[Senate Report 114-324]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 597
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 114-324
======================================================================
MEDGAR EVERS HOUSE STUDY ACT
_______
September 6, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2177]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 2177) to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a special resource study of the Medgar
Evers House, located in Jackson, Mississippi, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 2177 is to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a special resource study of the Medgar
Evers House, located in Jackson, Mississippi.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
Medgar Evers was a prominent civil rights leader from
Decatur, Mississippi, who fought to end the racial injustice he
experienced growing up in the South. He was the first field
secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored Peoples (NAACP) in the South and helped integrate the
University of Mississippi.
The Evers family home located in Jackson, Mississippi, was
the site of his assassination in 1963 by Byron De La Beckwith,
a member of the White Citizens' Council. The home, now a museum
operated by Tougaloo College, contains period furnishings,
exhibits, and family photographs.
The legislation would authorize the National Park Service
(NPS) to undertake a special resource study to examine the
national significance of the home of the late civil rights
activist, Medgar Evers; its suitability and feasibility for
potential designation as a unit of the National Park System;
and the need for NPS management of the site versus management
by other public or private entities. During the study, the NPS
will also consult and collaborate with various public and
private entities to determine costs and other factors
associated with the acquisition, preservation, and maintenance
of the site.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Senators Cochran and Wicker introduced S. 2177, on October
8, 2015.
Representative Thompson introduced similar legislation to
S. 2177, H.R. 959, on February 12, 2015. The bill was reported
favorably by the House Committee on Natural Resources on
September 8, 2015 (H. Rept. 114-251), and was passed by voice
vote in the House of Representatives on September 16, 2015.
The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S.
2177 and H.R. 959 on March 17, 2016.
In the 113th Congress, in the House of Representatives,
Representative Thompson introduced similar legislation to S.
2177, H.R. 2326, on June 18, 2013.
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open
business session on July 13, 2016, and ordered S. 2177
favorably reported.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on July 13, 2016, by a majority voice
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S.
2177.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 contains the short title.
Section 2. Special resource study
Section 2(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct a special resource study of the home of late civil
rights activist Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi.
Subsection (b) requires the Secretary to evaluate the
national significance of the study area; determine the
suitability and feasibility of designating the site to the
National Park System; consider other alternatives; consult with
interested Federal, State, or local government entities, or
private or nonprofit organizations; determine the effect of
designating the site on existing commercial and recreational
uses and the impact on State and local governments to manage
those activities; identify authorities that will compel or
permit the Secretary to influence or participate in local land
use decisions or place restrictions on non-Federal land; and
identify Federal cost estimates for various site-relation
actions.
Subsection (c) requires the study to be conducted in
accordance with applicable law.
Subsection (d) directs the Secretary to submit a report
that describes the study's findings and conclusions, and any
recommendations to the House Committee on Natural Resources and
the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources within
three years after funds are made available.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the costs of this measure has
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 5, 2016.
Hon. Lisa Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Madam Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2177, the Medgar
Evers House Study Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.
Sincerely,
Mark P. Hadley
(For Keith Hall, Director).
Enclosure.
S. 2177--Medgar Evers House Study Act
S. 2177 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to study
the suitability and feasibility of designating the Medgar Evers
House in Jackson, Mississippi, as a unit of the National Park
System. Assuming the availability of appropriated funds, CBO
estimates that carrying out the proposed study would cost about
$200,000. Enacting H.R. 959 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO
estimates that enacting S. 2177 would not increase net direct
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive
10-year periods beginning in 2027.
S. 2177 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.
On August 4, 2016, CBO transmitted a cost estimated for
H.R. 959, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources on July 13, 2016. The two pieces of
legislation are similar and CBO's estimates of their budgetary
effects are the same.
On July 28, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
959, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural
Resources on July 9, 2015. The two pieces of legislation are
similar and CBO's estimate of their budgetary effects are the
same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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. 2177. 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. 2177, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
S. 2177, 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 National Park Service at the
March 17, 2016, Subcommittee on National Parks hearing on S.
2177 follows:
Statement of Peggy O'Dell, Deputy Director for Operations, National
Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's
testimony regarding S. 2177 and H.R. 959, bills to authorize
the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and
feasibility of designating the Medgar Evers House in Jackson,
Mississippi, as a unit of the National Park System, and for
other purposes.
The Department supports S. 2177 and H.R. 959 with
amendments described later in this testimony. Priority should
be given, however, to the 25 previously authorized studies for
potential units of the National Park System, potential new
National Heritage Areas, and potential additions to the
National Trails System and National Wild and Scenic River
System that have not yet been transmitted to Congress.
S. 2177 and H.R. 959 would authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a special resource study of the Medgar
Evers House in Jackson, Mississippi, for potential inclusion in
the National Park System. We estimate that this study will cost
approximately $200,000 to $300,000. Funding for this proposed
study would need to be allocated from the set amount of funding
that Congress appropriates for all special resource studies.
Medgar Evers was born in 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi. He
was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, fought in both France
and Germany during World War II, and received an honorable
discharge in 1946. He met his future wife, Myrlie Beasley,
while a student at Alcorn College in Lorman, Mississippi.
Eventually, they had three children: Darrell, Reena, and James.
Mr. Evers' first job following graduation was as an
insurance salesman in 1952. He gradually became involved in
civil rights causes and action through the Regional Council of
Negro Leadership, a society in Mississippi founded in 1951 to
promote a program of civil rights, self-help, and business
ownership. He later worked on behalf of the NAACP by organizing
local affiliates.
In 1954 Medgar Evers applied for admission to the
University of Mississippi Law School but was rejected. He filed
a discrimination lawsuit against the university with the aid of
his attorney, Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first
African-American justice on the United States Supreme Court.
Even though the lawsuit failed to gain Mr. Evers admittance to
the law school, he gained national attention and in the same
year became state field secretary for the NAACP. His activities
included recruiting new members, organizing voter-registration
drives, and leading economic boycotts of companies that
practiced discrimination.
Ultimately, these activities attracted the attention of
those who opposed racial equality and desegregation, including
those willing to resort to violence to maintain the status quo.
These opponents of equal rights began to subject Medgar Evers
and his family to threats, intimidation, and other forms of
violence. His house was firebombed in May 1963 and he was
assassinated by a gunshot in the back in his driveway on June
12, 1963. Subsequently, he was buried in Arlington National
Cemetery with full military honors.
Mrs. Evers and her children lived in the house for a year
following the murder of her husband, but she decided that she
could not remain there and moved her family to California.
Subsequently, she donated the house to Tougaloo College in
Tougaloo, Mississippi. The house had deteriorated over the
years so the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and
Tougaloo College decided to restore it as a museum
commemorating the life and tragic death of one of the icons of
the Civil Rights movement in America. Guided tours of the house
are available to the public by appointment.
S. 2177 and H.R. 959 include certain requirements for the
study which we recommend deleting. Specifically, we urge
deleting section 2(b)(5) of both bills, which would require an
analysis of the effect of designation as a unit of the National
Park System on existing commercial and recreational activities,
and on the authority of state and local governments to manage
those activities. We also urge deleting section 2(b)(6) of both
bills, which would require an identification of any authorities
that would compel or permit the Secretary of the Interior to
influence or participate in local land use decisions or place
restrictions on non-federal lands. H.R. 959, as introduced in
the House, did not include these requirements.
The purpose of conducting a special resource study is to
determine whether a resource meets the criteria for inclusion
in the National Park System and, if it does not, to provide
information on alternative means to protect the resource. We
believe that the special resource study requirements under
existing law result in a sufficient amount of information and
analysis of the effects of including a resource in the National
Park System. These additional requirements could potentially
increase the cost of the study and the time required to
complete it.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be
pleased to answer questions that you or other members of the
subcommittee might 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 as ordered
reported.
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