[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4483 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4483

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study 
   regarding whether the Rosie the Riveter Park located in Richmond, 
 California, is suitable for designation as an affiliated site to the 
                         National Park Service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 6, 1998

   Mr. Miller of California introduced the following bill; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study 
   regarding whether the Rosie the Riveter Park located in Richmond, 
 California, is suitable for designation as an affiliated site to the 
                         National Park Service.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rosie the Riveter National Park 
Service Affiliated Site Study Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STUDY.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The City of Richmond, California, is located on the 
        northeastern shore of San Francisco Bay and consists of several 
        miles of waterfront which have been used for shipping and 
        industry since the beginning of the 20th century. During the 
        years of World War II, the population of Richmond grew from 220 
        to over 100,000.
            (2) An area of Richmond, California, now known as Marina 
        Park and Marina Green, was the location in the 1940's of the 
        Richmond Kaiser Shipyards, which produced Liberty and Victory 
        ships during World War II.
            (3) Thousands of women of all ages and ethnicities moved 
        from across the United States to Richmond, California, in 
        search of high paying jobs and skills never before available to 
        women in the shipyards.
            (4) Kaiser Corporation supported women workers by 
        installing child care centers at the shipyards so mothers could 
        work while their children were well cared for nearby.
            (5) These women, referred to as ``Rosie the Riveter'' and 
        ``Wendy the Welder'', built hundreds of liberty and victory 
        ships in record time for use by the United States Navy. Their 
        labor played a crucial role in increasing American productivity 
        during the war years and in meeting the demand for naval ships.
            (6) In part the Japanese plan to defeat the United States 
        Navy was predicated on victory occurring before United States 
        shipyards could build up its fleet of ships.
            (7) The City of Richmond, California, has dedicated the 
        former site of Kaiser Shipyard #2 as Rosie the Riveter Memorial 
        Park and will construct a memorial honoring American women's 
        labor during World War II. The memorial will be representative 
        of one of the Liberty ships built on the site during the war 
        effort.
            (8) The City of Richmond, California, is committed to 
        collective interpretative oral histories for the public to 
        learn of the stories of the ``Rosies'' and ``Wendys'' who 
        worked in the shipyards.
            (9) The Rosie the Riveter Park is a nationally significant 
        site because there tens of thousands of women entered the work 
        force for the first time, working in heavy industry to support 
        their families and the War effort. This was a turning point for 
        the Richmond, California, area and the nation as a whole, when 
        women joined the workforce and successfully completed jobs for 
        which previously it was believed they were incapable.
    (b) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior shall 
        conduct a feasibility study to determine whether--
                    (A) the Rosie the Riveter Park located in Richmond, 
                California, is suitable for designation as an 
                affiliated site to the National Park Service; and
                    (B) the Rosie the Riveter Memorial Committee 
                established by the City of Richmond, California, with 
                respect to that park is eligible for technical 
                assistance for interpretative functions relating to the 
                park, including preservation of oral histories from 
                former works at the Richmond Kaiser Shipyards.
            (2) Reports.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete the study 
        under paragraph (1) and submit a report containing findings, 
        conclusions, and recommendations from the study to the 
        Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Energy and Environment of the Senate.
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