[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 117 (Friday, August 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9559-S9560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. Harkin):
  S. 2020. A bill to establish America's Agricultural Heritage 
Partnership in Iowa, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources.


           the agricultural heritage partnership act of 1996

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today I am introducing the America's 
Agricultural Heritage Partnership Act of 1996. This legislation would 
authorize the designation of several counties in northeast Iowa as 
America's Agricultural Heritage Partnership. This project is more 
commonly known as Silos and Smokestacks.
  The story of agriculture in the United States is not only one of 
national progress and bounty, but is also a story of world progress and 
bounty. American agriculture is a national and a world treasure. It is 
a story that needs to be told. That is the silos part of Silos and 
Smokestacks. The smokestacks are the industrial base that supports our 
country's agriculture. The mission of America's Agricultural Heritage 
Partnership--Silos and Smokestacks--is to tell their combined story, 
through traditional exhibits and by designed routes through the 
countryside highlighting areas of importance and interest.
  Community leaders in Waterloo, IA, the surrounding communities, and 
the rural area began meeting several years ago to determine how best to 
tell the agricultural story, especially how it relates to our country's 
great industrial history. Because of their interest, the National Park 
Service was then requested to conduct a study to develop 
recommendations as to the location of a heritage area and how to 
present the history.
  That study recommended that northeast Iowa be the location for an 
agricultural heritage partnership area. Since that time, the 
communities have continued their work to lay a proper foundation for 
the project pending congressional authorization for Silos and 
Smokestacks.
  Waterloo is located in the center of some of the richest, most 
productive agricultural land in the world. It is also home to John 
Deere and other farm equipment manufacturers and other related 
agricultural industries. Waterloo is an ideal location to tell the 
combined story of American agriculture and the industry associated with 
it.
  This legislation would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make 
grants or enter into cooperative agreements to further this project. He 
may also provide necessary technical assistance.
  This is a worthwhile endeavor to tell an important American story to 
our citizens and the World. I strongly encourage enactment of this 
legislation.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I rise as cosponsor of America's 
Agricultural Heritage Partnership Act of 1996. This bill would 
establish America's Agricultural Heritage Partnership in northeast Iowa 
in order to promote the story of agriculture in our Nation's rich 
history.
  A few years ago, leaders from Waterloo and other communities in 
northeast Iowa developed an initiative called Silos and Smokestacks. 
Silos and Smokestacks is a private organization that has worked to 
remodel and renovate old, and often abandoned, buildings in Waterloo. 
This effort is a wonderful example of communities and concerned 
citizens working together to preserve a unique part of American 
history.
  The hard work by Silos and Smokestacks has provided the foundation 
for a unique heritage park that would combine the stories of our 
Nation's agricultural and industrial development. In the past, the 
focus of the National Park Service has been to create and administer 
the so-called natural areas, commonly known as our National Park 
System. A heritage park involves local, State, Federal, and private 
interests in recognizing and preserving sites of cultural and 
historical significance. Heritage areas are something like a large 
interactive museum in which people have the opportunity to gain 
firsthand knowledge of an important facet of our Nation's history.
  The National Park Service has determined that northeast Iowa is an 
ideal

[[Page S9560]]

location for a heritage park. This park would tell the nationally 
significant, but often overlooked, story of American agriculture. 
Northeast Iowa combines the rich histories of our Nation's farming and 
industrial sectors. In the area surrounding Waterloo one will find some 
of the most productive and fertile land in the Nation. Boasting the 
production lines of John Deere and other farm equipment manufacturers 
and some of the largest meatpacking operations in the Midwest, the city 
of Waterloo represents our Nation's industrial strength. Taken 
together, this area represents nearly every aspect of agricultural and 
food production.
  The National Park Service has suggested that four principal topics of 
the heritage area could include: the amazing science of agriculture, 
agriculture as a way of life, organizing for survival, and crops from 
the field to the table.
  The legislation introduced today would authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to make grants and provide technical and management 
assistance to those entities developing the introductory heritage park. 
This assistance would be the critical impetus to see this unique 
project through to completion. A heritage project in northeast Iowa 
would provide countless Americans with a valuable insight into one of 
the most fascinating, and important, aspects of American society.
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