[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3779 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3779

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a commemorative 
 trail route in connection with the Women's Rights National Historical 
    Park to link properties that are historically and thematically 
   associated with the struggle for women's suffrage, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2005

Ms. Slaughter (for herself, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite of 
  Florida, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Case, Mr. Filner, Mr. Gonzalez, Ms. Eddie 
 Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mrs. Maloney, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, 
Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Owens, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, 
   Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Solis, and Ms. Woolsey) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a commemorative 
 trail route in connection with the Women's Rights National Historical 
    Park to link properties that are historically and thematically 
   associated with the struggle for women's suffrage, 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; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``National Women's 
Rights History Project Act of 2005''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The women's rights movement is one of the three great 
        protest traditions in United States history, sharing that 
        status with the struggle for racial equality and the labor 
        movement.
            (2) On July 19, 1848, a group of activists including 
        Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Mary Ann M'Clintock, 
        convened the first Women's Rights Convention at Wesleyan Chapel 
        in Seneca Falls, New York. During the Convention, 68 women and 
        32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments calling for a broad 
        array of rights for women, including suffrage.
            (3) Under the leadership of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and 
        Susan B. Anthony, the National American Women Suffrage 
        Association (NAWSA) was formed. NAWSA was instrumental in 
        securing passage of the 19th amendment, which amended the 
        Constitution to give women the right to vote. The 19th 
        amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and was 
        ratified on August 18, 1920.
            (4) Susan B. Anthony formed the Equal Rights Association, 
        refuted ideas that women were inferior to men, and fought for 
        women's right to vote. She also campaigned for the rights of 
        women to own property, to keep their own earnings, and to have 
        custody of their children. In 1900, she persuaded the 
        University of Rochester to admit women.
            (5) In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the women's 
        movement expanded to also play a critical role in shaping 
        policies on economic and social welfare.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF VOTES FOR WOMEN HISTORY TRAIL ROUTE AS FEATURE 
              OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.

    Title XVI of Public Law 96-607, which established the Women's 
Rights National Historical Park, is amended by inserting after section 
1601 (16 U.S.C. 410ll) the following new section:

``SEC. 1602. VOTES FOR WOMEN HISTORY TRAIL ROUTE.

    ``(a) Finding.--There is an opportunity for the Women's Rights 
National Historical Park in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, New York, to 
work in partnership with historically and thematically related 
properties in the corridor between Syracuse and Rochester, New York, 
including the Susan B. Anthony House, to tell the story of the 72-year 
fight for women's suffrage.
    ``(b) Establishment of Trail Route.--The Secretary of the Interior, 
acting through the Director of National Park Service, with concurrence 
of the agency having jurisdiction over the relevant roads, is 
authorized to designate a vehicular tour route, to be known as the 
`Votes for Women History Trail Route', to link properties in the State 
of New York that are historically and thematically associated with the 
struggle for women's suffrage in the United States.
    ``(c) Administration.--The Votes for Women History Trail Route 
shall be administered by the National Park Service through the Women's 
Rights National Historical Park.
    ``(d) Activities.--To facilitate the establishment of the Votes for 
Women History Trail Route and the dissemination of information 
regarding the Trail Route, the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) produce and disseminate appropriate educational 
        materials regarding the Trail Route, such as handbooks, maps, 
        exhibits, signs, interpretive guides, and electronic 
        information;
            ``(2) coordinate the management, planning, and standards of 
        the auto route in partnership with participating properties, 
        other Federal agencies, and State and local governments;
            ``(3) create and adopt an official, uniform symbol or 
        device to mark the Votes for Women History Trail Route; and
            ``(4) issue guidelines for the use of such symbol or 
        device.
    ``(e) Elements of Trail Route.--The Secretary may designate as an 
official stop on the Votes for Women History Trail Route any of the 
following properties, subject to the consent of the owner of the 
property:
            ``(1) All units and programs of Women's Rights National 
        Historical Park that pertain to the struggle for women's 
        suffrage.
            ``(2) Other Federal, State, local, and privately owned 
        properties that the Secretary determines have a verifiable 
        connection to the struggle for women's suffrage.
            ``(3) Other governmental and nongovernmental facilities and 
        programs of an educational, commemorative, research, or 
        interpretive nature that the Secretary determines to be 
        directly related to the struggle for women's suffrage.
    ``(f) Cooperative Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding.--
            ``(1) Authorized.--To facilitate the establishment of the 
        Votes for Women History Trail Route and to ensure effective 
        coordination of the Federal and non-Federal properties 
        designated as stops along the Trail Route, the Secretary is 
        authorized to enter into cooperative agreements and memorandums 
        of understanding with, and provide technical and financial 
        assistance to, other Federal agencies, the State of New York, 
        localities, regional governmental bodies, and private entities.
            ``(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior 
        such sums as are necessary for the period of fiscal year 2006 
        through fiscal year 2010 to provide financial assistance to 
        cooperating entities pursuant to agreements or memorandums 
        entered into under paragraph (1).''.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS HISTORY PROJECT NATIONAL REGISTRY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to 
make annual grants to State historic preservation offices for up to 5 
years to assist those State historic preservation offices in surveying, 
evaluating, and nominating women's rights history properties to the 
National Register of Historic Places. The Secretary shall ensure that 
the National Register travel itinerary website, ``Places Where Women 
Made History'' is updated to contain the results of the inventory and 
links to websites related to places on the inventory when such links 
are available.
    (b) Eligibility.--When offering grants under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall give priority grants related to properties associated 
with the multiple facets of the women's rights movement such as 
politics, economics, education, religion, and social and family rights.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this section 
such sums as are necessary for the period of fiscal year 2006 through 
fiscal year 2010.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL WOMEN'S RIGHTS HISTORY PROJECT PARTNERSHIPS NETWORK.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to 
make matching grants and technical assistance for development of a 
network of governmental and nongovernmental entities whose purpose is 
to provide interpretive and educational program development of national 
women's rights history, including historic preservation. Matching 
grants for historic preservation specific to the network may be made 
available through State historic preservation offices. The network 
shall be managed through a nongovernmental entity, identified by the 
Secretary of the Interior through a competitive process. The 
nongovernmental managing entity shall work in partnership with the 
National Park Service and State historic preservation offices to 
coordinate operation of the network.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this section 
such sums as are necessary for the period of fiscal year 2006 through 
fiscal year 2010.
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