[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2485 Referred in House (RFH)]

  2d Session
                                S. 2485


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 6, 2000

                 Referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
   To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance in 
 planning and constructing a regional heritage center in Calais, Maine.

    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 ``Saint Croix Island Heritage Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) Saint Croix Island is located in the Saint Croix River, 
        a river that is the boundary between the State of Maine and 
        Canada;
            (2) the Island is the only international historic site in 
        the National Park System;
            (3) in 1604, French nobleman Pierre Dugua Sieur de Mons, 
        accompanied by a courageous group of adventurers that included 
        Samuel Champlain, landed on the Island and began the 
        construction of a settlement;
            (4) the French settlement on the Island in 1604 and 1605 
        was the initial site of the first permanent settlement in the 
        New World, predating the English settlement of 1607 at 
        Jamestown, Virginia;
            (5) many people view the expedition that settled on the 
        Island in 1604 as the beginning of the Acadian culture in North 
        America;
            (6) in October, 1998, the National Park Service completed a 
        general management plan to manage and interpret the Saint Croix 
        Island International Historic Site;
            (7) the plan addresses a variety of management 
        alternatives, and concludes that the best management strategy 
        entails developing an interpretive trail and ranger station at 
        Red Beach, Maine, and a regional heritage center in downtown 
        Calais, Maine, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local 
        agencies;
            (8) a 1982 memorandum of understanding, signed by the 
        Department of the Interior and the Canadian Department for the 
        Environment, outlines a cooperative program to commemorate the 
        international heritage of the Saint Croix Island site and 
        specifically to prepare for the 400th anniversary of the 
        settlement in 2004; and
            (9) only 4 years remain before the 400th anniversary of the 
        settlement at Saint Croix Island, an occasion that should be 
        appropriately commemorated.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to direct the Secretary of 
the Interior to take all necessary and appropriate steps to work with 
Federal, State, and local agencies, historical societies, and nonprofit 
organizations to facilitate the development of a regional heritage 
center in downtown Calais, Maine before the 400th anniversary of the 
settlement of Saint Croix Island.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Island.--The term ``Island'' means Saint Croix Island, 
        located in the Saint Croix River, between Canada and the State 
        of Maine.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National 
        Park Service.

SEC. 4. SAINT CROIX ISLAND REGIONAL HERITAGE CENTER.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide assistance in 
planning, constructing, and operating a regional heritage center in 
downtown Calais, Maine, to facilitate the management and interpretation 
of the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site.
    (b) Cooperative Agreements.--To carry out subsection (a), in 
administering the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, the 
Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements under appropriate terms 
and conditions with other Federal agencies, State and local agencies 
and nonprofit organizations--
            (1) to provide exhibits, interpretive services (including 
        employing individuals to provide such services), and technical 
        assistance;
            (2) to conduct activities that facilitate the dissemination 
        of information relating to the Saint Croix Island International 
        Historic Site;
            (3) to provide financial assistance for the construction of 
        the regional heritage center in exchange for space in the 
        center that is sufficient to interpret the Saint Croix Island 
        International Historic Site; and
            (4) to assist with the operation and maintenance of the 
        regional heritage center.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Design and Construction.--
            (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        carry out this Act (including the design and construction of 
        the regional heritage center) $2,000,000.
            (2) Expenditure.--Paragraph (1) authorizes funds to be 
        appropriated on the condition that any expenditure of those 
        funds shall be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by funds 
        from non-Federal sources.
    (b) Operation and Maintenance.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to maintain and operate 
interpretive exhibits in the regional heritage center.

            Passed the Senate October 5 (legislative day, September 
      22), 2000.

            Attest:

                                                    GARY SISCO,

                                                             Secretary.