[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 168 (Wednesday, November 19, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H11518-H11519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          ESTABLISHING ARABIA MOUNTAIN NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA

  (Ms. MAJETTE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)

[[Page H11519]]

  Ms. MAJETTE. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the House of Representatives 
unanimously passed H.R. 280, which includes H.R. 1618, establishing the 
Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. I thank the Committee on 
Resources and each of the cosponsors from Georgia for their hard work 
in passing this bill. This has been truly a bipartisan effort, with 
five Democrats and five Republican cosponsors. I would like to 
particularly thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Linder) for his 
leadership.
  The Arabia Mountain legislation will protect the natural, cultural 
and historical resources of Georgia's granite outcroppings and will 
preserve the wonders that Arabia Mountain has to offer. The heritage 
area is a living history lesson, illustrating 7,000 years of human 
interaction with a unique landscape. Despite its proximity to Atlanta, 
it includes Panola Mountain, which is pristine land untouched by 
development, unique granite outcroppings that are more than 400 million 
years old, and endangered mosses and lichens that top Arabia Mountain 
itself.
  Beyond the natural beauty is a rich cultural history that began when 
Native Americans quarried these soapstone and granite outcroppings more 
than 5,000 years ago. By connecting the heritage area's natural, 
cultural and historical resources through rivers, greenways and parks, 
this region will rapidly become a popular recreation area for Georgians 
and all Americans.
  I thank my colleagues for recognizing the importance of the Arabia 
Mountain National Heritage Area and for passing H.R. 280.

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