[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 16, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H6876-H6877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 McLOUGHLIN HOUSE ADDITION TO FORT VANCOUVER NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ACT

  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in 
the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 733) to authorize the Secretary 
of the Interior to acquire the McLoughlin House National Historic Site 
in Oregon City, Oregon, and to administer the site as a unit of the 
National Park System, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Senate amendments:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``McLoughlin 
     House Addition to Fort Vancouver National Historic Site 
     Act''.
       (b) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act, the 
     following definitions apply:
       (1) City.--The term ``City'' means Oregon City, Oregon.
       (2) McLoughlin house.--The term ``McLoughlin House'' means 
     the McLoughlin House National Historic Site which is 
     described in the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior's 
     Order of June 27, 1941, and generally depicted on the map 
     entitled ``McLoughlin House, Fort Vancouver National Historic 
     Site'', numbered 389/92,002, and dated 5/01/03, and includes 
     the McLoughlin House, the Barclay House, and other associated 
     real property, improvements, and personal property.
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.

     SEC. 2. MCLOUGHLIN HOUSE ADDITION TO FORT VANCOUVER.

       (a) Acquisition.--The Secretary is authorized to acquire 
     the McLoughlin House, from willing sellers only, by donation, 
     purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange, 
     except that lands or interests in lands owned by the City may 
     be acquired by donation only.
       (b) Map Availability.--The map identifying the McLoughlin 
     House referred to in section 1(b)(2) shall be on file and 
     available for inspection in the appropriate offices of the 
     National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
       (c) Boundaries; Administration.--Upon acquisition of the 
     McLoughlin House, the acquired property shall be included 
     within the boundaries of, and be administered as part of, the 
     Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in accordance with all 
     applicable laws and regulations.
       (d) Name Change.--Upon acquisition of the McLoughlin House, 
     the Secretary shall change the name of the site from the 
     ``McLoughlin House National Historic Site'' to the 
     ``McLoughlin House''.
       (e) Federal Laws.--After the McLoughlin House is acquired 
     and added to Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, any 
     reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or 
     other record of the United States to the ``McLoughlin House 
     National Historic Site'' (other than this Act) shall be 
     deemed a reference to the ``McLoughlin House'', a unit of 
     Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
       Amend the title so as to read: ``An Act to authorize the 
     Secretary of the Interior to acquire the McLoughlin House in 
     Oregon City, Oregon, for inclusion in Fort Vancouver National 
     Historic Site, and for other purposes.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Mexico (Mr. Pearce) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce).
  (Mr. PEARCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 733, sponsored by the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley), and 
amended by the Senate, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to 
acquire the McLoughlin House National Historic Site in Oregon City, 
Oregon, currently an area affiliated with the National Park Service and 
included within the boundaries of the Fort Vancouver National Historic 
Site. The current operators of the house, the McLoughlin Memorial 
Association, lack the appropriate funds to maintain the historic 
structure and ask the Park Service to acquire it for purposes of 
preserving it.
  If the Speaker recalls, this House considered H.R. 733 earlier this 
year, in which it authorized the Secretary to acquire the McLoughlin 
House and administer the site as a unit of the National Park system. 
The changes made by the Senate, such as the title change, have brought 
support. The McLoughlin House is named after Dr. John McLoughlin, the 
Father of Oregon, who established the famous British Hudson Bay Company 
in Vancouver, Washington, in 1825. Dr. McLoughlin supplied American 
pioneers with the goods they needed to settle and survive at their new 
home in Oregon. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 733.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  (Mr. UDALL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the McLoughlin House National Historic Site in Oregon 
honors the achievements of John McLoughlin, commonly referred to as the 
``Father of Oregon.'' The site has been preserved and managed by the 
McLoughlin Memorial Association since its designation as a national 
historic site in 1941. Unfortunately, the association is no longer in a 
position to be the primary management entity for this nationally 
significant site and is therefore seeking Federal acquisition of the 
site. Once acquired, the site will be managed as part of the nearby 
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
  The gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley) has worked tirelessly on 
behalf of this legislation and is to be commended for her diligence, 
including her efforts to have the House concur in the amendments made 
to this legislation in the Senate. We urge the House to approve these 
amendments so this legislation may finally be sent to the President for 
his signature.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  The McLoughlin House national historic site in Oregon City, Oregon, 
was once home to Dr. John McLoughlin. Dr. McLoughlin was the chief 
factor of the British Hudson Bay Company based in Fort Vancouver on the 
Columbia River. He crossed the Rockies in 1824 and established Fort 
Vancouver in 1825. Dr. McLoughlin supplied American pioneers with goods 
they needed to settle and survive at their new home in Oregon. He was a 
fur trader, developer, doctor and mayor; and Dr. McLoughlin became 
known as the Father of Oregon, and the McLoughlin House was restored to 
honor his life and accomplishments.
  The McLoughlin Memorial Association was formed in 1909. In 1910, the 
association opened the house as a museum. Since that time, the house 
has been visited by thousands of individuals each year. In 1941, 
Congress designated the McLoughlin House a national historic site, and 
it continued to operate under the direction of the association. When 
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site was established in 1948, the 
National Park Service entered into a formal agreement with the 
association to work cooperatively together.
  In 2000, the association approached the National Park Service 
concerning the possibility of the agency assuming administration of the 
site. The association lacks appropriate funds to maintain the historic 
house and has asked the National Park Service to acquire the site and 
assume responsibility to

[[Page H6877]]

ensure the future care of the historic site, with the association 
remaining active in an advisory capacity.
  H.R. 3434 was introduced on December 6, 2001, by the gentlewoman from 
Oregon (Ms. Hooley). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources and within the committee to the subcommittee on National 
Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. On July 16, 2002, the subcommittee 
held a hearing on the bill. On July 18, 2002, the subcommittee met to 
mark up the bill. The gentleman from California (Mr. Radanovich) 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to authorize the 
acquisition of the property but to include it within the boundaries of 
the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, rather than create a new 
unit of the National Park System.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  I do recall those meetings in which those subjects were discussed and 
compliment both sides of the aisle for cooperating, and we do 
appreciate the hard work on this; and I would like to congratulate my 
colleague for his hard work and for the amount of time he consumed 
here.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as may be 
consumed to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley).
  (Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend her remarks.)
  Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to rise today and 
make what I hope will be my last statement on the House floor on H.R. 
733, the McLoughlin House National Historic Site Act. I have been 
working on this bill for 3 years; and I want to thank my colleagues, 
particularly the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), the chairman; 
the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the ranking member of 
the House Committee on Resources; and the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Radanovich), the chairman; and the gentlewoman from the Virgin 
Islands (Mrs. Christensen), the ranking member of that committee's 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. Without 
their willingness to work with me on this bill, we would not be passing 
it today.
  In Oregon, this legislation would not have happened without the 
tireless work of John Williams, former mayor of Oregon City, who came 
to me with this idea many years ago, and John Salisbury, who has shown 
his passion for this project by serving as the chairman of the board of 
the McLoughlin House, and the current mayor of Oregon City, Mayor Alice 
Norris.
  My legislation would do what should have been done 60 years ago, 
include Dr. John McLoughlin's house in Oregon City as part of the 
National Park System. Rather than creating a new unit of the National 
Park System, this legislation simply adds this historic treasure to the 
existing Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, which is already 
administered as part of the National Park System. I believe this 
addition will preserve in perpetuity the cultural, educational and 
historical benefits of this historic site for future generations.
  I am very happy that we are taking action in this House today and 
look forward to the day when the President signs this bill and the 
house of Oregon's Founding Father is preserved for our children and 
beyond.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) that the House suspend the rules 
and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill, H.R. 733.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendments were 
concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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