[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 70 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5295-S5296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 137--RECOGNIZING AND COMMENDING THE PEOPLE OF THE 
  GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                       ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PARK

  Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. Burr, Mr. Corker, and Mrs. Hagan) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 137

       Whereas, in the 1920s, groups of citizens and officials in 
     Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee displayed 
     enormous foresight in recognizing the potential benefits of a 
     national park in the Southern Appalachian Mountains;
       Whereas the location of the park that became the Great 
     Smoky Mountains National Park was selected from among the 
     finest examples of the most scenic and intact mountain 
     forests in the Southeastern United States;
       Whereas the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National 
     Park was the product of more than 2 decades of determined 
     effort by leaders of communities across Western North 
     Carolina and Eastern Tennessee;
       Whereas the State legislatures and Governors of North 
     Carolina and Tennessee exercised great vision in 
     appropriating the funding that was used, along with funding 
     from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund, to purchase 
     more than 400,000 acres of private land that became part of 
     the Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
       Whereas the citizens of communities surrounding the Great 
     Smoky Mountains National Park generously contributed funding 
     for land acquisition to bring the Great Smoky Mountains 
     National Park into being;
       Whereas more than 1,100 families and other property owners 
     were called upon to sacrifice their farms and homes for the 
     benefit and enjoyment of future generations that would visit 
     the Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
       Whereas the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was 
     established as a completed park by the Act entitled ``An Act 
     to establish a minimum area for the Great Smoky Mountains 
     National Park, and for other purposes'', approved June 15, 
     1934 (16 U.S.C. 403g);
       Whereas the Great Smoky Mountains National Park covers 
     approximately 521,621 acres of land in the States of 
     Tennessee and North Carolina, making it the largest protected 
     area in the Eastern United States;

[[Page S5296]]

       Whereas the Great Smoky Mountains National Park provides 
     sanctuary for the most diverse flora and fauna of any 
     national park in the temperate United States, and preserves 
     an unparalleled collection of historic structures as a ``time 
     capsule'' of Appalachian culture during the 19th and early 
     20th centuries;
       Whereas, on September 2, 1940, President Franklin D. 
     Roosevelt dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park;
       Whereas the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been 
     the most popular national park in the United States since it 
     opened, and attracts between 9,000,000 and 10,000,000 
     visitors each year, making it the most visited of the 58 
     national parks in the United States; and
       Whereas visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park 
     contribute more than $700,000,000 to the local economy each 
     year, resulting in more than 14,000 jobs in North Carolina 
     and Tennessee: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the citizens of Western North Carolina and 
     Eastern Tennessee for their vision and sacrifice;
       (2) commends the people of the Great Smoky Mountains 
     National Park and the National Park Service for 75 years of 
     successful management and preservation of the park land;
       (3) congratulates the people of the Great Smoky Mountains 
     National Park on the 75th anniversary of the park; and
       (4) requests the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an 
     enrolled copy of this resolution for appropriate display to 
     the headquarters of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

                          ____________________