[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2833 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2833

   To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a survey and 
      investigation of the site containing the graves of American 
  Revolutionary War soldiers and sailors, located on a section of the 
              Brooklyn Navy Yard in the city of New York.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 2, 1993

  Mr. Towns introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

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                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a survey and 
      investigation of the site containing the graves of American 
  Revolutionary War soldiers and sailors, located on a section of the 
              Brooklyn Navy Yard in the city of New York.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) historical documents indicate that the Brooklyn Navy 
        Yard in the city of New York contains the graves of 
        approximately 9-11,000 American soldiers and sailors who had 
        been held captive and tortured aboard British prison ships in 
        nearby waters during the American Revolutionary War;
            (2) recently discovered evidence suggest that the specific 
        part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard that is the proposed site for a 
        city garbage incinerator for which a construction permit has 
        been requested is the burial ground for many of these 
        courageous Revolutionary War heroes;
            (3) the potential value of this graveyard in understanding 
        and commemorating the history of the United States will be lost 
        if construction is allowed to proceed without an investigation; 
        and
            (4) the city of New York may spend millions of tax dollars 
        on a plan that will be halted if the site proves to be a 
        historic landmark.

SEC. 2. SURVEY AND INVESTIGATION.

    In order to avoid damage to a potential national historic treasure, 
the Secretary of the Interior, under section 2(b) of the Act entitled 
``An Act to provide for the preservation of historic American sites, 
buildings, objects and antiquities of national significance, and for 
other purposes'' and dated August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 462(b)), shall 
conduct a survey and investigation of the site generally depicted on a 
drawing entitled ``Map of Brooklyn at the time of the Revolutionary 
War'', drawn by General Jeremiah Johnson, and dated 1786.

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