[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2510-S2511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SPECTER:
  S. 581. A bill to protect the Paoli and Brandywine Battlefields in 
Pennsylvania, to authorize a Valley Forge Museum of the American 
Revolution at Valley Forge National Historical Park, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


            pennsylvania battlefields protection act of 1999

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition today to 
introduce the Pennsylvania Battlefields Protection Act, legislation 
which will protect two important Revolutionary War sites in 
Pennsylvania and authorize the construction and operation of a new 
museum and visitor center dedicated to the American Revolution at 
Valley Forge National Historical Park. Representative Curt Weldon has 
introduced similar legislation in the House, with the remaining twenty 
Members of the Pennsylvania House delegation joining him in this 
effort.
  The first part of this legislation authorizes $3 million for the 
acquisition of the 472-acre area generally known as the Meetinghouse 
Road Corridor, where the largest engagement of the American Revolution, 
the Battle of Brandywine, took place from September 10-11,

[[Page S2511]]

1777. During the 1777 British campaign to capture Philadelphia, British 
General William Howe defeated but proved unable to demoralize General 
George Washington's Continental Army of 12,500 men at the Battle of 
Brandywine.
  While George Washington's and the Marquis de Lafayette's headquarters 
are preserved as part of the Brandywine Battlefield Park, the area 
where the actual fighting took place is not. The land is privately held 
and is in immediate danger of being sold and developed. The battlefield 
was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and local officials, 
preservation groups, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have been 
working together to protect the battlefield. This legislation will 
provide half of the $6 million needed to purchase the land from willing 
buyers, with the remaining $3 million to be raised from non-federal 
sources on a dollar for dollar basis. As with all aspects of this 
legislation, I have worked closely with the National Park Service, and 
they are supportive of federal assistance to protect this important 
Revolutionary War site.
  This legislation will also protect the Paoli Battlefield, in Malvern, 
Pennsylvania, where at least fifty-three Americans were killed. Shortly 
after the Battle of Brandywine, General Washington ordered General 
``Mad'' Anthony Wayne and 2,000 of his men to move to the rear and 
contain the British army. The British learned of General Wayne's move 
and attacked and bayoneted Wayne's men on September 20, 1777 in what 
has infamously become known as the Paoli massacre.
  While the Senate passed legislation which I introduced late in the 
105th Congress to authorize the addition of the Paoli Battlefield site 
to Valley Forge National Historical Park, at that time the bill did not 
enjoy the support of the National Park Service and eventually died in 
the House of Representatives. I have worked with Congressman Weldon on 
this legislation, and we believe that the federal government should 
provide assistance to acquire the 40-acre Paoli Battlefield, an 
unprotected Revolutionary War site that is privately owned by the 
Malvern Preparatory School. The School intends to sell the land in 
order to strengthen its endowment, but officials have agreed to give 
the community a first chance to purchase the land for historical 
preservation purposes. Thus, the Paoli Battlefield will become open to 
residential or commercial development if $2.5 million is not raised by 
September 1999 to purchase the land. This bill envisions a combination 
of public and private financing to purchase the battlefield by 
authorizing a purchase price of $2.5 million with not less than $1 
million in nonfederal funds. After much consultation with the National 
Park Service, I am now informed that they are supportive of this 
approach to protecting Paoli Battlefield.
  The bill also authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter into 
a cooperative agreement with the Borough of Malvern, which has agreed 
to manage the 45-acre Paoli Battlefield site in perpetuity. A similar 
provision authorizes the Secretary of Interior to enter into a 
cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the 
Brandywine Conservancy to manage the Meetinghouse Road Corridor area of 
the Brandywine Battlefield. Moreover, the bill directs the Secretary of 
Interior to undertake a resource study of Paoli and Brandywine 
Battlefields to identify the full range of their resources and historic 
themes and alternatives for National Park Service involvement at these 
two sites.
  Finally, the last section of the bill authorizes the Secretary of 
Interior to enter into an agreement with the private, non-profit Valley 
Forge Historical Society to construct and operate a museum and visitor 
center within the boundaries of Valley Forge National Historical Park. 
After the Battles of Brandywine, the Clouds, Paoli, Germantown, and 
Whitemarsh, the Continental Army made Valley Forge its camp from 
December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778, when it emerged as a new, better 
equipped, and well trained American army. Currently, there is no museum 
in the United States dedicated to the American Revolution. I believe it 
is important that Congress provide the authorization to bring this 
worthwhile project to fruition, which will not only tell the story of 
the Philadelphia campaign, but the story of the entire American 
Revolution as well.
  This museum will combine the holdings of the Valley Forge National 
Historical Park and the Valley Forge Historical Society, making it the 
largest collection of Revolutionary War era artifacts in the world. The 
Valley Forge Historical Society, established in 1918, has a long 
history of service to the park, and has amassed one of the best 
collections of artifacts, art, books, and documents relating to the 
1777-1778 encampment of the Continental Army at Valley Forge, the 
American Revolution, and the American colonial era. Their collection is 
currently housed in a facility that is inadequate to properly maintain, 
preserve, and display the Society's ever-growing collection. 
Construction of a new facility will rectify this situation.
  This project is supported by local officials, and a new facility is 
part of the Valley Forge National Historical Park's General Management 
Plan, which has identified inadequacies in the park's current visitor 
center and calls for the development of a new or significantly 
renovated museum and visitor center. The museum will educate an 
estimated 500,000 visitors a year about the critical events surrounding 
the birth of our nation.
  This legislation authorizes the Valley Forge Historical Society to 
operate the museum in cooperation with the Secretary of Interior. This 
project will directly support the historical, educational, and 
interpretive activities and needs of Valley Forge National Historical 
Park and the Valley Forge Historical Society while combining two 
outstanding museum collections.
  Mr. President, too many important historical sites, especially 
Revolutionary War battlefields, have already been lost to residential 
and commercial development. The 105th Congress made a commitment to 
protecting battlefield sites. I have been pleased to support these 
efforts as well as the successful effort to obtain funding in the FY99 
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill to begin conducting 
the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Historic Preservation Study. I 
hope the 106th Congress will continue that commitment by protecting the 
Brandywine and Paoli Battlefields. In addition, this legislation holds 
enormous potential for all Americans to learn about our country's rich 
history by establishing a new visitor center and museum at Valley Forge 
National Historical Park, which will then be better able to tell the 
story of the American Revolution. I therefore urge my colleagues to 
support this bill.
                                 ______