[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4033 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4033

 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a long-term 
ground lease for the operation and maintenance of Rock Creek, Langston, 
       and East Potomac as golf courses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 31, 2007

  Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a long-term 
ground lease for the operation and maintenance of Rock Creek, Langston, 
       and East Potomac as golf courses, 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 ``Golf Course Preservation and 
Modernization Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Langston Golf Course, Rock Creek Golf Course, and East 
        Potomac Golf Course are owned by the United States and are 
        under the administrative jurisdiction of the National Park 
        Service, and each golf course has a long history of service to 
        the general public as an integral part of the nation's capital, 
        including services to local and regional residents, visitors, 
        and tourists.
            (2) East Potomac Golf Course was opened in 1920 with three 
        courses to accommodate all levels of play, including an 18-hole 
        tournament level course and two 9-hole practice courses, and 
        was initially segregated, with African-Americans only permitted 
        to play on Mondays.
            (3) Rock Creek Golf Course opened in 1923 as a 9-hole 
        course, and in 1925 the course was completed as an 18-hole 
        tournament level course. This course was located in Rock Creek 
        Park, a major recreation and picnic facility for residents.
            (4) Langston Golf Course opened in 1939 as a segregated 
        golf facility for African-Americans, is listed in the National 
        Register of Historic Places, and has been the home course of 
        both the Royal Golf Club and the Wake Robin Golf Club, the 
        nation's first clubs for African-American men and women, 
        respectively. The golf course was named for John Mercer 
        Langston, the first African-American Congressman from Virginia, 
        elected in 1888.
            (5) Unlike other National Park Service facilities, golf 
        courses require unique capital investments to keep them 
        maintained and operational.
            (6) The National Park Service has continuously struggled to 
        manage and maintain each of these three courses.
            (7) Concession restrictions do not generate sufficient 
        revenue for the National Park Service or concessionaires to 
        provide affordable recreation while properly maintaining and 
        making the capital investments required for golf courses today.
            (8) Each of the three courses contains valuable historic 
        components that must be maintained.
            (9) Concessions restrictions will continue to cause 
        deterioration, disrepair, and limited public use, reducing the 
        quality of play and jeopardizing the historic preservation of 
        the courses.
            (10) These courses together constitute an undervalued and 
        underused asset that can be maintained and modernized as 
        affordable facilities for use by the general public if an 
        appropriate lease arrangement is used that encourages private 
        investment in keeping with the existing Federal procedures.
            (11) The National Park Service recently issued a request 
        for bids for continued concession operation of the Langston and 
        Rock Creek Golf Courses under one concession contract for seven 
        years; however, the capital improvement necessary to maintain 
        and modernize the courses and to prevent their deterioration is 
        not possible using a traditional concession contract.
            (12) A long-term lease for the three courses together, 
        designed outside of the constraints of concession law, will 
        encourage private investment in these courses, improve and 
        modernize the courses, ensure affordable play, and preserve the 
        historic nature of them.

SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF GOLF COURSES.

    (a) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section, the following 
apply:
            (1) Rock creek.--The term ``Rock Creek'' means the 
        federally owned golf course and related facilities located at 
        16th and Rittenhouse NW, Washington, DC 20011, within the 
        boundaries of 16th Street, NW to the East; Military Road, NW to 
        the South; Beach Drive NW to the West; and Sherrill Drive, NW 
        to the North.
            (2) Langston.--The term ``Langston'' means the federally 
        owned golf course and related facilities located at 26th and 
        Benning Road NE, Washington, DC 20002, within the boundaries of 
        Anacostia River to the East; Hickory Hill Road to the 
        Northeast; Valley Road NE to the Northeast; Azalea Road NE to 
        the North; Ellipse Road NE to the West; M Street NE to the 
        North; Marlyand Avenue NE to the Northwest; 22nd Street NE to 
        the West; 26th Street to the West; and Benning Road NE to the 
        South.
            (3) East potomac.--The term ``East Potomac'' means the 
        federally owned golf course and related facilities located at 
        972 Ohio Drive SW, Washington DC 20024, within the boundaries 
        of Ohio Drive to the East, South, and West; and Buckeye Drive 
        SW to the North.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National 
        Park Service.
    (b) Continued Leases.--The Secretary shall ensure, to the extent 
practicable, that month-to-month concessions contracts are continued 
for the operation and maintenance of Rock Creek and Langston until the 
lease in force on the date of the enactment of this Act for East 
Potomac expires, at which time the lease referred to in subsection (c) 
shall commence.
    (c) Lease.--The lease referred to in subsection (d) is a lease for 
the continued operation and maintenance of Rock Creek, Langston, and 
East Potomac as golf courses. A lease entered into under this section 
shall include the 3 golf courses in one lease agreement and require 
that the golf courses be operated and maintained in a manner that--
            (1) retains the historic nature of the courses;
            (2) at least 2 of the 3 courses require fees related to use 
        of the golf courses to be affordable in light of the current 
        fee system used today at the courses;
            (3) may allow fees collected at one golf course to 
        subsidize the maintenance and operation of one or more of the 
        other golf courses; and
            (4) allows for a long-term ground lease on the 3 courses.
    (d) Requests for Proposals.--The Secretary shall solicit proposals, 
through a competitive process, to procure the lease described in 
subsection (b) and may, after such solicitation, enter into agreements 
to procure the lease. The Secretary shall solicit the request for 
proposals under this subsection in such a manner--
            (1) to provide that the lease described in subsection (c) 
        shall be entered into not later than 180 days after the 
        effective date of this Act or not later than 30 days after the 
        expiration of the concession contract for East Potomac; and
            (2) which ensures, to the greatest extent practicable, the 
        participation of disadvantaged business enterprises among the 
        equity partners of the sponsors of the proposals.
    (e) Applicability of Certain Laws.--The National Park Service 
Concessions Management Improvement Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C. 5951 et seq.) 
shall not apply to requests for proposals submitted and leases and 
agreements entered into under this Act.
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