Western Reserve Heritage Areas Study Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. And I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) for the opportunity to do this study.

This is a tremendous opportunity for our community. We have had a ton of

issues in Northern Ohio and in Northeastern Ohio, and I would like to just thank the chairman for giving me an opportunity to help us try to redefine our community. I would also like to thank the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), ranking member, who has been a tremendous help and support in guidance and his counsel over the past couple of years since I have been in Congress on a variety of issues, but this one in particular. I would also like to thank Jim Zoia on his staff for helping us with the day-to-day operations. I would also like to thank Jennifer Moore on my staff and my chief of staff, Mary Anne Walsh, for their help in making this happen.

The Western Reserve, as has been stated already, was the original West. There were many people from the American Revolution who were forced out of their houses and their homes over into the West, just west of Pennsylvania into Northern Ohio, and it was 14 original counties that are still there today; and there have been significant changes. But since 1792, this area has always represented a place that was indicative, I think, of the American spirit, and the people who were there were very industrious, and they came there with that spirit; and we have had enormous success.

The Western Reserve has been the leader and has showed great progress since 1792. It has been the foundation of the steel industry. It has been the rubber capital of the world. It had the first African American newspaper. It has the oldest labor newspaper. In the last 25 or 30 years or so, this area has had some great challenges. With the decimation, really, of the steel industry in the United States of America, this area took a great fall, and there have been enormous challenges throughout the whole manufacturing sector in these 14 counties, which I think makes this legislation that much more significant because we need to preserve what I believe to be the real history of these communities, a history of progress, a history of economic progress, a history of participation in the social justice aspects of our society.

And I think it is important for us through this heritage corridor to communicate to our children and to our grandchildren that they come from an area that once led the world in the economic and social arenas.

This is the area for the first electric street car, the first Warner Brothers film. The first Packard car was produced in this area; the baseball score card; and one of my favorites, the hot dog, was invented in the old Connecticut Western Reserve; also, the American trucking industry.

And we want our children to know that they come from a place that had three Presidents, President Garfield, President McKinley, President Hayes; three United States Supreme Court justices; Thomas Edison; John Brown the great abolitionist. And the success of our future depends on our understanding of the past. As the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) said, this heritage corridor in many instances throughout this country provides the economic engine for rebirth of an area, and that is exactly what we need.

We are working on regionalization in Northeast Ohio, and we cannot just have economic regionalization. We need the cultural and historic preservations and have all the groups in our community working together, and this is the rallying point for our community.

So I want to thank, again, the chairman. I want to thank the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) for helping us improve the quality of life in our community. I would like to thank the gentleman from New Mexico, as well, because I think if these kids and our grandkids know that they come from this stock of Presidents and inventors and entrepreneurs and scientists and many others who have contributed to the economic progress of our country and the social justice of our country that they will be inspired to continue this proud tradition.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3257) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing the Western Reserve Heritage Area, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3257 sponsored by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) and amended by the Committee on Resources would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing the Western Reserve Heritage Area. The proposed study area under this bill would encompass 14 modern-day counties in Ohio which throughout history have made a unique contribution to the cultural, political and industrial development of the United States.

The Western Reserve is every bit as distinctive as the land settled by the people of Connecticut after the Revolutionary War and holds a unique mark as the original wilderness in the West that many settlers migrated to in order to begin life outside the original 13 colonies.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3257, as amended, is supported by the majority and minority of the committee and by the administration. I urge adoption of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for his comments, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, our system of national heritage areas, created over the last two decades, has been enormously successful. These are grassroots projects that leverage limited Federal support to develop locally funded and managed conservation and preservation programs.

Areas rich in historic and scenic resources but which might not qualify for inclusion in the National Park System receive the funding they need through the National Heritage Area Program. H.R. 3257 will authorize a study to determine whether or not the area in Ohio once known as the Western Reserve would qualify as a National Heritage Area.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is to be commended for his tireless efforts on behalf of the communities that would be included in this new area. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is a freshman member of this body, but he is already demonstrating a willingness to go to bat for communities in need of the kind of Federal support the Heritage Area Program can provide. We look forward to working with him to create the Western Reserve Heritage Area should the study we are authorizing today support such a move.

The gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) and I congratulate the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) on this important legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3257.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as the Ranking Democratic Member of the Resources Committee, it is a pleasure and privilege to have H.R. 3257, sponsored by our esteemed colleague from Ohio, Tim Ryan, be considered on the floor today.

The dramatic tapestry of our Nation's cultural heritage is one which many of us are seeking to preserve for the benefit of not just current, but future generations, in the form of National Heritage Areas. We do this not just for educational or inspirational purposes, but also, because heritage areas are engines for economic development.

While the measure pending before us today is the logical first step, an authorization of a feasibility study for a proposed Western Reserve Heritage Area, I am confident that once completed, it will find that this particular region of Ohio deserves national recognition for the special cultural and historic resources values it contains. And when that day arrives, it will be a tribute to the untiring dedication and hard work of Representative Tim Ryan.

Indeed, although a freshman Member of this body, Tim Ryan has already garnered a reputation as a fighter for the people of the 17th District of Ohio. The bill we are considering today is reflective of their good judgment in sending a person such as Tim Ryan to Congress to represent them.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3257.