[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S491-S492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BENNETT:
  S. 163. A bill to establish the National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area 
in the State of Utah, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I rise today to re-introduce the National 
Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area Act.
  The story behind and about the Mormon pioneers' 1,400-mile trek from 
Illinois to the Great Salt Lake Valley is one of the most compelling 
and captivating in our Nation's history. This legislation would 
designate as a National Heritage Area an area that spans some 250 miles 
along Highway 89 and encompasses outstanding examples of historical, 
cultural, and natural resources that demonstrate the colonization of 
the western United States, and the experience and influence of the 
Mormon pioneers in furthering that colonization.
  The landscape, architecture, artisan skills, and events along Highway 
89

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convey in a very real way the legacy of the Mormon pioneers' 
achievements. The community of Panquitch for example, has an annual 
Quilt Day celebration to commemorate the sacrifice and fortitude of its 
pioneers whose efforts saved the community from starvation in 1864. The 
celebration is in remembrance of the Quilt Walk, a walk in which a 
group of men from Panquitch used quilts to form a path that would bear 
their weight across the snow. This quilt walk enabled these men to 
cross over the mountains to procure food for their community, which was 
facing starvation as it experienced its first winter in Utah.
  Another example of the tenacity of pioneers can be seen today at the 
Hole-in-the-Rock. Here, in 1880, a group of 250 people, 80 wagons, and 
1,000 head of cattle upon the Colorado River Gorge. Finding no pathways 
down to the river, the pioneers decided to use a narrow crevice leading 
down to the bottom of the gorge. To make the crevice big enough to 
accommodate wagons, the pioneers spent 6 weeks enlarging the crevice by 
hand, using hammers, chisels, and blasting powder. They then attached 
large ropes to the wagons as they began their descent down the steep 
incline. It is because of such tenacity and innovation on the part of 
pioneers that the western United States was shaped the way it was and 
much of that has contributed to the way of life and landscape still 
found in the West today.
  The National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area will serve as a special 
recognition of the people and places that have contributed greatly to 
our Nation's development. It will allow for the conservation of 
historical and cultural resources, the establishment of interpretive 
exhibits, will increase public awareness of the surviving skills and 
crafts of those living along Highway 89, and specifically allows for 
the preservation of historic buildings. In light of the benefits 
associated with preserving the rich heritage of the founding of many of 
the communities along Highway 89, my legislation has broad support from 
Sanpete, Sevier, Piute, Garfield, and Kane counties and is a locally 
based, locally supported undertaking.
  Since the introduction of this legislation in the 108th Congress, I 
am pleased that the local counties, who have been unanimously 
supportive of this legislation, have come together to outline in a 
Memorandum of Understanding, with the local coordinating entity 
identified in the legislation, the cooperative relationship the 
coordinating entity enjoys with the elected officials of the local 
counties.
  This legislation passed the Senate both in the 107th and 108th 
Congresses as part of packages agreed upon by the committee of 
jurisdiction. Unfortunately, both times the packages were not able to 
be considered by the other body prior to adjournment. I reintroduce 
this bill today with the hope that during this session of Congress we 
might achieve success in this body early enough to be considered by the 
House.
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