[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5399 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5399

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and 
feasibility of designating the Abel and Mary Nicholson House located in 
Elsinboro Township, Salem County, New Jersey, as a unit of the National 
                  Park System, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 5, 2000

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and 
feasibility of designating the Abel and Mary Nicholson House located in 
Elsinboro Township, Salem County, New Jersey, as a unit of the National 
                  Park System, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Abel and Mary Nicholson House 
National Historic Site Study Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Abel and Mary Nicholson House, located in Elsinboro 
        Township, Salem County, New Jersey, was built in 1722;
            (2) the original section of the House is the only pristine, 
        surviving portion of a Delaware Valley brick patterned-end 
        house featuring a diaper or diamond pattern in glazed bricks in 
        the gable wall of the building, and less elaborate decorations 
        of checkered string courses on the other 3 walls;
            (3) the original section of the House--
                    (A) contains early paint, original hinges, locks, 
                shelving, floorboards, roof framing, and chimneypieces; 
                and
                    (B) has received only routine maintenance and no 
                major remodeling, and is without the intrusion of 
                either electricity or a central heating system;
            (4) the 1859 addition to the House enhances the 
        significance of the property with a similar level of 
        architectural integrity;
            (5) the House has well-documented associations with the 
        earliest Quaker settlement in North America;
            (6) the House and surrounding property may be available for 
        acquisition from a willing donor; and
            (7) the House is--
                    (A) 1 of the most significant ``first period'' 
                houses surviving in the Delaware Valley; and
                    (B) an architectural Rosetta stone on the domestic 
                life of the first 2 generations of settlers in the 
                Delaware Valley.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) House.--The term ``House'' means the Abel and Mary 
        Nicholson House located in Elsinboro Township, Salem County, 
        New Jersey.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National 
        Park Service.

SEC. 4. STUDY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date on which 
funds are made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall, in 
consultation with the State of New Jersey--
            (1) carry out a study on the suitability and feasibility of 
        designating the House as a unit of the National Park System;
            (2) consider management alternatives to create an 
        administrative association with the New Jersey Coastal Heritage 
        Trail Route; and
            (3) submit to the Committee on Resources of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
        Resources of the Senate a report describing the findings of the 
        study.
    (b) Contents.--The study under subsection (a) shall be conducted in 
accordance with Public Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-1 et seq.).

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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