II
Calendar No. 977
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1816
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 19, 2007
Mrs. Clinton (for herself, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Brown, and Ms. Cantwell) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
September 16, 2008
Reported by Mr. Bingaman, with an amendment
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a commemorative trail in connection with the Women's Rights National Historical Park to link properties that are historically and thematically associated with the struggle for women's suffrage, and for other purposes.
Short title; findings
Short Title
This Act may be cited as the National Women’s Rights History Project
Act
.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
The women’s rights
movement is one of the three great protest traditions in United States history,
sharing that status with the struggle for racial equality and the labor
movement. These movements challenged Americans to consider the essential
meaning of the Declaration of Independence: that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to
secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed.
.
New York State in the nineteenth century was at the cutting edge of these movements, including the womans’ rights movement. On July 19, 1848, a group of activists including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, Jane Hunt, and Mary Ann M’Clintock, convened the first Women’s Rights Convention at Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York. During the Convention, 68 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments calling for a broad array of rights for women, including suffrage.
Susan B. Anthony formed the Equal Rights Association, refuted ideas that women were inferior to men, and fought for women’s right to vote. She also campaigned for the rights of women to own property, to keep their own earnings, and to have custody of their children. In 1900, she persuaded the University of Rochester to admit women.
In 1869, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and others formed the National Woman Suffrage Association, and Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and others formed the American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1890, these merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Through mass campaigns involving thousands of women and men all across the country, National American Woman Suffrage Association helped secure passage of the Nineteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, officially certified on August 26, 1920, giving women the right to vote.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the women’s movement expanded to play a critical role in shaping policies on education, legal reform, and economic and social welfare.
Establishment of votes for women’s history trail route as feature of women's rights national historical park
Title XVI of Public Law 96–607 is amended by inserting after section 1601 (16 U.S.C. 410ll) the following new section:
Votes for women trail
Finding
Congress finds that there is an opportunity for the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, New York, to work in partnership with historically and thematically related properties in the corridor between the eastern border of New York State and the Niagara Frontier, including the Susan B. Anthony House, to tell the story of the 72-year fight for women’s suffrage.
Establishment of Trail Route
The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Director of National Park Service, with concurrence of the agency having
jurisdiction over the relevant roads, is authorized to designate a vehicular
tour route, to be known as the Votes for Women History Trail
Route
, to link properties in the State of New York that are
historically and thematically associated with the struggle for women’s suffrage
in the United States.
Administration
The Votes for Women Trail shall be administered by the National Park Service through Women’s Rights National Historical Park.
Activities
To facilitate the establishment of the Votes for Women Trail and the dissemination of information regarding the Trail Route, the Secretary shall—
produce and disseminate appropriate educational materials regarding the Trail Route, such as handbooks, maps, exhibits, signs, interpretive guides, and electronic information;
coordinate the management, planning, and standards of the auto route in partnership with participating properties, other Federal agencies, and State and local governments;
create and adopt an official, uniform symbol or device to mark the Votes for Women History Trail Route; and
issue guidelines for the use of such symbol or device.
Elements of Trail Route
The Secretary may designate as an official stop on the Votes for Women History Trail Route any of the following properties, subject to the consent of the owner of the property:
All units and programs of Women’s Rights National Historical Park that pertain to the struggle for women’s suffrage.
Other Federal, State, local, and privately owned properties that the Secretary determines have a verifiable connection to the struggle for women’s suffrage.
Other governmental and nongovernmental facilities and programs of an educational, commemorative, research, or interpretive nature that the Secretary determines to be directly related to the struggle for women’s suffrage.
Cooperative Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding
Authorized
To facilitate the establishment of the Votes for Women Trail and to ensure effective coordination of the Federal and non-Federal properties designated as stops along the Trail Route, the Secretary is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements and memorandums of understanding with, and provide technical and financial assistance to, other Federal agencies, the State of New York, localities, regional governmental bodies, and private entities.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior such sums as are necessary for the period of fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2012 to provide financial assistance to cooperating entities pursuant to agreements or memorandums entered into under paragraph (1).
.
National women’s rights history project national registry
In General
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make
annual grants to State historic preservation offices for up to 5 years to
assist those State historic preservation offices in surveying, evaluating, and
nominating women’s rights history properties to the National Register of
Historic Places. The Secretary shall ensure that the National Register travel
itinerary website, Places Where Women Made History
is updated to
contain the results of the inventory and links to websites related to places on
the inventory when such links are available.
Eligibility
When offering grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority grants related to properties associated with the multiple facets of the women’s rights movement such as politics, economics, education, religion, and social and family rights.
Authorization of Appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this section such sums as are necessary for the period of fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2012.
National women’s rights history project partnerships network
Grants
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make matching grants and give technical assistance for development of a network of governmental and nongovernmental entities whose purpose is to provide interpretive and educational program development of national women’s rights history, including historic preservation. Matching grants for historic preservation specific to the network may be made available through State historic preservation offices.
Management of network
The network shall be managed through a nongovernmental entity, identified by the Secretary of the Interior through a competitive process. The nongovernmental managing entity shall work in partnership with the National Park Service and State historic preservation offices to coordinate operation of the network.
Authorization of Appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this section such sums as are necessary for the period of fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2012.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
National Women’s Rights History
Project Act
.
Establishment of votes for women’s history trail route as a feature of the women's rights national historical park
Title XVI of Public Law 96–607 (16 U.S.C. 410ll) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Votes for women trail
Definitions
In this section:
Park
The
term Park
means the Women’s Rights National Historical Park
established by section 1601.
Secretary
The
term Secretary
means the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Director of the National Park Service.
State
The
term State
means the State of New York.
Trail
The
term Trail
means the Votes for Women History Trail Route
designated under subsection (b).
Establishment of Trail Route
The Secretary, with concurrence of the agency having
jurisdiction over the relevant roads, may designate a vehicular tour route, to
be known as the Votes for Women History Trail Route
, to link
properties in the State that are historically and thematically associated with
the struggle for women’s suffrage in the United States.
Administration
The Trail shall be administered by the National Park Service through the Park.
Activities
To facilitate the establishment of the Trail and the dissemination of information regarding the Trail, the Secretary shall—
produce and disseminate appropriate educational materials regarding the Trail, such as handbooks, maps, exhibits, signs, interpretive guides, and electronic information;
coordinate the management, planning, and standards of the Trail in partnership with participating properties, other Federal agencies, and State and local governments;
create and adopt an official, uniform symbol or device to mark the Trail; and
issue guidelines for the use of the symbol or device adopted under paragraph (3).
Elements of Trail Route
Subject to the consent of the owner of the property, the Secretary may designate as an official stop on the Trail—
all units and programs of the Park relating to the struggle for women’s suffrage;
other Federal, State, local, and privately owned properties that the Secretary determines have a verifiable connection to the struggle for women’s suffrage; and
other governmental and nongovernmental facilities and programs of an educational, commemorative, research, or interpretive nature that the Secretary determines to be directly related to the struggle for women’s suffrage.
Cooperative Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding
In general
To facilitate the establishment of the Trail and to ensure effective coordination of the Federal and non-Federal properties designated as stops along the Trail, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding with, and provide technical and financial assistance to, other Federal agencies, the State, localities, regional governmental bodies, and private entities.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary for the period of fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to provide financial assistance to cooperating entities pursuant to agreements or memoranda entered into under paragraph (1).
.
National women’s rights history project national registry
In General
The Secretary of the Interior (referred to in this Act as
the Secretary
) may make annual grants to State historic
preservation offices for not more than 5 years to assist the State historic
preservation offices in surveying, evaluating, and nominating to the National
Register of Historic Places women’s rights history properties.
Eligibility
In making grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to grants relating to properties associated with the multiple facets of the women’s rights movement, such as politics, economics, education, religion, and social and family rights.
Updates
The
Secretary shall ensure that the National Register travel itinerary website
entitled Places Where Women Made History
is updated to
contain—
the results of the inventory conducted under subsection (a); and
any links to websites related to places on the inventory.
Cost-sharing requirement
The Federal share of the cost of any activity carried out using any assistance made available under this section shall be 50 percent.
Authorization of Appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013.
National women’s rights history project partnerships network
Grants
The
Secretary may make matching grants and give technical assistance for
development of a network of governmental and nongovernmental entities (referred
to in this section as the network
), the purpose of which is to
provide interpretive and educational program development of national women’s
rights history, including historic preservation.
Management of network
In general
The Secretary shall, through a competitive process, designate a nongovernmental managing network to manage the network.
Coordination
The nongovernmental managing entity designated under paragraph (1) shall work in partnership with the Director of the National Park Service and State historic preservation offices to coordinate operation of the network.
Cost-sharing requirement
In general
The Federal share of the cost of any activity carried out using any assistance made available under this section shall be 50 percent.
State historic preservation offices
Matching grants for historic preservation specific to the network may be made available through State historic preservation offices.
Authorization of Appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013.
September 16, 2008
Reported with an amendment