[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 103 (Monday, August 1, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 1, 1994]


 
     LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT NATIONAL HISTORICAL SITE ACT OF 1994

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4158) to establish the Lower East Side Tenement Museum National 
Historic Site, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4158

       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 ``Lower East Side Tenement 
     National Historic Site Act of 1994''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       As used in this Act:
       (1) The term ``historic site'' means the Lower East Side 
     Tenement National Historic Site established by section 4.
       (2) The term ``Museum'' means the Lower East Side Tenement 
     Museum, an education corporation chartered under the laws of 
     the State of New York.
       (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
     Interior.

     SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
       (1) the Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Orchard Street, New 
     York, New York, is an outstanding survivor of the vast number 
     of humble buildings in New York City that housed immigrants 
     to the United States during the greatest wave of immigration 
     in American history;
       (2) the Lower East Side Tenement is well suited to 
     represent a profound social movement involving great numbers 
     of unexceptional but courageous people;
       (3) between 1880 and 1921, almost three-quarters of the 
     immigrants to the United States entered the country through 
     New York Harbor, most passed through immigration stations at 
     Ellis Island and, earlier, Castle Clinton, both of which have 
     been designated as national monuments, and millions of these 
     immigrants made their way to the Lower East Side of New York 
     City;
       (4) no other single identifiable neighborhood in the United 
     States absorbed a comparable number of immigrants;
       (5) the Museum is dedicated to interpreting immigrant life 
     on the Lower East Side and its importance to United States 
     history, and is located within a neighborhood long associated 
     with the immigrant experience in America;
       (6) the tenement building at 97 Orchard Street has been 
     designated as a National Historic Landmark, has been found to 
     be historically significant, and possesses a historic fabric 
     of exceptional integrity dating from the period of peak 
     immigration to the United States; and
       (7) the National Park Service has found the Lower East Side 
     Tenement to be nationally significant and to be best 
     protected and interpreted through designation as an 
     affiliated area of the National Park System while remaining 
     under private ownership and management.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to assure the preservation, maintenance, and 
     interpretation of the Lower East Side Tenement and to 
     interpret, in the tenement and the surrounding neighborhood, 
     the themes of early tenement life, the housing reform 
     movement, and tenement architecture in the United States;
       (2) to assure the continuation at this site of the Lower 
     East Side Tenement, the preservation of which is necessary 
     for the continued interpretation of the nationally 
     significant immigrant phenomenon associated with the Lower 
     East Side of New York City and the role of the phenomenon in 
     the history of immigration to the United States; and
       (3) to enhance the interpretation of the Castle Clinton 
     National Monument and Ellis Island National Monument through 
     cooperation with the Lower East Side Tenement National 
     Historic Site.

     SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF HISTORIC SITE.

       In order to further the purposes of this Act and the Act of 
     August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), the 
     Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Orchard Street, New York, New 
     York, is hereby designated as a national historic site.

     SEC. 5. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.

       (a) In General.--In furtherance of the purposes of this Act 
     and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461 
     et seq.), the Secretary may enter into a cooperative 
     agreement with the Museum to effectuate the purposes of this 
     Act.
       (b) Technical and Financial Assistance.--Any agreement 
     entered into under subsection (a) may include provisions by 
     which the Secretary will provide technical assistance to 
     mark, restore, interpret, operate, and maintain the historic 
     site. Such an agreement may also include provisions by which 
     the Secretary will provide financial assistance to mark, 
     interpret, and restore the historic site (including financial 
     assistance for the making of preservation-related capital 
     improvements and repairs, but not including financial 
     assistance for other routine operations).
       (c) Additional Provisions.--Any agreement entered into 
     under subsection (a) shall contain provisions that--
       (1) the Secretary, acting through the National Park 
     Service, shall have the right of access at all reasonable 
     times to all public portions of the property covered by such 
     agreement for the purpose of conducting visitors through such 
     property and interpreting the property to the public; and
       (2) no changes or alterations may be made in property 
     covered by the agreement except by mutual agreement between 
     the Secretary and the other parties to the agreement entered 
     into under subsection (a).

     SEC. 6. REPORT.

       The Museum shall, as a condition of the receipt of any 
     assistance under this Act, provide to the Secretary and to 
     the Congress an annual report documenting the activities and 
     expenditures for which any such assistance was used during 
     the fiscal year preceding the report.

     SEC. 7. APPROPRIATIONS.

       There is hereby authorized to be appropriated $6,400,000 to 
     carry out the purposes of this Act, such sums to remain 
     available until expended.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota [Mr. Vento] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the 
gentleman from Colorado [Mr. Allard] will be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Vento].


                             general leave

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H.R. 4158, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4158, introduced by Representative Velazquez, would 
establish the Lower East Side tenement national historic site. The 
Lower East Side Tenement Museum is a nonprofit institution dedicated to 
telling the story of immigrant life in the Lower East Side of New York. 
The museum has arranged to acquire 97 Orchard Street, a tenement 
building which had been erected in the mid-1860's and sealed from the 
mid-1930's until its acquisition by the museum. The building is a 
national historic landmark, and the museum interprets the immigrant 
experience in the area from arrival at Ellis Island through 
assimilation during the 70 years the tenement housed immigrants.
  A National Park Service study has determined that the tenement meets 
the criteria for significance, suitability and feasibility for 
inclusion in the National Park System, and that affiliated status would 
provide the most appropriate avenue for NPS involvement.
  H.R. 4158, as amended by the Committee on Natural Resources, 
establishes the Lower East Side tenement national historic site to 
interpret the themes of early tenement life, the housing reform 
movement, and tenement architecture in the United States. The 
legislation authorizes the Secretary to provide technical and financial 
assistance to mark, restore, interpret, operate and maintain the site. 
Capital improvements and repairs are also authorized. Finally, the 
bill, as amended, limits overall Federal funding to $6.4 million, the 
amount the National Park Service estimated would be the Federal 
contribution necessary to restore the tenement building and provide for 
visitor and interpretive services.
  The moving testimony received at the hearing on this bill indicated 
the significance of this resource and its importance in understanding 
the American immigrant experience. Enactment of this legislation will 
assure the recognition of this aspect of American history and culture, 
and I urge my colleagues' support.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, although I commend the Lower East Side Tenement Museum 
for its remarkable achievements in 6 short years, I strongly oppose 
H.R. 4158, which essentially amounts to a Federal bailout of this 
institution.
  Like the bill's proponents, and I actually was mistakenly listed as a 
cosponsor, I believe the amazing history of immigration to the United 
States needs to be told. Indeed it is remarkable that between 1880 and 
1921 nearly 75 percent of immigrants to the United States entered 
through New York harbor.
  Fortunately, this amazing chapter of American history is already 
being told by the National Park Service. In the New York area alone, 
National Park Service monuments such as Clinton Castle in Manhattan and 
the Statue of Liberty--which includes Ellis Island--are already doing 
this. As a result, there is no need for the National Park Service to 
fund a similar effort in the same area.
  This legislation authorizes the National Park Service to spend $6.4 
million for technical and financial assistance to the Lower East Side 
Tenement Museum. If this bill is enacted, what will prevent the museum 
from coming back to Congress for more money in the future? This is 
exactly what is happening today with the Lowell National Historical 
Park in Massachusetts where that park has come back to Congress twice 
in 7 years for more money.
  Moreover, at a time when the National Park System has a backlog of 
between $7.4 and $9.4 billion for existing parks, how can we possibly 
create yet another questionable demand on that agency's budget?
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4158 sets an extremely dangerous and potentially 
expensive precedent whereby private non-profit museums replace private 
philanthropy with millions from the Federal Treasury. I am sure this 
museum would tell you that private fundraising has diminished ever 
since their contributors learned the Federal Government would chip in 
$6.4 million.
  If we really want to destroy private philanthropy in this country we 
will pass more bills like this one. Voluntary contributions from 
citizens, business, and foundations which are a time-honored tradition 
in this country will be replaced by Federal funds which are 
involuntarily taken from these same sources.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against this legislation, which, if 
passed, paves the way for other private institutions to come to 
Congress and seek their own sweetheart deals.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, let me just take a minute and say I think this is a very 
modest proposal which greatly enhances the visitor experience in terms 
of its coordination with Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, which 
has been an amazing success. There has been a lot of private dollars 
invested in this. There is a significant private commitment into the 
future.
  It is obviously a request for Federal participation in terms of an 
affiliated status with really what represents a modest investment on 
the part of the Federal Government, and is a good way to build a 
partnerships to achieve the goals, the enhancement of the experience in 
terms of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, in which we have spent 
literally hundreds of millions of dollars, much of it privately raised, 
again, Mr. Speaker, in recent years.
  I would hope that my colleagues would support this. I do not know 
what type of configuration there will be. We look at a city like New 
York, a new mayor and all the problems they have, and I think this 
really deserves the type of effort being put forth here, because New 
York was such an important gateway in terms of the immigrant 
experience. It is something that goes along with the theme of the Park 
Service, and they support it.

                              {time}  1410

  The administration supports it. I would hope that my colleagues would 
support the important bill of the gentlewoman from New York [Ms. 
Velazquez].
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sangmeister). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Vento] that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4158, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5 of rule I and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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