views on S. 2478, to direct the
Secretary of the Interior to conduct a theme study on the
peopling of America.
The Department supports S. 2478 with amendments. We believe
that the theme study on the peopling of America and related
actions authorized by this bill would lead to a better
understanding of the contributions many different groups of
people made to the development of our nation and to the
preservation and interpretation of sites that help tell the
stories of those contributions.
We should note that this study is not one of the new area
studies proposed for authorization and funding in the letter to
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House
Resources Committee accompanying the President's FY 2001
budget. We would recommend that the studies in that letter
receive priority for authorization and funding.
S. 2478 would require the Secretary of the Interior to
prepare a National Historic Landmark theme study on the
peopling of America--that is, on the migration, immigration,
and settlement of the population of the United States. The
purpose of the study would be to identify places and groups and
people that best illustrate and commemorate key events or
decision affecting the peopling of America, and that can
provide a basis for the preservation and interpretation of the
movements of groups of people that have shaped the United
States. This would include groups that came to America before
the nation of the United States existed. The study would
identify and nominate new national historic landmarks, and
would also encourage the nomination of properties to the
National Register of Historic Places. In addition, the theme
study would include an identification of current sites within
units of the National Park System at which the peopling of
America may be interpreted.
In addition to authorizing the theme study, S. 2478 would
require the Secretary to take certain actions on the basis of
the study. Those actions include designating new national
historic landmarks and recommending sites for which studies for
potential inclusion in the National Park System should be
authorized according to the provisions of the National Park
Service Omnibus Management Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-391). Such
sites would presumably be included in the Secretary's annual
list of proposed new area studies that accompanies the
President's budget, pursuant to the Act. The Secretary would be
required to evaluate, identify, and designate new national
historic landmarks and to evaluate, identify, and recommend new
area studies related to the peopling of America on an ongoing
basis.
In addition, on the basis of the theme study, the Secretary
would be authorized to identify appropriate means for
establishing ways to link places, groups of people, and units
of the National Park System to maximize opportunities for
public education and scholarly research on the peopling of
America. The Secretary would also be authorized to enter into
cooperative arrangements with appropriate entities to preserve
and interpret key sites in the peopling of America. And, the
Secretary would be required to use the documentation in the
theme study for a broad range of educational initiatives and
cooperative programs to encourage the preservation and
interpretation of the peopling of America. Finally, the
Secretary would be authorized to use cooperative agreements
with various entities knowledgeable about the peopling of
America both for the theme study itself and for the actions
undertaken as a result of the study.
The National Historic Landmarks program was established by
the act of August 21, 1935, commonly known as the Historic
Sites, Buildings and Antiquities Act (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.)
and is implemented according to 36 CFR part 65. The program's
mission is to identify those places that best illustrate the
themes, events, or the United States and that retain a high
degree of integrity. Potential National Historic Landmarks are
often identified through ``them studies'' such as the one that
would be authorized by S. 2478. One ongoing theme study related
to the ``people of America'' is a joint effort by the National
Park Service and the Society for American Archaeology entitled
``The Earliest Americans,'' which is designed to identify sites
related to the initial migration of Native Americans to North
America at the end of the last Ice Age.
The Secretary of the Interior has previously recognized as
National Historic Landmarks a number of sites that could be
associated with sections of the``peopling of America'' theme.
One example is the Angel Island Immigration Station in
California. Other recognition has focused on the places where
various immigrant communities lived, worked, worshipped, and
were buried. In addition, the National Park Service has
identified several National Historic Trails, such as the Mormon
Pioneer and the California National Historic Trails, which
focus on settlement and migration within the United States.
If the Peopling of America theme study is authorized and
funded, we anticipate that the National Park Service would
partner with nationwide historical and anthropological
organizations to provide experts in the history of immigration
to the United States and migration within the country.
While we support the authorization of the theme study, we
recommend that the bill be amended to add a definition of
``peopling of America'' to Section 3 of the bill. We also
believe that ``trails'' should be added to the list of places
that would be identified as places that illustrate key
immigration or migration events in Section 4(b) and to the list
of places that are considered for education and research
purposes in Section 4(f)(1)(a). And, we recommend that
``assisting members of the public in evaluating sites'' of
historic importance called for in Section 4(b)(2)(B) not be an
explicit requirement of the theme study, as that is an activity
that is beyond the scope of a study.
Mr. Chairman, the story of immigration and migration is
historically relevant to all Americans; it is a vital part of
our national character. If the peopling of America theme study
is authorized and funded, the National Park Service will be
ready to explore this uniquely American story so that we and
future generations will better understand our collective
heritage as immigrants.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my statement. I would be
pleased to answer any questions you or other members of the
Subcommittee may have.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 329, as ordered
reported.
