National Park System Long-Term Lease Investment Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4931) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to extend certain leases within units of the National Park System without opening the lease to bidding, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4931, the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4931, the National Park System Long-Term Lease Investment Act, introduced by Representative Murphy of North Carolina.

Across the National Park System, private businesses and organizations lease buildings and other historic facilities, investing in these properties while providing important services to park visitors. These public-private partnerships can help put underutilized properties to productive use while supporting the long-term stewardship of park assets.

My hometown of Hot Springs National Park is a model for how these public-private partnerships can transform local economies, create jobs, improve access, and enhance the visitor experience. Through historic leasing on Bathhouse Row, once dilapidated bathhouses have been transformed into a brewery, a modern spa and bathhouse facility, and a hotel. Ongoing renovations financed under the Great American Outdoors Act will open up even more opportunities to lease historic bathhouses to more small businesses in this community.

Unfortunately, even when these partnerships work well, existing law can limit the National Park Service's flexibility to extend a successful lease without starting a new competitive process.

H.R. 4931 provides a targeted solution. To qualify for an extension, the original lease must be at least 5 years, the lessee must be in good standing, and the extension must be in the National Park Service's best interests. If those requirements are met, the bill allows a lease to be extended once for up to 10 years without issuing a new request for bids or proposals.

Providing this flexibility will give successful lessees greater certainty to continue investing in park facilities while reducing unnecessary administrative burdens on the National Park Service. Just as importantly, it creates important safeguards by limiting the authority to lessees who have already demonstrated a successful track record.

While this is a good bill, there is more that can be done to ensure the National Park Service fully leverages potential private-sector partners. The Senate version of this legislation includes a commonsense provision allowing leases to extend up to 99 years, which will attract greater investment and create greater economic opportunity nationwide. Although we were unable to reach an agreement in committee with our minority to include a similar provision in the House bill, I look forward to working with my bipartisan and bicameral colleagues on this concept as the bill continues through the legislative process.

I thank Representative Murphy for his leadership on this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4931, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Murphy), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I once again commend Representative Murphy for his leadership on this legislation, and I look forward to working with the Senate and in a bipartisan manner. As this moves forward, I urge my colleagues to support the bill today, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4931 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to extend certain

leases within the National Park System unit without opening those leases to another public bidding process.

Under the bill, the lease could be extended without rebidding if the lease has been in place for at least 5 years, the tenant is complying with the terms of the existing lease, and the National Park Service determines that the extension is consistent with the purposes of the park unit.

The National Park Service manages approximately 160 leases covering more than 340 structures. This leasing authority has helped the service put underutilized historic properties to use through public-private partnerships while directing lease revenues toward historic preservation, infrastructure, and maintenance.

As introduced, this legislation raised serious concerns. Current law requires a public competitive bidding process and fair market value, helping ensure that taxpayers receive a fair return on public assets and that businesses have a fair opportunity to compete.

It also contains no limits on the length of an extension or the number of times the lease could be renewed, creating the risk of a continuous cycle of extensions that effectively locks out the competition.

Those concerns were addressed during the Natural Resources Committee markup, with technical assistance from the National Park Service. The amended bill limits the authority to a single extension and makes it clear the total term of the lease cannot exceed the existing 60-year regulatory limit. That includes the extension.

These guardrails are important. We should make sure the Park Service has the flexibility it needs to manage these properties well, while also protecting competition, transparency, and the interests of the American taxpayer.

As we have learned from the President's use of no-bid contracts for the Reflecting Pool and the suspension of leases for Federal golf courses in D.C., we need to ensure robust statutory guardrails.

The national park leasing authority is a successful program, but it cannot be a back door that leads to the privatization of our national parks.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsor of the bill for working in a bipartisan way to address the concerns that many of us had, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 4931, the National Park System Long-Term Lease Investment Act.

As was noted previously, there is a Senate companion with slight differences that hopefully can be worked out.

My bill would give the Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the National Park Service, the authority to extend the lease if the lease has been entered into less than 5 years before the date of extension is to take effect.

The Director of the National Park Service would determine if extending the lease is in the best interests of the applicable unit of the National Park Service.

Within my district in Dare County, we have a lot of national parks, and we work very well with them. We have a model of an excellent public-private partnership at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, where the National Park Service works with a local vendor to provide necessary marine services.

My bill is simple and straightforward. It gives the National Park Service the authority to give an extension of a lease, if the National Park Service thinks it is in the best interests of the National Park Service, for a total duration up to 60 years.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my Democratic colleagues and appreciate the opportunity to attend to any concerns that they have.

By granting this authority to the National Park Service, it would encourage other private investors to invest wisely in the hope of being considered for this opportunity to make a win-win with a public-private partnership. Current law does not allow this to happen.

Mr. Speaker, I ask your consideration of this bill, and I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 4931.