[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2827 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2827
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National
Park Service the U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Network, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 7, 2019
Mr. Brown (for himself and Mr. Alexander) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National
Park Service the U.S. 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 ``U.S. African-American Burial Grounds
Network Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) during the period beginning in 1619 and ending in 1865,
millions of African Americans throughout the United States were
enslaved;
(2) slaveholders often--
(A) controlled where and how deceased slaves were
buried; and
(B) prohibited the burial of slaves on valuable
land;
(3) as a result of the practices described in paragraph
(2), slave burial grounds were often confined to remote areas
or marginal property;
(4) slave burial grounds--
(A) were rarely documented; and
(B) infrequently appear on historical maps;
(5) a lack of accurate information is typical of African-
American cemeteries originating before the Civil War;
(6) following the end of slavery, many African-American
families continued to face restrictions on where the deceased
could be buried;
(7) across many areas of the United States, local laws
segregated burial sites by race;
(8) African-American burial grounds often failed to receive
the type of maintenance and recordkeeping that predominantly
White burial grounds enjoyed;
(9) many African-American burial grounds from 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;
(10) there is no official national record or database for
African-American burial ground locations;
(11) the location of many African-American burial sites is
unknown;
(12) as a result of the issues described in paragraphs (10)
and (11), the family members and descendants of the individuals
interred are unable to visit the burial sites to honor and
remember their ancestors;
(13) abandoned African-American burial grounds are often
discovered when construction projects inadvertently disturb
human remains, which slows or halts completion of the projects;
(14) the presence and location of historic African-American
burial grounds should be recorded;
(15) there should be coordinated national, State, local,
and Tribal efforts to preserve and restore African-American
burial grounds;
(16) African-American burial grounds are an integral
component of the heritage of the United States; and
(17) creating and maintaining a network of previously
abandoned, underserved, and other African-American burial
grounds would help communities identify and record burial
grounds and preserve local history, while better informing
development decisions and community planning.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize the National Park Service
to coordinate and facilitate Federal activities 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.
``308602. U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Network.
``308603. Authority to make grants.
``308604. Cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding.
``308605. Private property protection.
``Sec. 308601. Definitions
``In this chapter:
``(1) Burial ground.--The term `burial ground' means any
natural or prepared physical location, whether originally
below, on, or above the surface of the earth, into which human
remains are deposited as a part of the death rite or ceremony
of a culture.
``(2) Historic.--The term `historic', with respect to a
property, means a property that can reasonably be considered to
date back at least 50 years.
``(3) Network.--The term `Network' means the U.S. African-
American Burial Grounds Network established under section
308602(a).
``Sec. 308602. U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Network
``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish within the
Service, in accordance with this chapter, a program to be known as the
`U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Network'.
``(b) Inclusions.--The Network shall include burial grounds
determined by the Secretary to relate to the historic African-American
experience from applications for inclusion submitted by an individual,
private or nonprofit organization, State, local, or Tribal government,
or other entity.
``(c) Duties of Secretary.--In carrying out the Network, the
Secretary shall have the following duties:
``(1) Review existing and new studies and reports in
considering sites for inclusion in 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 and 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 307103, provide technical
assistance and support to ensure that the locations of unmarked
and otherwise unrecorded African-American burial grounds are
documented.
``(5) Make the information documented under paragraph (4)
available in a public database, except in circumstances in
which the Secretary determines that the privacy and safety of
the burial ground warrants the information being protected.
``(6) 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 chapter.
``(7) Produce and disseminate appropriate educational and
training materials (such as handbooks, maps, interpretive
guides, or electronic information) relating to--
``(A) African-American burial ground identification
methods;
``(B) best practices for caring for artifacts;
``(C) developing interpretive tours and exhibits;
``(D) preserving burial ground landscapes; and
``(E) heritage tourism initiatives and sources for
grants.
``(8) Produce and disseminate appropriate educational
materials relating to African-American burial grounds through
curriculum-based experiences, lesson plans, and primary
materials.
``(9)(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).
``(d) Donations.--The Secretary may accept monetary donations to
further the purposes of this chapter.
``(e) Consent of Private Property Owner Required.--Burial grounds
shall only be considered for addition to the Network--
``(1) with the consent of the property owner; and
``(2) at the request of an individual, landowner, private
or nonprofit organization, State or local government, or other
entity.
``Sec. 308603. Authority to make grants
``The Secretary may make grants to other Federal agencies, State,
local, and Tribal governments, other public entities, educational
institutions, and private nonprofit organizations in accordance with
this chapter 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) the interpretation of African-American burial
grounds; and
``(4) the conduct of related research and documentation for
African-American burial grounds 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--
``(1) to achieve the purposes of this chapter; and
``(2) to ensure effective coordination of the Federal
elements 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--
``(1) authorizes the Secretary to require or affect the
management or use of private property without the written
consent of the owner of the private property; or
``(2) prohibits the Secretary from providing land
management guidance or requirements relating to private
property as a condition of a grant or other assistance provided
to the owner of the 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........ 308601''.
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