[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3222 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3222

    To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 
    resource study of sites associated with the 1657 signing of the 
   Flushing Remonstrance in Queens, New York, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 30, 2013

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 
    resource study of sites associated with the 1657 signing of the 
   Flushing Remonstrance in Queens, New York, 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 ``Flushing Remonstrance Study Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Dutch involvement in North America started with Henry 
        Hudson's 1609 voyage on the ship, Half Moon, employed by the 
        Dutch East India Company.
            (2) After 1640, New Netherland gradually began to transform 
        from a chain of trading posts into a settlement colony.
            (3) As Dutch and English settlers moved closer to one 
        another, they began to assimilate in what would later become 
        Queens County.
            (4) The Dutch and English settlements had not been without 
        conflict. Although the Dutch Republic was well known for its 
        toleration of other faiths, Director General Peter Stuyvesant 
        and his council thought that liberty of worship should not be 
        granted to Quakers.
            (5) When Quakers began to arrive in Flushing, the colonial 
        government issued an ordinance that formally banned the 
        practice of all religions outside of the Dutch Reformed Church.
            (6) On December 27, 1657, 30 Flushing residents signed what 
        was later called the Flushing Remonstrance, objecting to this 
        order. None of the remonstrance's authors were Quakers.
            (7) Dutch colonial authorities proceeded to arrest the 
        signers of the Flushing Remonstrance. In 1662, John Bowne 
        defied the ban and allowed Quakers to hold services in his 
        house. Bowne was fined and banished to the Dutch Republic for 
        showing contempt for secular authority.
            (8) Bowne was later exonerated after appealing to the 
        guarantees of religious liberty before the Dutch West India 
        Company and returned to Flushing in 1664. The colony later fell 
        to British control on September 24, 1664.
            (9) The Flushing Remonstrance is now considered by many to 
        be instrumental in the development of religious liberty in the 
        United States and a precursor to the First Amendment to the 
        United States Constitution.
            (10) In 1957, the United States Postal Service released a 
        3-cent postage stamp commemorating the 300th Anniversary of the 
        signing of the Flushing Remonstrance which read, ``Religious 
        Freedom in America''.
            (11) Queens remained rural and agricultural through the 
        18th and 19th Centuries. Although its Dutch identity 
        diminished, the tolerance of diversity that has harbored 
        Quakers and other religious sects in the Dutch Colonial period 
        continues to this day. Queens is the most ethnically diverse 
        urban area in the world, with a population of over 2,200,000 
        representing over 100 different nations and speaking over 138 
        different languages.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Study area.--The term ``study area'' means the John 
        Bowne House located at 3701 Bowne Street, Queens, New York, the 
        Friends Meeting House located at 137-17 Northern Boulevard, 
        Queens, New York, and other resources in the vicinity of 
        Flushing related to the history of religious freedom during the 
        era of the signing of the Flushing Remonstrance.

SEC. 4. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary shall conduct a special resource study of 
the study area.
    (b) Contents.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) evaluate the national significance of the study area's 
        resources based on their relationship to the history of 
        religious freedom associated with the signing of the Flushing 
        Remonstrance;
            (2) determine the suitability and feasibility of 
        designating resources within the study area as a unit of the 
        National Park System;
            (3) consider other alternatives for preservation, 
        protection, and interpretation of the study area by Federal, 
        State, or local governmental entities, or private and nonprofit 
        organizations;
            (4) identify properties related to the John Bowne House 
        that could potentially meet criteria for designation as a 
        National Historic Landmark;
            (5) consult with interested Federal, State, or local 
        governmental entities, private and nonprofit organizations, or 
        any other interested individuals;
            (6) evaluate the impact of the proposed action on the flow 
        of commerce and commercial activity, job opportunities, and any 
        adverse economic effects that could not be avoided if the 
        proposal is implemented; and
            (7) identify cost estimates for any Federal acquisition, 
        development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance 
        associated with the alternatives.
    (c) Applicable Law.--The study required under subsection (a) shall 
be conducted in accordance with section 8 of National Park Service 
General Authorities Act (16 U.S.C. 1a-5).
    (d) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds 
are first made available for the study under subsection (a), 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 containing the results of the study 
and any conclusions and recommendations of the Secretary.
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