Western Reserve Heritage Areas Study Act

Mr. Speaker, in 1792 citizens came to northern Ohio to find a place to call their own after the American Revolution forced many out of house and home. They called this place the Western Reserve. It was a place of new beginnings, and these fervent and industrious people made Ohio

strong and prosperous. These settlers, mostly from Connecticut, were descendants of the brave immigrants who came to the Americas in the 17th century.

It is with great honor that by passing this legislation we will preserve the integrity of the cultural landscape for future generations to call home.

The Western Reserve is significant to our Nation's history, and it will be through education and public investment that we will help redefine our communities with the designation they so deserve.

The Western Reserve holds the distinction of being home to three U.S. Presidents and three U.S. Supreme Court Justices. This was home to the foundation of the steel industry and the world's rubber capital. The Western Reserve had the first U.S. newspaper for African Americans and the oldest labor newspaper. We are an inventive people, with many firsts in the automotive and electrical worlds. This is the birthplace of Thomas Edison and John Brown, the famous abolitionist.

We have regional strengths that set us apart from other areas, from our respected universities to our diverse business community to a wide range of natural and recreational resources. The agricultural and industrial base that began in the Western Reserve still lives strong in these prosperous and historical counties. These counties include Trumbull, Mahoning, Summit, Portage, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Medina, Ottawa, Ashland, Lake, Geauga, Lorain, Huron, and Erie.

The Western Reserve Heritage Area will unite northern Ohio and will help develop a plan focused on conserving the special qualities of the local culture and landscape that will once again define these communities as a good place to settle and make new beginnings.

We are already starting to see some of the benefits. The original Packard car was developed in this Western Reserve and the annual event that we have brings $5 million to Trumbull County in travel tourism money.

I would just like to share a quote because now, not only with the Western Reserve Heritage Area coming together, the counties in the old Western Reserve are coming together economically as well. The foundations are coming together to focus their efforts and their money and certain aspects that will help transform our economy. I would just like to share a quote from the fund of all of these, the Fund For Our Economic Future and the fund chairman, Robert Briggs, says that ``most of the pieces needed to make northeast Ohio a global economic powerhouse are in place. One of the missing pieces, however, is a shared vision and understanding that the residents in these counties in northeast Ohio are interconnected in a regional economy. By breaking down jurisdictional boundaries created by cities and counties and thinking regionally, we will think economic transformation to stimulate exponential growth.''

The Western Reserve Heritage Area can be the organizing principle of this area and lead to the transformation of our economy.

I thank my colleagues for the opportunity to share these views today.

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

Mr. Speaker, National Heritage areas are grassroots projects where business and community leaders, local residents and State and local governments come together as neighbors to conserve and interpret the valuable historic and scenic resources in their communities.

Through the National Heritage Area Program, the National Park Service provides seed money and technical expertise to get these local projects off the ground and to leverage private, long-term funding for these areas.

H.R. 412, sponsored by our colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), will authorize a study to determine whether or not an area in Ohio once known as the Western Reserve would qualify as a National Heritage Area.

The House approved this legislation during the 108th Congress, but the measure was never taken up in the other body.

The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is to be commended for his efforts on behalf of the communities that would be included in this new area.

Despite being a relatively new Member of Congress, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is already demonstrating a willingness to work tirelessly on behalf of communities in need of the kind of Federal support the Heritage Area Program can provide.

We look forward to working with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) 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 urge our colleagues to support H.R. 412.

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, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 412) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing the Western Reserve Heritage Area.

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 H.R. 412.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 412 introduced by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), 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. 412 mirrors legislation that was supported by the majority and minority of the committee and the administration and passed the House during the 108th Congress. I urge adoption of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, 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.