To revise the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. And I certainly rise in support today of H.R. 4395, a bill to extend the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park. I am honored to have introduced this legislation and certainly appreciate the support of the chairman and ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee in moving this bill to the floor.

Madam Speaker, Gettysburg is a unique and very special place. When I

travel around the country, I am always proud to talk to fellow citizens about my district in central Pennsylvania, including Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where the United States Army War College is located, and certainly my hometown of York, where the Continental Congress met for 9 months in 1777, and where the Articles of Confederation were adopted. No town, however, that I mentioned gets quite the reaction as Gettysburg. Not only did Gettysburg host the battle that marked the turning point of the Civil War in 1863, but it is also where President Lincoln gave one of the most historic addresses in our Nation's history.

H.R. 4395 would expand the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the historic Lincoln Train Station, as well as a 45-acre plot of land at the southern base of Big Round Top, in order to ensure preservation of these properties for generations to come. Both pieces of land are historically significant.

The Lincoln Train Station served as a hospital during the time of the 1863 battle and was the departure point for many wounded and deceased soldiers as they were returned to their homes. The station is also where President Lincoln arrived when he visited Gettysburg to give his historic Gettysburg Address in November 1863.

The 1858 structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is currently owned by the Borough of Gettysburg. The Borough uses the station currently as a visitor's center. However, due to the lack of funding and available volunteers, it is unable to keep the center open on a regularly scheduled basis. The Borough of Gettysburg supports this legislation and wishes for the National Park Service to acquire this historic parcel and, as was referenced, be truly restored to its original beauty so it can be an added destination point for so many visitors to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The 45-acre parcel of land at the base of Big Round Top hosted cavalry skirmishes in July 1863 as part of the battle and currently contains critical wetlands and wildlife habitat associated with Plum Run. The Gettysburg Foundation currently owns this piece of land and would like to donate it ``fee title interest'' to the National Park Service once it is added to the park's boundary.

As we all certainly appreciate, the National Park Service is tasked with preserving and maintaining a huge number of very important parks, over 400, I believe.

Like all Federal agencies, the National Park Service works within a constrained budget to allocate resources efficiently and effectively. I am sensitive to the current obligations of the NPS and believe that we should expand these commitments with thoughtfulness and without haste. I strongly believe that these two additions proposed by this legislation are truly historic in nature and would add great value to the park's already impressive resources. With that, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that the hearing scheduled before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Tuesday, May 18, 2010, will now be held in room SR-325 of the Russell Senate Office Building at 11 a.m.

The purpose is to receive testimony from the Administration on issues related to offshore oil and gas exploration including the accident involving the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150, or by email to [email protected] .gov.

For further information, please contact Linda Lance or Abigail Campbell.

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on National Parks. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

S. 349, to establish the Susquehanna Gateway National Heritage Area in the State of Pennsylvania, and for other purposes;

S. 1596, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the Gold Hill Ranch in Coloma, California;

S. 1651, to modify a land grant patent issued by the Secretary of the Interior;

S. 1750, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the General of the Army George Catlett Marshall National Historic Site at Dodona Manor in Leesburg, Virginia, and for other purposes;

S. 1801, to establish the First State National Historical Park in the State of Delaware, and for other purposes;

S. 1802 and H.R. 685, to require a study of the feasibility of establishing the United States Civil Rights Trail System, and for other purposes;

S. 2953 and H.R. 3388, to modify the boundary of Petersburg National Battlefield in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and for other purposes;

S. 2976, to designate as wilderness certain land and inland water within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in the State of Michigan, and for other purposes;

S. 3159 and H.R. 4395, to amend Public Law 101-377 to revise the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station, and for other purposes;

S. 3168, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain non-Federal land in the State of Pennsylvania for inclusion in the Fort Necessity National Battlefield; and

S. 3303, to establish the Chimney Rock National Monument in the State of Colorado.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150, or by email to [email protected].

For further information, please contact David Brooks or Allison Seyferth.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4395) to revise the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, H.R. 4395, introduced by Representative Todd Platts of Pennsylvania, would authorize a boundary change at Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station. Madam Speaker, it was here that President Lincoln arrived to honor the war dead on the field of battle and deliver the address that would forever define the Civil War as a battle for the freedom and the rights of all Americans.

Under the proposed legislation, the National Park Service would take over management of the train station from the Borough of Gettysburg, and community partners would staff it. The bill would also expand the park boundaries to include additional historic lands and would add protections for the resources of this hallowed site.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 4395 has broad bipartisan support, and we urge its adoption by the House today.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I again urge members to support the bill, and I wish to thank my colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), for managing the bill with me this afternoon.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

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

The legislation allows the National Park Service to accept the donation of a small parcel of land that will allow it to better interpret the historic battle for which the park was created. It also authorizes the Park Service to purchase the historic train depot where Abraham Lincoln arrived and departed from his historic visit in 1863.

I am told that there was a time when that historic train depot served as a pizza parlor. Today, it serves a much more fitting role as a museum, and under this measure the Park Service will take over its operation.

I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman, Mr. Platts, the author of the measure.

Madam Speaker, if the gentlelady from Guam has no further speakers, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 144, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''