San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Boundary Expansion Act of 2010

Mr. Speaker, and Madam Chairman, I stand here today in support of my legislation, H.R. 4438, a bill to authorize the expansion of the San Antonio Mission National Historic Park boundaries, and to authorize a boundary study that would identify possible lands for inclusion in the park within Bexar and Wilson Counties.

This bipartisan piece of legislation is cosponsored by all three of my colleagues from San Antonio, Congressman Charlie Gonzalez, Congressman Lamar Smith, and Congressman Henry Cuellar. My colleague in the Senate, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, has also introduced companion legislation.

The San Antonio Missions is the largest concentration of Catholic missions in North America and serve as some of the most well preserved representations of Spanish colonial history, influence and culture in the Southwest. It is on this foundation that the City of San Antonio was established, and today the Missions serve as an important reminder of the connections to the city's rich past.

Built along the San Antonio River in the early 1700s by Spanish missionaries, the Missions became important social and cultural centers of the time. Today, four missions still stand and continue to be active parishes.

Established as a national park in 1978, the National Park Service and the City of San Antonio and Bexar County have worked diligently to restore and preserve the Missions and the surrounding river area.

After years of channelization, the area along the river is at last being restored to its natural ecosystem. Preserving the natural habitat in an urban area is hugely important and has long been a priority of the San Antonio community. Now that this process is underway, expanding the Missions National Park to include this area is vital to creating a continuous and seamless park along the river.

This legislation will authorize the acquisition of previously identified lands currently owned, and I stress, currently owned, by the City of San Antonio and Bexar County that are suitable for inclusion in the park. These are willing sellers.

It will also authorize a boundary study for future areas. This bill will continue the deep tradition of preservation for the parks and river region, while also ensuring its future growth.

The need to prepare for this growth is clear. Just last year alone, in 2009, the park had a record-breaking year of visitations with over 1.7 million people visiting the park, a 35 percent increase over 2008 levels.

This legislation ensures that future generations will be able to walk along the river and see the city through the eyes of its past inhabitants as they look upon these historic structures and learn about the people that settled the region.

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 4438.

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

H.R. 4438 has both fiscal and policy problems. The stated purpose of this bill is to expand the park by an additional 151 acres. The reasons for the expansion are vague, but the CBO cost estimate is fairly precise, $4 million. Add to this another $350,000 that will be spent by the National Park Service to determine whether it wants even more property.

The current level of Federal spending is too high to rubber-stamp the flood of plans to expand our government's property holdings. Our parks are important assets, but I question the wisdom of going further into debt to continually expand Park Service holdings while our existing parks face a $9 billion backlog in maintenance and upkeep.

I am pleased that the Resources Committee did include one Republican amendment to prohibit takings by condemnation. However, under this bill, property owners who have not consented to being included within the expanded boundaries of this park may find themselves fending off the unwanted attention of Federal officials pursuing their land. This can be an overwhelming burden and not one with which we should yoke the American people.

I am also concerned that national parks are increasingly being used by litigation-prone environmental activists and by some in the National Park Service to control activities outside the congressionally determined boundaries of each park.

De facto buffer zones have been used to interfere with energy projects that are planned near and even far from national parks.

To restrain this particular abuse, Republicans offered amendments in the Resources Committee to prevent the park designation from being misused to prohibit construction and maintenance of power generating facilities, whether coal-fired, wind or solar. With some people opposed to almost any new power facility, and others opposed only to those near their backyards, this has been an escalating problem. The National Park Service has participated in killing or delaying affordable and renewable energy projects from coast to coast. Unfortunately, Committee Democrats rejected these commonsense amendments on nearly party-line votes, and those protections are not in this bill today.

Unfortunately, we are considering this bill under suspension of the rules and we are being denied the opportunity to offer amendments to salvage this flawed legislation. I urge my colleagues to exercise some fiscal restraint here today, support property rights, and oppose this bill.

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4438) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement to lease space from a nonprofit group or other government entity for a park headquarters at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, to expand the boundary of the Park, to conduct a study of potential land acquisitions, 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.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4438 was introduced by Representative Ciro Rodriguez from San Antonio, Texas. The bill would expand the boundaries of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and require a study of possible further additions.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was established in 1978 to preserve, restore, and interpret four Spanish missions along the San Antonio River. H.R. 4438 would expand the current boundaries of the park to include 151 acres of land that has already been found suitable for addition to the park. The bill also would direct the NPS to study other lands that might be suitable for inclusion in the park boundaries in Bexar and Wilson Counties.

The version before the House today does not include language that would have authorized the park to lease space outside the park for headquarters offices and an educational center. We have removed that provision to address PAYGO concerns.

Mr. Speaker, Representative Rodriguez has been an excellent advocate for the many people in his district who hope to see this important and historic park grow and flourish. I commend his efforts, and I urge the House to support this excellent bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez), the author of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I would note that the gentlelady from Wyoming has expressed concerns over the pending measure and the one we considered prior to it, which was a National Park Study bill. The next bill we will consider is also a National Park Study bill, and I will be pleased to support it, noting that the gentlelady from Wyoming is that bill's sponsor.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4438, the ``San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Leasing and Boundary Expansion Act of 2010,'' as introduced by my fellow member of the Texas delegation, the distinguished Ciro Rodriguez. This bill will expand the boundaries of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, adding an additional 150 acres of land to the site that preserves important pieces of Texas history.

In the early 18th Century, the five missions in San Antonio were the largest concentration of Catholic missions in North America. Built primarily to expand Spanish New World influence northward from Mexico, the missions also served to introduce native inhabitants into Spanish society. All five thrived through the middle of the 18th Century, and then slowly declined towards the end of the 1700s, through disease, inadequate military support, and increased hostility from Comanches and Apaches.

The Alamo, the most famous of the missions, is well known to all, as a shrine of Texas history. The other four missions--San Jose, San Juan, Concepcion, and Espada--have been in active operation as houses of worship since the 1800s, and are still important to the history of Texas.

In 1978, the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was authorized by the National Park Service. At that time, the San Antonio River, which runs through much of the Park's area, was somewhat polluted. It was always planned and expected that, as the river was cleaned up, the Park would expand to take advantage of the unpolluted riverside areas. Now, that time has come.

H.R. 4438 will direct the Secretary of the Interior to study lands within Bexar and Wilson Counties in Texas, to identify lands that would be suitable for inclusion. It will also authorize the leasing of office space for a headquarters and support building, and allow the construction of an education and research center. It is only fitting that, as Mission Concepcion has recently been restored, and Mission San Jose is about to be restored, that the Park they are a part of is expanded to what it was originally imagined to be. Therefore, I strongly support this legislation, and urge my colleagues to join me.

Madam Speaker, due to an illness in my family I was not able to be present for votes on July 13th through July 15th.

Had I been present for rollcall 434 on motion to suspend the rules and pass, as amended, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 4514 Colonel Charles Young Home Study Act.

Had I been present for rollcall 435 on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 4438 San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Boundary Expansion Act of 2010.

Had I been present for rollcall 436 on motion to suspend the rules and pass, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 4773 Fort Pulaski National Monument Lease Authorization Act.

Had I been present for rollcall 438 on agreeing to the resolution, I would have voted in favor of providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1722) to improve teleworking in executive agencies by developing a telework program that allows employees to telework at least 20 percent of the hours worked in every 2 administrative workweeks, and for other purposes.

Had I been present for rollcall 439 on the motion to suspend the rules and pass, as amended, I would have voted in favor of amending the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998 to authorize funds to acquire hydrographic data and provide hydrographic services specific to the Arctic for safe navigation, delineating the United States extend continental shelf, and the monitoring and description of costal changes.

Had I been present for rollcall 441 on passage, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 1722 Telework Improvements Act.

Had I been present for rollcall 442 on motion to suspend the rules and pass, I would have voted in favor of S. 1508 Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act.

Had I been present for rollcall 443 on agreeing to the resolution, I would have voted in favor of providing for consideration of H.R. 5114 Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act.

Had I been present for rollcall 444 on agreeing to the amendment, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 5114 Murphy of New York Amendment No. 11.

Had I been present for rollcall 447 on passage, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 1722 the Telework Improvements Act.