[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1192 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 1192


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 15, 2014

   Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To redesignate Mammoth Peak in Yosemite National Park as ``Mount Jessie 
                           Benton Fremont''.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that Jessie Benton Fremont--
            (1) was the daughter of United States Senator Thomas Hart 
        Benton of Missouri, a leading proponent of the concept of 
        Manifest Destiny that advocated for the Nation to expand its 
        borders westward;
            (2) became fluent in French and Spanish, was a gifted 
        writer, and was at ease in any political discussion;
            (3) married John C. Fremont, who was assigned to explore 
        the West;
            (4) transformed John C. Fremont's descriptions from his 
        treks into prose that was used by pioneers to guide their route 
        West;
            (5) traveled to California in 1849 to join her husband at 
        their Mariposa ranch, where gold had been discovered;
            (6) became involved in John C. Fremont's 1856 campaign for 
        Presidency, which proposed the abolition of slavery, a notion 
        that Jessie Benton Fremont also supported;
            (7) moved to Bear Valley, California, with her husband John 
        C. Fremont in 1858 and thereafter realized the need to preserve 
        the land that would become Yosemite National Park for future 
        generations;
            (8) entertained men such as Horace Greeley, Thomas Starr 
        King, and United States Senator Edward Baker of Oregon, and 
        urged them to begin a process that ultimately led to the 
        establishment of Yosemite National Park;
            (9) influenced President Abraham Lincoln to sign the Act 
        entitled ``An Act authorizing a Grant to the State of 
        California of the `Yo-Semite Valley' and of the Land embracing 
        the `Mariposa Big Tree Grove''', approved June 30, 1864 
        (commonly known as the Yosemite Grant), the first instance of 
        land being set aside specifically for its preservation and 
        public use by a national government; and
            (10) set the foundation for the creation of national parks 
        and California State parks through her advocacy for and 
        influence on the Yosemite Grant.

SEC. 2. REDESIGNATION OF MAMMOTH PEAK AS MOUNT JESSIE BENTON FREMONT.

    (a) In General.--The peak known as ``Mammoth Peak'' in Yosemite 
National Park (located at NPS coordinates 37.855 N, -119.264 W) shall 
be redesignated as ``Mount Jessie Benton Fremont'' and may be known 
informally as ``Mt. Jessie'' in honor of the contributions of Jessie 
Benton Fremont to the approval of the Yosemite Grant.
    (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, 
record, or other paper of the United States to the peak described in 
subsection (a) shall be considered to be a reference to ``Mount Jessie 
Benton Fremont''.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 14, 2014.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.