[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 25, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S9233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. LANDRIEU:
  S. 3002. A bill to provide for the preservation and restoration of 
historic buildings an structures at historically black colleges and 
universities; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the 
``Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation 
Act of 2002,'' legislation to revise and extend certain provisions of 
the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996.
  I want to begin by acknowledging the important role played by the 
Nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, HBCUs, in 
educating young people of all races and nationalities in America. HBCUs 
are in the vanguard of providing access and some measure of choice in 
higher education, and of opening the doors to educational opportunity 
for all students, regardless of family income and traditional measures 
of academic readiness for college study. In Louisiana, we have a strong 
family of HBCUs: Grambling State University in Grambling, Southern 
University's three campuses in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and New Orleans, 
as well as Dillard and Xavier universities in New Orleans.
  While similar bills have been introduced this Congress, my bill takes 
a different and, I believe, a necessarily strategic approach in 
identifying, prioritizing and providing the funds necessary to restore 
all of the historic buildings and sites on black colleges and campuses. 
This historic preservation bill provides an orderly process for 
identifying and assessing the degree of deterioration of all 
properties; for determining the capacity of the HBCU to provide 
``matching'' funds to assist in the cost of restoration; and for 
prioritizing Congressional funding and the Interior Department's 
determination of properties eligible for restoration funding.
  This legislation is not only needed, it is also timely. In 1998, the 
National Trust for Historic Preservation placed the historic buildings 
of the nation's HBCUs on its list of ``11 Most Endangered Historic 
Places''. The Trust cited a General Accounting Office study that found 
that the estimated cost of restoring and preserving the 712 historic 
properties, including dormitories, chapels, gymnasiums and classroom 
buildings, owned by the schools is $755 million, of which a mere $60 
million, or 8 percent, has been set aside in school budgets. If we in 
Congress fail to help, the cost of restoration will only continue to 
rise while these historic buildings continue to deteriorate.
  I urge my colleagues to co-sponsor this important legislation. 
Without it, we may not be able to ensure that these buildings will 
survive into the new millennium and beyond to welcome future 
generations of scholars.
                                 ______