To amend the Dayton Aviation Heritage Preservation Act of 1992 to add sites to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, and for other purposes.

I speak today in favor of H.R. 4199, which will add two important historic sites into the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park. I want to thank Natural Resources Chairman Rahall and Ranking Member Young, as well as Subcommittee Chairman Grijalva and Ranking Member Bishop for ushering this bill through the Resources Committee process, as well as bringing it to the floor today. I also want to thank the members of the Ohio delegation, many of whom have cosponsored this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, Ohio is the birthplace of aviation, and Dayton is the home of Orville and Wilbur Wright, the two men that invented the airplane. Some consider their invention to be the most important innovation in modern history. When the Wright brothers took flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, our world became connected in a dramatic way, transforming travel, commerce, and communication.

Dayton is also the home of Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar was a classmate of Orville Wright, and was a contemporary of the Wrights. Throughout his life, he was known as the poet laureate of African Americans, and achieved national success after his second collection of poems was reviewed in Harper's Weekly in 1896.

The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park is a celebration of the legacies of the Wright brothers, as well as Paul Laurence Dunbar. Currently, many people enjoy our National Historic Park. The park includes the Wright's Cycle Shop, the Wright Flyer Airplane, and the Huffman Prairie, where the Wrights perfected fixed-wing flight, among other sites.

However, the Wright's history within the park remains incomplete. Currently, the Wright Company factory buildings and their home, Hawthorn Hill, are not included among the sites at the park. That is why I have introduced H.R. 4199, which will complete the Wright's story told at the park, by adding these two critical sites.

The Wright Company factory buildings in west Dayton are the first American facilities specifically designed and built for the manufacture of airplanes. These buildings had a production capability that was greater than any other airplane manufacturing facility at the time.

The Wright Company operated at the site from 1910 to 1916, and produced 13 different models of airplanes. This site is currently owned and controlled by the Delphi Corporation, who will operate at this site until later this year.

Hawthorn Hill was designed by Wilbur and Orville Wright and was the home of the Wright family until 1948. This historic architectural landmark tells the story of the Wright brothers as inventors. Amanda Wright-Lane, the great-grandniece of the Wright brothers, testified before the Resources Subcommittee on National Parks earlier this year, discussing the Wright's incredible history and the importance of Hawthorn Hill to the Wright's story.

Mr. Speaker, the addition of these sites to the existing park is critical to the park's purpose, which was outlined in the Dayton Aviation Heritage Preservation Act of 1992. The purpose is ``to create partnerships among Federal, State and local governments and the private sector to preserve, enhance, and interpret for the present and future generations the historic and cultural structures, districts, and artifacts in Dayton and the Miami Valley in the State of Ohio associated with the Wright brothers, the invention and the development of aviation, or the life and works of Paul Laurence Dunbar.'' Put plainly, the addition of these sites completes the Wright's story at the park.

Mr. Speaker, adding these sites to the national park enjoys a wide range of support from both local and national organizations, including the City of Dayton; Montgomery County; the State of Ohio; the Wright family; the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce; the Dayton Development Coalition; the Ohio Historical Society; the Dayton Historical Society; Sinclair Community College; The University of Dayton; the Dayton Foundation, the National Cash Register Corporation; the Delphi Corporation; the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers; and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

H.R. 4199 also includes the exact language from H.R. 4191, which passed the House by a voice vote earlier this year. This language would change the name of the Dayton Aviation National Historic Park to the Wright Brothers-Dunbar National Historic Park.

Changing the name of the park has been the result of a community-wide process, led by Federal Judge Walter Rice and the Dayton Aviation Heritage Commission. I want to thank Judge Walter Rice and the other commissioners for their time and dedication to making the name of our park a fitting salute to those for whom it is a tribute.

It is clear that this bill is an important priority to the Dayton region. It is also important to the Paul Laurence Dunbar and the Wright brothers' legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you again for this opportunity, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4199.

I want to applaud Mr. Turner for bucking his party in introducing a bill on something other than gas prices. I have frequently worked with Mr. Turner on historic preservation issues. It has never been difficult to work across partisan lines. But rising to support this bill is somewhat more difficult for me.

Mr. Turner described Dayton, Ohio, as the birthplace of aviation in his remarks a minute ago. Mr. Speaker, that is stretching the truth a bit. But after sitting on the floor for about an hour and hearing our energy problems blamed on environmentalists, not the fact that ExxonMobil made $40 billion in profits in the fourth quarter of 2007, it seems like a fairly minor stretching of the truth.

As every school child in America knows, with the exception of school children in Dayton, Ohio, the first powered flight was in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December, 1903, or at least it was the first photographed, the first documented powered flight. There is still some dispute about where the actual first powered flight was. But the photograph of the Wright brothers plane above the dunes, just a few feet above the dunes at Kitty Hawk, was probably the most important photograph in history to that point, and remains one of the most famous photographs in all of history. That photograph, Mr. Speaker, was taken by a North Carolinian.

After that first flight, which lasted just 12 seconds, and even with the soft sands of Kitty Hawk to land in, the landing almost destroyed or badly damaged the balsa wood plane. Progress was very rapid. Within just a decade, the airplane proved to be a very effective weapon of war in the First World War, and in another decade, just another decade after that, Charles Lindbergh flew the Atlantic alone.

Mr. Turner is correct, flight has been an important transformational invention in human history. We are now a connected world, largely because of flight. The Wright brothers and Dayton, Ohio, did have a role in that, Mr. Speaker. So I do rise to support adding Hawthorn Hill, the Wright family home, and the Wright Airplane Factory to the national park in Dayton, Ohio highly.

I do this, taking the lead of my party's nominee for President, who has urged that we put aside all the old animosities, that we reach across all divisions of society. In that spirit, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4199, which would expand the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park to include additional sites associated with the lives and work of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Few technological advances have transformed the world or our nation's economy, society, culture, and national character as the development of powered flight. Therefore, it is important to preserve the historical sites associated the Wright brothers' achievements in the field of aviation. That is what this bill will do.

Over the years, the Ohio congregational delegation has worked together to preserve and promote Ohio's rich aviation history. A few years ago, I, along with Congressman Tony Hall, had the privilege of introducing the bill that later became law to designate eight Miami Valley counties and the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park as part of a National Aviation Heritage Area. Today, I commend my colleague, Congressman Mike Turner, for his leadership in sponsoring this bill to add two additional sites to the aviation park.

Specifically, H.R. 4199 will add Hawthorne Hill, which was Orville Wright's home in Oakwood, and several Wright Factory buildings in Dayton, where the brothers conducted research and testing. These sites would be part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, which already includes such historic sites as: Huffman Prairie Flying Field, the Wright Cycle Company Complex, and the Paul Laurence Dunbar House. Together, these sites are an important part to nation's history, and Ohio's cultural heritage.

Again, I commend Congressman Turner for his leadership to preserve and promote Ohio's aviation heritage with this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4419.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4199) to amend the Dayton Aviation Heritage Preservation Act of 1992 to add sites to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

H.R. 4199 adds two sites to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. The bill also renames the park as the Wright Brothers- Dunbar National Historical Park.

Mr. Speaker, the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park was established to preserve sites associated with Wilbur and Orville Wright and the early history of aviation. The park also honors the life and work of African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, a business associate and a friend of Orville Wright.

H.R. 4199 would add Hawthorn Hill, the mansion designed by the Wright Brothers, and the Wright Company factory to the park. The factory, completed in 1910, is the site of the first American facilities specifically designed and built for the manufacture of airplanes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support passage of this measure.

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

I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague from North Carolina (Mr. Miller).

Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support this important piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, unfortunately last night, July 8, 2008, due to my plane being delayed by over an hour and a half due to mechanical issues, I was unable to cast my votes on H.R. 3981, H.R. 1423, and H.R. 4199.

Had I been present for rollcall No. 471, on suspending the rules and passing H.R. 3981, the Preserve America and Save America's Treasures Act, I would have voted ``yea.''

Had I been present for rollcall No. 472, on suspending the rules and passing H.R. 1423, the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center Lease Act, I would have voted ``yea.''

Had I been present for rollcall No. 473, on suspending the rules and passing H.R. 4199, to amend the Dayton Aviation Heritage Preservation Act of 1992 to add sites to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, I would have voted ``yea.''