[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1179 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1179

To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National 
Park Service the African-American Burial Grounds Network, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2019

Ms. Adams (for herself and Mr. McEachin) introduced the following bill; 
        which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National 
Park Service the African-American Burial Grounds Network, 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 ``African-American Burial Grounds 
Network Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) From 1619 until 1865, millions of African Americans 
        throughout the United States were enslaved.
            (2) Slaveholders often controlled where and how the dead 
        were buried, and prohibited burials on valuable land. As a 
        result, slave burial grounds were often confined to remote 
        areas or marginal property.
            (3) Such burial grounds were rarely documented, and they 
        infrequently appear on historical maps. A lack of accurate 
        information is typical of African-American cemeteries from 
        before the Civil War.
            (4) Following the end of slavery, many African-American 
        families continued to face restrictions on where they could 
        bury their dead. Across much of the United States, local laws 
        segregated burial sites by race. African-American burial 
        grounds often failed to receive the type of maintenance and 
        record-keeping that predominantly White burial grounds enjoyed.
            (5) Many African-American burial grounds from both before 
        and after the Civil War are in a state of disrepair or 
        inaccessibility due to overgrowth of vegetation, crumbling 
        physical structures, and other challenges.
            (6) There is no official national record or database for 
        African-American burial ground locations, and the location of 
        many sites is unknown. As a result, the family members and 
        descendants of those interred are unable to visit these sites 
        to honor and remember their ancestors.
            (7) Abandoned African-American burial grounds are often 
        discovered when construction projects inadvertently disturb 
        human remains, slowing or halting completion of those projects.
            (8) The presence and location of historic African-American 
        burial grounds should be recorded, and there should be 
        coordinated national, State, local, and Tribal efforts to 
        preserve and restore these sites.
            (9) African-American burial grounds are an integral 
        component of the heritage of the United States.
            (10) Creating and maintaining a network of previously 
        abandoned, underserved, and other African-American burial 
        grounds will help communities identify and record burial 
        grounds and preserve local history while better informing 
        development decisions and community planning.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to authorize the National Park Service 
to coordinate and facilitate Federal and non-Federal activities to 
identify, interpret, preserve, and record unmarked, previously 
abandoned, underserved, and other African-American burial grounds.

SEC. 4. U.S. AFRICAN-AMERICAN BURIAL GROUNDS NETWORK PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Subdivision 1 of division B of subtitle III of 
title 54, United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 
3085 the following:

      ``CHAPTER 3086--U.S. AFRICAN-AMERICAN BURIAL GROUNDS NETWORK

``Sec. 308601. Definitions
    ``In this chapter:
            ``(1) Network.--The term `Network' means the African-
        American Burial Grounds Network established under section 
        308602(a).
            ``(2) Burial ground(s).--The term `burial ground' means any 
        natural or prepared physical location, whether originally 
        below, on, or above the surface of the earth, into which as a 
        part of the death rite or ceremony of a culture, human remains 
        are deposited.
            ``(3) Historic.--The term `historic' means properties that 
        can reasonably be considered to date back at least 50 years.
``Sec. 308602. U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Network
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with the National 
Parks Service, shall establish, within the Service, a program in 
accordance with this chapter to be known as the `U.S. African-American 
Burial Grounds Network'. The Network shall include burial grounds 
determined by the Secretary to relate to the historic African-American 
experience from among applications for inclusion submitted by an 
individual, private or non-profit organization, State, local, or Tribal 
government, or other entity.
    ``(b) Duties of Secretary.--In carrying out the Network, the 
Secretary shall have the following duties:
            ``(1) Review existing and new studies and reports to inform 
        consideration of sites for the Network.
            ``(2) Provide technical assistance to and work in 
        partnership with the public, Federal, State, local, and Tribal 
        governments, other public entities, educational institutions, 
        and private nonprofit organizations in identifying, 
        documenting, preserving, researching, evaluating, and 
        interpreting African-American burial grounds.
            ``(3) Engage in consultation and public engagement with 
        descendant, local, and other communities historically 
        associated with identified burial grounds by geography, 
        genetics, or culture.
            ``(4) In accordance with section 304, provide technical 
        assistance and support to ensure that the locations of unmarked 
        and unrecorded African-American burial grounds are documented. 
        The Secretary is directed to make this information available in 
        a public database, except in such circumstances in which the 
        Secretary determines that the privacy and safety of the burial 
        ground warrants the information being protected.
            ``(5) Develop a program to train States, units of local 
        government, regional governmental bodies, organizations, 
        educational institutions, and private entities to carry out the 
        purposes of this Act.
            ``(6) Produce and disseminate appropriate educational and 
        training materials relating to African-American burial ground 
        identification methods and best practices for caring for 
        artifacts, developing interpretive tours and exhibits, 
        preserving burial ground landscapes, heritage tourism 
        initiatives and sources for grants, such as handbooks, maps, 
        interpretive guides, or electronic information.
            ``(7) Produce and disseminate appropriate educational 
        materials about African-American burial grounds through 
        curriculum-based experiences, lesson plans, and primary 
        materials.
            ``(8)(A) Create and adopt an official, uniform symbol or 
        device for the Network; and
            ``(B) issue regulations for the use of the symbol or device 
        adopted under subparagraph (A).
    ``(c) Donations.--The Secretary may accept monetary donations to 
further the purposes of this chapter.
    ``(d) Consent of Private Property Owner Required.--Burial grounds 
shall only be considered for addition to the Network with--
            ``(1) the consent of the property owner; and
            ``(2) at the request of an individual, landowner, private 
        or nonprofit organization, State, or local government, or 
        another entity.
``Sec. 308603. Authority to make grants
    ``The Secretary may make grants to public, Federal, State, local, 
and Tribal governments, other public entities, educational 
institutions, and private non-profit organizations in accordance with 
this section for--
            ``(1) the identification of African-American burial grounds 
        that may qualify for the Network;
            ``(2) the preservation and restoration of African-American 
        burial grounds that have been included in the Network;
            ``(3) interpretation of African-American burial grounds; 
        and
            ``(4) related research and documentation for sites that 
        have been included in the Network.
``Sec. 308604. Cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding
    ``The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements and memoranda 
of understanding with, and provide technical assistance to, the heads 
of other Federal agencies, States, units of local government, Tribal 
governments, regional governmental bodies, organizations, educational 
institutions, and private entities to achieve the purposes of this 
chapter and ensure effective coordination of the Federal and non-
Federal elements of the Network described in section 308602 with System 
units and programs of the Service.
``Sec. 308605. Private property protection
    ``Nothing in this chapter shall be construed--
            ``(1) to authorize the Secretary to require or affect 
        management or use of private property without the written 
        consent of the owners of the affected private property; or
            ``(2) to prohibit the Secretary from providing land 
        management guidance or requirements related to private property 
        as a condition of grants or other assistance provided to the 
        owners of that private property under this chapter.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for title 54, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 
3085 the following:

``3086 U.S. African-American Burial Ground Network..........   30861''.
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