[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3051 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3051

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and 
 feasibility of designating the site of the Battle of Camden in South 
    Carolina, as a unit of the National Park System, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2008

  Mr. Graham 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 study the suitability and 
 feasibility of designating the site of the Battle of Camden in South 
    Carolina, 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 ``Battle of Camden Study Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Battle of Camden, which was fought on August 16, 
        1780, was a significant defeat for the Americans in the 
        Revolutionary War;
            (2) Camden was an essential point of control for both the 
        British and American armies in the Southern Campaign because--
                    (A) the British used Camden as--
                            (i) a logistical base for the invasion of 
                        North Carolina; and
                            (ii) a key recruitment and organizing point 
                        for Loyalists in South Carolina; and
                    (B) the Americans viewed Camden as the key to 
                retaking South Carolina;
            (3) Major General Horatio Gates, commander of the American 
        Southern Command, led an army of approximately 3,700 against 
        Camden, which was defended by British General Lord Charles 
        Cornwallis with an army of approximately 2,200;
            (4) the Battle of Camden was one of the largest field 
        battles of the Revolutionary War with both armies using a 
        combination of infantry, cavalry, and artillery units;
            (5) soldiers from South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, 
        Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York 
        participated in the battle;
            (6) 68 British soldiers and hundreds of Americans died in 
        the Battle of Camden;
            (7) many of the soldiers killed in the Battle of Camden 
        were buried in unmarked graves at the battlefield site;
            (8) the lessons learned by the Americans at the Battle of 
        Camden sowed the seeds for the eventual American victory in the 
        Revolutionary War 14 months later;
            (9) in 1962, the site of the Battle of Camden was 
        designated as a National Historic Landmark;
            (10) development interests that are rapidly changing the 
        use of surrounding land from forestry to residential and 
        commercial use threaten the site of the Battle of Camden;
            (11) in 2002, the Palmetto Conservation Foundation acquired 
        and preserved 310 acres at the core of the Battle of Camden;
            (12) Historic Camden, an affiliated area of the National 
        Park System--
                    (A) is located approximately 6 miles from the site 
                of the Battle of Camden;
                    (B) was a colonial village founded in the 1730s;
                    (C) was occupied by Lord Cornwallis from June 1780 
                to May 1781; and
                    (D) was one of the few frontier settlements at 
                which 2 Revolutionary War battles were fought; and
            (13) a March 2003 National Park Service reconnaissance 
        study concluded that further evaluation of the Battle of Camden 
        and Historic Camden as a potential addition to the National 
        Park System was warranted.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Study area.--The term ``study area'' means--
                    (A) the site of the Battle of Camden fought in 
                South Carolina on August 16, 1780; and
                    (B) the site of Historic Camden, South Carolina, 
                which is a National Park System Affiliated Area.

SEC. 4. BATTLE OF CAMDEN STUDY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct a study of the study 
area to evaluate--
            (1) the national significance of the study area; and
            (2) the suitability and feasibility of designating the 
        study area as 1 or more units of the National Park System.
    (b) Criteria.--In conducting the study required under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall use the criteria for the study of areas for 
potential inclusion in the National Park System under section 8 of 
Public Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5).
    (c) Contents.--The study required under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) determine the suitability and feasibility of 
        designating the study area as 1 or more units of the National 
        Park System;
            (2) include cost estimates for any necessary acquisition, 
        development, operation, and maintenance of the study area; and
            (3) identify alternatives for the management, 
        administration, and protection of the study area.
    (d) 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 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report 
that describes the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the 
study.
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