[Senate Report 112-105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 267
112th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 112-105
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HARRIET TUBMAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARKS
_______
January 13, 2012.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of December 17, 2011
_______
Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 247]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 247) to establish the Harriet Tubman
National Historical Park in Auburn, New York, and the Harriet
Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in
Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot Counties, Maryland, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill, as
amended, do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. On page 7, lines 6 through 8, strike ``Public Law 91-383
(commonly known as the `National Park Service General
Authorities Act')'' and insert ``the National Park Service
General Authorities Act''.
2. On page 12, lines 21 through 23, strike ``Public Law 91-
383 (commonly known as the `National Park Service General
Authorities Act')'' and insert ``the National Park Service
General Authorities Act''.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 247 is to establish the Harriet Tubman
National Historical Park in Auburn, New York, and the Harriet
Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in
Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot Counties, Maryland.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
Often referred to as ``the Moses of her people,'' Harriet
Tubman, born Araminta Ross, was responsible for helping
hundreds of enslaved people escape from bondage to freedom as
the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad
resistance network. Born circa 1822, Tubman changed her name to
Harriet as a young adult. At age 25, she married John Tubman
while both were slaves on Brodess Farms in Dorchester County,
Maryland. Tubman escaped from enslavement in 1849, when she
slipped away alone on a pitch-dark night through the wetlands
and tidal streams that characterize Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Tubman defied capture and the imposing wilderness to return
repeatedly to Dorchester and Caroline Counties in Maryland to
conduct family and other enslaved people to freedom in the
North. Tubman used her skills to go into the slave states of
Virginia, Florida, and South Carolina to lead hundreds of
additional slaves to freedom. During the Civil War she served
her country as a spy, a scout, a cook, and a nurse. In June
1863 she guided Union troops in South Carolina for an assault
along the Combahee River resulting in the emancipation of
hundreds of enslaved African Americans.
Following the Civil War, Tubman settled in Auburn, New
York, where she was active in the Women's Suffrage movement,
working alongside Susan B. Anthony and Emily Howland. An
intensely spiritual person, Tubman was active in Auburn's
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and donated land to the
Church for the establishment of a home ``for aged and indigent
colored people.'' On March 10, 1913, she died at the home she
founded for the aged and was buried in Auburn at Fort Hill
Cemetery. Harriet Tubman was a true American patriot for whom
liberty and freedom were not just concepts. She lived those
principles and shared that freedom with hundreds of others.
While few structures remain in the Maryland Eastern Shore
area where Tubman grew up, the landscape and wetlands that
shaped the character of one of the most iconic figures in
American history remain nearly the same as when she escaped
into the night seeking freedom. The properties associated with
her youth would be familiar to her even though the structures
are gone. A number of closely related Tubman resources exist on
lands adjacent to the proposed park managed by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.
In New York, on the other hand, many of the buildings
associated with Tubman's life are intact. Her home where she
lived, the Tubman Home for the Aged she founded, the African
Methodist Episcopal Zion Episcopal Church where she worshipped,
and the Fort Hills Cemetery where she was buried, still stand.
Public Law 106-516 directed the Secretary of the Interior
to conduct a special resource study to determine the
appropriateness of establishing a unit in the National Park
Service to honor Harriet Tubman. The National Park Service
public process during the resource study found extensive public
support including private property owners. This support led the
Park Service to recommend that designation of two
geographically separate units would be appropriate. The
Maryland site would include large sections of landscape that
are consistent of Tubman's time that are historically relevant.
The New York park would include the tightly clustered Tubman-
associated buildings in Auburn.
S. 247 would designate two new units of the National Park
System to honor Harriet Tubman. In Maryland, the Harriet Tubman
Underground Railroad National Historical Park would be
established and composed of nationally significant historic
landscapes associated with Harriet Tubman in Caroline,
Dorchester, and Talbot Counties. The park would be established
upon the Secretary of the Interior's determination that
sufficient land or interest in land has been acquired to
constitute a park and would provide for interpretation and
preservation of the landscape through cooperative agreements
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of Maryland,
colleges, non-profit organizations, and individuals.
The Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, New
York, would be established upon the Secretary of the Interior's
determination that sufficient land or interest in land has been
acquired to constitute a park. The historical park will include
the Harriet Tubman home, the Tubman Home for the Aged, and the
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and associated land.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 247 was introduced by Senators Cardin, Gillibrand,
Mikulski, and Schumer on February 2, 2011. The Subcommittee on
National Parks held a hearing on S. 247 on May 11, 2011 (S.
Hrg. 112-124). On November 10, 2011, the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources ordered S. 247 favorably reported with
amendments.
During the 111th Congress, the Committee considered similar
legislation, S. 227, sponsored by Senators Cardin, Clinton,
Gillibrand, Mikulski, and Schumer. The Subcommittee on National
Parks held a hearing on S. 227 on January 15, 2009 (S. Hrg.
111-92).
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on November 10, 2011, by a voice vote of
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 247, if
amended as described herein. Senators Barrasso, Risch, Lee,
Paul, and Corker asked to be recorded as opposing the measure.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
During its consideration of S. 247, the Committee adopted
two amendments, which correct references to the National Park
Service General Authorities Act.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 contains the short title, the ``Harriet Tubman
National Historical Parks Act''.
Section 2(a) defines key terms used in this section.
Subsection (b) establishes the Harriet Tubman Underground
Railroad Historical Park in Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot
Counties, Maryland as a unit of the National Park System.
Paragraph (3) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
acquire land and interests in land within the authorized
acquisition areas as identified on the map by purchase from
willing sellers, donation, or exchange. The boundary of the
park is to be adjusted once acquisitions are made.
Subsection (c)(1-3) directs the Director of the National
Park Service and the Director of the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service to enter into an agreement to allow the Park
Service to provide for public interpretation of historic
resources within the boundary of the Blackwater National
Wildlife Refuge, including interpretative tours to sites and
resources outside of the boundary of the park relating to the
life of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
Paragraph (4) authorizes the Secretary to enter into
cooperative agreements to mark, interpret, and restore
nationally significant historic or cultural resources relating
to the life of Harriet Tubman or the Underground Railroad
within the boundaries of the park. The Secretary may enter into
a cooperative agreement with the State of Maryland to design,
construct, operate, and maintain a joint visitor center on land
owned by the State. The Federal cost share shall not exceed 50
percent.
Subsection (d) provides that a general management plan for
the park shall be prepared no later than three years after the
date on which funds are made available. The Secretary shall
coordinate with the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, the
Harriet Tubman National Historic Park, and the National
Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Subsection (e) authorizes appropriations of such sums as
are necessary.
Section 3(a) defines key terms used in this section.
Subsection (b) establishes the Harriet Tubman National
Historical Park in Auburn, New York as a unit of the National
Park System.
Paragraph (4) authorizes the Secretary to acquire land and
interests in land within the areas identified on the map by
purchase from willing sellers, donation, or exchange.
Subsection (c) allows the Secretary to provide
interpretative tours to sites and resources outside of the
boundary of the park relating to the life of Harriet Tubman.
Paragraph (3) provides that the Secretary may enter into
cooperative agreements to mark, interpret and restore
nationally significant historic or cultural resources and to
conduct research relating to the life of Harriet Tubman. The
Federal cost share shall not exceed 50 percent. Further, the
Secretary must submit to the Attorney General any cooperative
agreements involving religious property or property owned by a
religious institution. No agreement will take effect until the
Attorney General finds that the proposed agreement does not
violate the Establishment Clause of the first amendment of the
Constitution.
Subsection (d) provides that a general management plan for
the park shall be prepared no later than three years after the
date on which funds are made available. The Secretary shall
coordinate with the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad
National Historic Park and the National Underground Railroad
Network to Freedom.
Subsection (e) authorizes the necessary appropriations.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The Congressional Budget Office estimate of the costs of
this measure has been requested but was not received at the
time the report was filed. When the Congressional Budget Office
completes its costs estimate, it will be posted on the Internet
at www.cbo.gov.
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. 247.
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. 247, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
S. 247, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at
the May 11, 2011, Subcommittee on National Parks hearing on S.
247 follows:
Statement of Steven E. Whitesell, Associate Director for Park Planning,
Facilities, and Lands, National Park Service, Department of the
Interior
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present the
views of the Department of the Interior on S. 247, a bill to
establish the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in
Auburn, New York, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad
National Historical Park in Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot
Counties in Maryland.
The Department supports enactment of S. 247, with two
technical amendments attached to this testimony. The Department
testified in the House of Representatives on March 24, 2009,
and in the Senate on July 15, 2009, in support of similar bills
introduced during the 111th Congress.
Harriet Tubman is truly an iconic American. Born circa 1822
as an enslaved person in Dorchester County, Maryland, she
courageously escaped her bondage in 1849, returned on many
occasions to Dorchester and Caroline Counties to free others
including members of her family and remains known, popularly
and appropriately, as ``The Moses of her People.'' She was a
leading ``conductor'' along the Underground Railroad guiding
the enslaved to freedom at great risk to her own life. Her
accomplishments were admired and extolled by her contemporaries
including the abolitionist leader and former slave Frederick
Douglass. In 1868 Douglass wrote to Tubman:
Most that I have done and suffered in the service of
our cause has been in public, and I have received much
encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the
other hand, have labored in a private way. I have
wrought in the day--you in the night . . . The midnight
sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of
your devotion to freedom and of your heroism.
Harriet Tubman served honorably during this nation's Civil
War as a cook, nurse, scout, and spy for Union forces in
Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida, always at personal risk
and always advancing the quest for freedom by providing
assistance to other enslaved people. In June 1863, she guided
Union troops in South Carolina for an assault along the
Combahee River resulting in the emancipation of hundreds of the
enslaved.
At the invitation of then U.S. Senator and later Secretary
of State William H. Seward, Harriet Tubman purchased land from
him in Auburn, New York, where she lived and cared for members
of her family and other former slaves seeking safe haven in the
North. In later life, she became active in progressive causes
including efforts for women's suffrage. Working closely with
activists such as Susan B. Anthony and Emily Howland, she
traveled from Auburn to cities in the East advocating voting
rights for women. Harriet Tubman gave the keynote speech at the
first meeting of the National Federation of Afro-American Women
upon its founding in 1896.
Harriet Tubman was an intensely spiritual person and active
in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church. In
1903 she donated land to the Church in Auburn for the
establishment of a home ``for aged and indigent colored
people.'' She died on March 10, 1913, at this home for the aged
and was buried with full military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery
in Auburn. Booker T. Washington, also born into slavery,
journeyed from Alabama a year later to speak at the
installation of a commemorative plaque for her at Auburn City
Hall.
Harriet Tubman is an American figure of lore and legend.
Today, she is an enduring inspiration to those who cherish
individual freedom and strive for human rights throughout the
world.
On January 12, 2009, the Department transmitted the Harriet
Tubman Special Resource Study to Congress. The study,
authorized by Public Law 106-516, the Harriet Tubman Special
Resource Study Act, concluded that the resources associated
with Harriet Tubman in Auburn, New York, and Caroline,
Dorchester, and Talbot Counties, Maryland met the national
significance, suitability, feasibility, and need for National
Park Service management criteria for potential units of the
National Park System. After an intensive and lengthy public
involvement process, the study found that there is extensive
public support, including support by affected private property
owners within the boundaries proposed by S. 247 in New York and
Maryland, for the establishment of the two units. Locally
elected officials in both states have also expressed their
support.
S. 247 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
establish a unit of the National Park System, the Harriet
Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, New York, upon
determination that sufficient land or interests in land has
been acquired to constitute a manageable park unit. The park
would consist of the Harriet Tubman Home, the Home for the
Aged, the Thompson Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, which is no
longer used for religious services, and its parsonage. The
Secretary would be authorized to enter into cooperative
agreements and provide technical and matching financial
assistance to the A.M.E. Zion Church and others for historic
preservation, rehabilitation, research, maintenance, and
interpretation of the park and related Harriet Tubman resources
in Auburn, New York. The Secretary would be further authorized
to provide uniformed National Park Service staff to operate the
park in partnership with the Church and to conduct
interpretation and tours.
In Maryland, S. 247 would authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to establish a unit of the National Park System, the
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park,
in nationally significant historic landscapes associated with
Harriet Tubman in Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot Counties,
upon determination that sufficient land or interests in land
have been acquired to constitute a manageable park unit. This
agricultural, forest, and riverine mosaic largely retains
historic integrity from the time that Tubman was born enslaved,
worked in the fields and forests, emancipated herself, and
helped others there to escape to freedom.
The Secretary of the Interior would be authorized to
provide matching grants to the state of Maryland for the
construction of a visitor services facility to be jointly
operated by the state and uniformed staff of the National Park
Service. The Secretary would be further authorized to enter
into cooperative agreements with various organizations and
property owners, and provide grants for the restoration,
rehabilitation, public use, and interpretation of sites and
resources related to Harriet Tubman. Because a number of
closely related Harriet Tubman resources exist on lands
adjacent to the proposed park at Blackwater National Wildlife
Refuge, which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
or on lands scheduled for future refuge acquisition, the bill
provides for an interagency agreement between the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and the National Park Service to promote
compatible stewardship and interpretation of these resources.
The estimated cost for the annual operations and
maintenance for each unit would be approximately $500,000 to
$650,000. The estimated cost for any acquisitions and the
federal share of capital improvements is approximately $7.5
million for the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in
Auburn, New York. The cost of land acquisition and the federal
share for the visitor center at the Harriet Tubman Underground
Railroad National Historical Park in Maryland is estimated to
be up to $11 million. The estimated cost for the completion of
the general management plan for each unit would be
approximately $600,000 to $700,000. All funds are subject to
NPS priorities and the availability of appropriations.
Mr. Chairman, it is not every day that the Department comes
before the committee to testify on a bill to establish two
units of the National Park System to honor an enslaved woman
who rose from the most difficult and humble beginnings
imaginable to indelibly influence the causes of human justice
and equality in our society, and to have such a significant
impact on our national story. We do so with full understanding
of the life and contributions of Harriet Tubman and suggest
that nearly 100 years after her death the time for this
abundantly deserved honor has finally arrived.
That concludes my testimony Mr. Chairman. I would be
pleased to respond to any questions from you and members of the
committee.
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 S. 247, as ordered
reported.