[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 2, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S12150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE OMNIBUS PARKS BILL

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I will not take a full 10 minutes, but I 
would like to speak briefly about this so-called parks bill or Presidio 
package which is being considered here in the Senate this week and urge 
my colleagues who are engaged in negotiations on this to come to some 
resolution so that we can move ahead with this important piece of 
legislation.
  My home State of New Mexico will be greatly benefited if this package 
of legislation becomes law. There are many provisions in it that I 
believe would be important to many constituencies around the country.
  I notice in the October 1 Congressional Record, the Record that we 
received on our desks today, there is a list on page--let us see--it is 
H12197, a listing of the various titles which are included in the bill. 
I can honestly say there is probably something in here for every State 
in the Union. This is a catch-all piece of legislation which is 
intended to make necessary boundary adjustments and to make necessary 
provisions for the protection of our public lands in a great many 
areas. These are noncontroversial provisions.

  This is a summary I refer to here, a summary of the legislation that 
has already passed the House of Representatives. I wish, Mr. President, 
we could call this legislation up and pass it in the Senate. Today 
would be a good time to do that while we still have enough Senators 
here to get a quorum. I could go through and will indicate the various 
titles.
  The first title relates to the Presidio of San Francisco which, of 
course, has been the reason that the package was designated the 
Presidio package. The second title is on boundary adjustments and 
conveyances. The next title is on rivers and trails and exchanges of 
lands, then historic areas, and it goes on to describe the various 
administrative and management provisions including the National Coal 
Heritage Area, the Tennessee Civil War Heritage Area, the Augusta Canal 
National Heritage Area, Steel Industry Heritage Project, Essex Heritage 
Area, South Carolina National Heritage Corridor, America's Agricultural 
Heritage Partnership, the Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage 
Corridor, the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.
  Mr. President, to my knowledge, all of these are meritorious 
provisions and ones which we should enact before we leave town. I think 
it would be a great shame if we were not able to do that. This is of 
particular interest in my home State for several provisions, but 
particularly there has been a longstanding problem of great concern to 
the Taos Pueblo which we are proposing to resolve in this legislation.
  The Taos Pueblo land transfer provision would transfer 764 acres in 
northern New Mexico which is now located in the Wheeler Peak Wilderness 
of the Carson National Forest to the Taos Pueblo, adjacent to the Taos 
Pueblo.
  The area has spiritual significance to the people in the Taos Pueblo. 
The bottleneck area continues to be used by the Taos Pueblo Indians for 
religious pilgrimages. The sacred Path of Life Trail, connecting the 
Pueblo with Blue Lake, runs through this bottleneck. The Blue Lake 
Wilderness has been a source of spiritual strength to the Taos Pueblo 
for over 1,000 years. The bill pending before the Senate today is 
intended to complete the full transfer of the Blue Lake territory to 
the Taos Pueblo, a transfer that Senator Anderson pursued diligently 
while he was here representing our State. The bottleneck tract will be 
returned to its rightful owners under this legislation.
  I would hate to see the legislation fail to pass because of a 
disagreement over some totally unrelated provisions. Again, I urge my 
colleagues to allow this land transfer in my home State and the many 
other important provisions in the Presidio package to become law. It is 
the right thing to do for the people of Taos Pueblo. I hope very much 
we can take that responsible action before we adjourn this session for 
this year.
  I yield the floor.

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