[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H10553-H10554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            JIMMY CARTER NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ACQUISITION

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
Senate bill (S. 669) to provide for the acquisition of the Plains 
Railroad Depot at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.
  The Clerk read as follows:

[[Page H10554]]

                                 S. 669

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ACQUISITION OF PLAINS RAILROAD DEPOT.

       Section 1(c)(2) of the Act entitled ``An Act to establish 
     the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and Preservation 
     District in the State of Georgia, and for other purposes'', 
     approved December 23, 1987 (16 U.S.C. 161 note; 101 Stat. 
     1435), is amended by striking ``, the Plains Railroad Depot 
     (described in subsection (b)(2)(B)),''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah [Mr. Hansen] and the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Bishop] each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen].
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 669, which provides for the 
acquisition of land under the Plains Railroad Depot at the Jimmy Carter 
National Historic Site in Georgia.
  I commend my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Bishop], for 
his introduction of H.R. 714, the companion bill of 669, in the House 
of Representatives.
  S. 669 amends Section 1(c)(2), Public Law 100-206, the establishment 
act for the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, to remove the 
restrictions that the Plains Railroad Depot be acquired only by 
donation for inclusion in the national historic site.
  The bill is necessary to clear the title of the railroad right-of-way 
due to restrictions contained in the 1888 deed from Mr. M.L. Hudson, 
stipulating that if the railroad ceased operation of the rail line, the 
land would revert to his heirs. Since the establishment of the historic 
site in 1987, the National Park Service has spent over 10 years 
attempting to locate all of the heirs, without success.
  This bill allows a friendly condemnation to clear title to the land. 
Once this action is finalized, the National Park Service will complete 
the development of this historic depot, which was the headquarters for 
former President Carter's 1976 Presidential campaign.
  The Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands held hearings on 
this legislation, and there was unanimous support. Mr. Speaker, I urge 
support and passage of this legislation and urge my colleagues to pass 
S. 669.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that my colleagues support S. 669, 
which would provide a legal fix needed by the Jimmy Carter National 
Historic Site in Plains, Georgia.
  (Mr. BISHOP asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. BISHOP. This Presidential site is located within my congressional 
district and enjoys bipartisan support. The bill is identical to H.R. 
1714, a bill I introduced in the House. I would like to thank the 
Speaker, the majority leader, minority leader, Committee on Resources, 
and all of those responsible for helping to bring this bill to the 
floor today.
  Public law 100-206, which created the site at the old Plains Depot, 
requires that the Seaboard Railroad donated land under it. However, 
since Congress passed that law, it has been discovered that the CSX 
Railroad, which is the successor to the old Seaboard Railroad, does not 
have the legal capacity to donate the land under the depot, nor are 
there remaining heirs of the original land owners available to make the 
donation. With that being the case, the plan to work on the site cannot 
proceed.
  Because of the confusion over identification of the heirs, the depot 
has not been developed to its full potential as an element of the 
historic site. For example, the small parking lot is muddy during the 
wet weather and dusty during the dry weather. The depot is currently 
served by a substandard septic tank because hookup with the town sewer 
system has not been possible without a clear title. As a result, the 
depot has been boarded up and unavailable for visitation despite the 
fact that, in 1990, close to 40,000 schoolchildren from across the 
country visited the depot.
  This measure would amend the law to provide that the land under the 
depot can be acquired by purchase. This would be effected by the Park 
Service depositing the appraised value into a court escrow account so 
that if any heirs ever surfaced, they would receive just compensation.
  The National Park Service, in its testimony to both the House and 
Senate Committees on Resources, testified that it supports this change, 
and the Congressional Budget Office reports that the budgetary impact 
of this legal fix is negligible. The Senate has acted favorably on this 
bill by unanimous consent. So I feel confident that swift action by the 
full House can help this change become law this year.
  I would like to urge my colleagues to support this important bill, 
because this particular piece of property is a very, very important 
ingredient to the full development of the Carter Presidential site in 
Plains, Georgia.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Oregon [Mr. DeFazio].
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman from Utah [Mr. 
Hansen] has meritorious suggestions before the House, and I would urge 
Members to support it.
  But beyond that, at the moment, I would like to go to another issue 
which I will not be allowed to raise because of restricted rules of the 
House, and I would have raised it as a point of privilege to the honor 
and integrity of the House.
  It came to my attention and the attention of a number of other 
Members that directly below this chamber, in H-137, for a number of 
days that private-interest lobbyists, paid registered lobbyists, have 
been conducting what is called the war room right here on Capitol 
grounds using taxpayer-funded phones, lights, facilities, a beautiful 
room, something not made available to people who are opposing fast 
track, but only to a group of industries who are supporting the fast 
track legislation. I believe that this demeans the integrity of the 
House.
  A number of my colleagues intend to put this question to the Speaker. 
My understanding is that, because of restricted rules of the House, at 
the moment we cannot raise it as a privilege on the floor. But this is 
certainly something that the public and other Members should be aware 
of.
  We do not normally make facilities available to private outside 
interests and or the National Association of Manufacturers, Boeing 
Company, and other large corporations, at taxpayer expense, to lobby on 
behalf of legislation right here in the Capitol right beneath us, 
absolutely prime real estate. I think it is outrageous. And I think 
that Members should raise this question with the Speaker privately if 
we are not allowed to do it publicly.
  I thank the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Bishop] for yielding me the 
time, and I wish him luck with the bill.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP. Mr. Speaker, I too yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah [Mr. Hansen] that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the Senate bill, S. 669.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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