Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Massachusetts Act of 2006

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4376, the ``Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Massachusetts Act of 2005.'' This legislation authorizes the National Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield Technical Community College.

Over 30 years ago, in 1974, my predecessor, Congressman Edward Boland, and Senator Kennedy were successful in creating the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. This Boland-Kennedy legislation set in motion three decades of cooperation between the National Park Service, which manages the armory museum, and Springfield Technical Community College.

The National Park Service and Springfield Technical Community College are neighbors that together occupy the National Historic Site.

The Springfield Armory was the first national armory in the United States. In fact, the armory was founded in 1777, when the site was selected as the location for a magazine and laboratory for the development, production, and storage of guns and powder during the American Revolution.

Following the American Revolutionary War, in 1794 Congress officially established the Springfield Armory. George Washington visited the site, which also happened to be the site of Shay's Rebellion. For much of the 19th century, the Springfield Armory developed, manufactured and supplied most of the small arms used by the United States armed services. The Springfield Armory National Historic Site has a rich heritage that is an integral part of our Nation's history.

In 1968 the armory was deactivated as a military installation and in 1974 Congress established the National Historic Site. The National Park Service has operated the armory museum on these grounds, and it houses the most outstanding and historically significant arms collection in the country.

The future and fate of both the armory museum and Springfield Technical Community College are inextricably linked. Many of the historic buildings on the site are actually located on the college's property, not National Park Service land, although a visitor to the campus would not be able to tell where NPS property ends and college property begins.

The land outside the portion of the site administered by NPS is known as the ``Preservation Control Area.'' These college-owned buildings are subject to strict architectural and preservation rules. Many of these historic buildings owned by the college must be preserved and maintained pursuant to standards defined by the Secretary of the Interior. But these historic buildings are in a state of great disrepair and the college cannot easily move to maintain and preserve them absent the full participation of the Park Service. Not only does this deterioration of the facilities hurt the college, but also undermines the attractiveness of the National Park Service area, including the armory museum.

My legislation seeks to recognize and update the partnership that has existed over these many years between the Park Service and the college by authorizing the Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth for NPS to provide financial assistance to the college for the purpose of maintaining, preserving, renovating, and rehabilitating the many historic structures within the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.

The Park Service frequently enters into such cooperative agreements where the object of the agreement is of direct benefit to the Park Service and its mission or for other public purposes. If these great historic buildings on the site can be renovated with the assistance of the Park Service, it will bring forward a more vibrant and attractive historic site and museum. The Park Service and the college will be able to partner on many joint educational ventures that utilize these revitalized historic facilities.

The Springfield Armory National Historic Site is a treasure to the city of Springfield, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to the Nation. The site is in desperate need of renovation. Enactment of this legislation is the first step toward ensuring the preservation of a site, which has played so vital a role in our Nation's history.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4376) to authorize the National Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield Technical Community College, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days 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.

H.R. 4376, introduced by Congressman Richard Neal of Massachusetts and amended by the House Resources Committee, would authorize the National Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the State of Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield Technical Community College to maintain and preserve lands the college owns and administers within the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.

This is a noncontroversial bill, and I urge its adoption.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to add a personal note, if I could.

In 1960, my father, Major General Gene Renzi, went to Springfield Armory and bought two 30.06 sniper rifles that were used in the Korean War. We bought them for $1 each. We restored them, and those are the same deer hunting rifles that I used and I now pass on to my son. The guys coming back from the Korean War and World War II would actually dispense these rifles through the Springfield Armory.

So for a guy who is a deer hunter, who is not that good of a shot, but for a guy who is a deer hunter, my first 30.06 we ever got came out of the Springfield Armory Works.

So I am thankful today to be able to work with the ranking member and see this legislation pushed through.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the House passed H.R. 4376, the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Massachusetts Act of 2005. This legislation authorizes the National Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of the superb Springfield Technical Community College.

The Springfield Armory Museum is home to Longfellow's famous gun rack which inspired the arsenal at Springfield, home to the Springfield rifle, the Gerrand rifle, the site of Shay's rebellion and located on the Knox Trail which General Knox used and traversed as he moved to Boston and Dorchester for those fateful days of the American Revolution.

This legislation seeks to recognize and update the partnership between the Park Service and the college by authorizing the Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth to provide financial assistance to the college for the purpose of maintaining, preserving, renovating and rehabilitating many of the historic structures within the Springfield National Historic Site.

This is a very important piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker, and it actually will allow a cooperative agreement to take place that will transform the complexion of what is also the site of the famous Olmstead Papers. I am grateful for this recognition that the House offered yesterday on behalf of these two individual sites.

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

(Mr. RAHALL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, the majority has already explained the purpose of H.R. 4376, which was introduced by our colleague from Massachusetts, Representative Richard Neal.

For nearly 200 years, the Springfield Armory was important to the manufacture of U.S. military small arms.

The national historic site, which was established in 1974, includes historic resources administered by the National Park Service as well as historic resources owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of the Springfield Community College.

The gentleman from Massachusetts, Representative Neal, is to be commended for his efforts to preserve this historic site. He has worked diligently to maintain and enhance the relationship between Federal, State and local interests involved in the preservation and interpretation of the historic resources located at the Springfield Armory site.

Mr. Speaker, we support H.R. 4376 and urge adoption of the legislation by the House today.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.