[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4120 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4120

    To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 
resource study to evaluate resources at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House 
 in Brunswick, Maine, to determine the suitability and feasibility of 
 establishing the site as a unit of the National Park System, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 8, 2006

   Ms. Snowe introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 
resource study to evaluate resources at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House 
 in Brunswick, Maine, to determine the suitability and feasibility of 
 establishing the site 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 ``Harriet Beecher Stowe House Special 
Resource Study Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) Harriet Beecher Stowe, who lived from 1811 to 1896, was 
        an important author, humanitarian, and abolitionist during the 
        19th century;
            (2) from the period beginning in 1850 and ending in 1852, 
        Harriet Beecher Stowe lived at the house located at 63 Federal 
        Street in Brunswick, Maine (referred to in this Act as the 
        ``Harriet Beecher Stowe House'');
            (3) while living in that house, Harriet Beecher Stowe 
        penned ``Uncle Tom's Cabin'', one of the most influential 
        antislavery novels that introduced to the citizens of the 
        United States the horrors of slavery;
            (4) the influence of that novel proved to be so great that 
        it prompted President Abraham Lincoln, when meeting with 
        Harriet Beecher Stowe, to remark ``So you're the little lady 
        who wrote the book that started this Great War.'';
            (5) ``Uncle Tom's Cabin''--
                    (A) has been translated into 23 languages; and
                    (B) is still considered by many critics and 
                academics to be the most famous example of antislavery 
                literature; and
            (6) the Harriet Beecher Stowe House was designated as a 
        National Historic Landmark in 1963.

SEC. 3. 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 of the 
Interior (referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall complete 
a study of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Brunswick, Maine, to 
evaluate--
            (1) the national significance of the Harriet Beecher Stowe 
        House and surrounding land; and
            (2) the suitability and feasibility of designating the 
        Harriet Beecher Stowe House and surrounding land as a unit of 
        the National Park System.
    (b) Study Guidelines.--In conducting the study authorized under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall use the criteria for the study of 
areas for potential inclusion in the National Park System contained in 
section 8(c) of Public Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5(c)).

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are made 
available to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 
Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives a report 
containing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the study 
conducted under section 3.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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