[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 43 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S3230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Allen, Ms. 
        Mikulski, Mr. Biden, and Mr. Carper):
  S. 2568. A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to designate 
the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation, 
together with Senators Warner, Allen, Mikulski, Biden and Carper to 
designate the route of Captain John Smith's exploration of the 
Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries as a National Historic Trail. The 
proposed Trail is of great historical importance to all Americans in 
that it represents the beginning of our Nation's story.
  Next year our Nation will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the 
founding of Jamestown and the beginning of John Smith's momentous 
explorations of the Chesapeake Bay. In April 1607, three ships, the 
Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, arrived at the mouth 
of the Chesapeake Bay after a four-month voyage from England carrying 
the colonists who would establish the first permanent English 
settlement in North America and plant the seeds of our nation and our 
democracy. Under the leadership of Captain John Smith, the fledgling 
colony not only survived, but helped ignite a new era of discovery in 
the New World sparked by reports of Smith's voyages around the 
Chesapeake Bay.
  John Smith's explorations in the small, 30 foot shallop totaled some 
three thousand miles, reaching from present-day Jamestown, Virginia, to 
Smiths Falls on the Pennsylvania border with Maryland and from Broad 
Creek, in Delaware to the Potomac River and Washington, DC. His 
journeys brought the English into contact with many Native American 
tribes for the first time, and his observations of the region's people 
and its natural wonders are still relied upon by anthropologists, 
historians, and ecologists to this day.
  Chief Justice John Marshall wrote of the significance of Smith's 
explorations. ``When we contemplate the dangers, and the hardships he 
encountered, and the fortitude, courage and patience with which he met 
them; when we reflect on the useful and important additions which he 
made to the stock of knowledge respecting America, then possessed by 
his countrymen; we shall not hesitate to say that few voyages of 
discovery, undertaken at any time, reflect more honour on those engaged 
in them, than this does on Captain Smith.''
  What better way to commemorate this important part of our Nation's 
history and honor John Smith's courageous voyages than by designating 
the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail? The Congress 
established the National Trails System ``to provide for the ever-
increasing outdoor recreation needs of an expanding population and in 
order to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, 
and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and 
historic resources of the Nation.'' National Historic Trails such as 
the Lewis and Clark Trail, the Pony Express Trail, the Trail of Tears, 
and the Selma to Montgomery Trail were authorized as part of this 
System to identify and protect historic routes for public use and 
enjoyment and to commemorate major events which shaped American 
history. In my judgment, the proposed Captain John Smith Chesapeake 
National Historic Trail is a fitting addition to the 13 National 
Historic Trails administered by the National Park Service.
  Pursuant to legislation we enacted as part of the Fiscal 2006 
Interior Appropriations Act authorizing the National Park Service to 
study the feasibility of so designating this trail, on March 21, 2006 
the National Park System Advisory Board concluded that the proposed 
trail is ``nationally significant'' as a milestone for the English 
exploration of North America, contact between the English and the 
Native American tribes of the region, and in commerce and trade in 
North America. This finding is one of the principal criteria for 
qualifying as a National Historic Trail. Well documented by the 
remarkably accurate maps and charts that Smith made of his voyages, the 
trail also offers tremendous opportunities for public recreation and 
historic interpretation and appreciation. Similar in historic 
importance to the Lewis and Clark National Trail, this new historic 
water trail will inspire generations of Americans and visitors to 
follow Smith's journeys, to learn about the roots of our Nation and to 
better understand the contributions of the Native Americans who lived 
within the Bay region. It would also help highlight the Chesapeake 
Bay's remarkable maritime history, the diversity of its peoples, its 
historical settlements and our current efforts to restore and sustain 
the world's most productive estuary.
  As Jamestown's 400th anniversary quickly approaches, designating the 
Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail will bring 
history to life. It would serve to educate visitors about the new 
colony at Jamestown, John Smith's journeys, the history of 17th century 
Chesapeake region, and the vital importance of the Native Americans 
that inhabited the Bay area. It would provide new opportunities for 
recreation and heritage tourism not only for more than 16 millions 
Americans living in the Chesapeake Bay's watershed, but for visitors to 
this area throughout the country and abroad.
  This legislation enjoys strong bipartisan support in the Congress and 
in the States through which the trail passes. The trail proposal has 
been endorsed by the Governors of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and 
Maryland and numerous local governments throughout the Chesapeake Bay 
region. The measure is also strongly supported by the National 
Geographic Society, The Conservation Fund, The Garden Club of America, 
the Izaak Walton League of America, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and 
the Chesapeake Bay Commission as well as scores of businesses, tourism 
leaders, private groups, and intergovernmental bodies.
  The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail Act comes 
at a very timely juncture to educate Americans about historical events 
that occurred 400 years ago right here in Chesapeake Bay, which were so 
crucial to the formation of this great country and our democracy. I 
urge my colleagues to support this measure.
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