[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1816 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1816

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a commemorative 
trail 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 19, 2007

Mrs. Clinton (for herself, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Murray, and 
 Mr. Schumer) 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 establish a commemorative 
trail 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''.
    (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. These movements challenged Americans to consider the 
        essential meaning of the Declaration of Independence: ``that 
        all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their 
        Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are 
        Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure 
        these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving 
        their just powers from the consent of the governed.''.
            (2) New York State in the nineteenth century was at the 
        cutting edge of these movements, including the womans' rights 
        movement. On July 19, 1848, a group of activists including 
        Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, Jane 
        Hunt, 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) 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.
            (4) In 1869, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, 
        Matilda Joslyn Gage, and others formed the National Woman 
        Suffrage Association, and Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and 
        others formed the American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1890, 
        these merged into the National American Woman Suffrage 
        Association. Through mass campaigns involving thousands of 
        women and men all across the country, National American Woman 
        Suffrage Association helped secure passage of the Nineteenth 
        amendment to the United States Constitution, officially 
        certified on August 26, 1920, giving women the right to vote.
            (5) In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the women's 
        movement expanded to play a critical role in shaping policies 
        on education, legal reform, and economic and social welfare.

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

    Title XVI of Public Law 96-607 is amended by inserting after 
section 1601 (16 U.S.C. 410ll) the following new section:

``SEC. 1602. VOTES FOR WOMEN TRAIL.

    ``(a) Finding.--Congress finds that 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 the eastern border of New 
York State and the Niagara Frontier, 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 Trail shall be 
administered by the National Park Service through Women's Rights 
National Historical Park.
    ``(d) Activities.--To facilitate the establishment of the Votes for 
Women Trail 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 Trail 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 2008 
        through fiscal year 2012 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 2008 through 
fiscal year 2012.

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

    (a) Grants.--The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make 
matching grants and give 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.
    (b) Management of Network.--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.
    (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 2008 through 
fiscal year 2012.
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