[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 40 (Thursday, March 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1616-H1617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HUDSON RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY ACT

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4003) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a 
special resource study to evaluate resources in the Hudson River Valley 
in the State of New York to determine the suitability and feasibility 
of establishing the site as a unit of the National Park System, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4003

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Hudson River Valley Special 
     Resource Study Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Study area.--The term ``study area''--
       (A) means the portion of the Hudson River that flows from 
     Rodgers Island at Fort Edward to the southern-most boundary 
     of Westchester County, New York; and
       (B) includes any relevant sites and landscapes within the 
     counties in New York that abut the area described in 
     subparagraph (A).

     SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF STUDY.

       (a) In General.--As soon as funds are made available for 
     this purpose, the Secretary shall complete a special resource 
     study of the Hudson River Valley in the State of New York to 
     evaluate--
       (1) the national significance of the area; and
       (2) the suitability and feasibility of designating the area 
     as a unit of the National Park System.
       (b) Study Guidelines.--In conducting the study under 
     subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
       (1) use the criteria for the study of areas for potential 
     inclusion in the National Park System in accordance with 
     section 8(c) of Public Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5(c));
       (2) determine the effect of the designation of the area as 
     a unit of the National Park System on existing commercial and 
     recreational activities, including but not limited to 
     hunting, fishing, trapping, recreational shooting, motor boat 
     use, off-highway vehicle use, snowmobile use, and on the 
     authorization, construction, operation, maintenance, or 
     improvement of energy production and transmission 
     infrastructure, and the effect on the authority of State and 
     local governments to manage those activities;
       (3) identify any authorities that will compel or permit the 
     Secretary to influence local land use decisions (such as 
     zoning) or place restrictions on non-Federal land if the area 
     is designated a unit of the National Park System; and
       (4) closely examine park unit models, in particular 
     national river and recreation areas, as well as other 
     landscape protection models, that--
       (A) encompass large areas of non-Federal lands within their 
     designated boundaries;
       (B) foster public and private collaborative arrangements 
     for achieving National Park Service objectives; and
       (C) protect and respect the rights of private land owners.

     SEC. 4. REPORT.

       Not later than 36 months after the date that funds are 
     first made available for this purpose, the Secretary shall 
     submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources of the Senate a report on the findings, 
     conclusions, and recommendations of the study authorized by 
     this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Guam?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4003, introduced by our friend 
Representative Maurice Hinchey of New York, would authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to evaluate the resources in the Hudson River 
Valley and determine the suitability and the feasibility of 
establishing the area as a unit of the National Park System.
  Mr. Speaker, for more than half a century various local, state, and 
Federal agencies have helped to protect, preserve, and celebrate this 
historic and significant landscape. The valley is home to numerous 
state and Federal parks that honor a variety of historic events. 
Representative Hinchey is to be commended for his tireless efforts on 
behalf of his constituents and the outstanding historic and cultural 
resources found in New York State. We support passage of H.R. 4003, and 
urge its adoption by the House today.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4003 has been adequately explained by the majority. 
I do want to point out, however, that the committee wisely adopted an 
amendment by Congressman Rob Bishop that requires the National Park 
Service to identify local activities that will be limited or eliminated 
if the study leads to a park designation. As Congress considers 
additions to the National Park System, the public is entitled to know 
which existing activities, such as hunting and fishing and boating and 
snowmobiling and energy production and transmission, will be 
restricted.
  As we in the West painfully know, national park designation comes 
with an abundance of regulations and direct Federal management. It is 
important that people living in the affected area know ahead of time 
how much authority over their local affairs will be ceded to the 
Federal Government.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey).
  Mr. HINCHEY. I want to express also my deep appreciation and 
gratitude to the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Nick 
Rahall, for working with me to move this important piece of 
legislation. I also would like to thank Chairman Grijalva and the staff 
of the Natural Resources Committee for all the support and guidance 
throughout this process.
  I would like to mention that there are no restrictions in the context 
of this legislation for any of the things that were just mentioned. 
None whatsoever. In fact, all of those kinds of activities will be 
enhanced and encouraged and be much more easy to achieve

[[Page H1617]]

and more beneficial to the communities.
  H.R. 4003 would authorize the National Park Service to conduct a 
special resource study of the Hudson River Valley to evaluate the 
area's national significance and determine the suitability and 
feasibility of designating the area as a unit of the National Park 
System, a unit of the National Park System, not a national park.
  This legislation is cosponsored by each of the Members whose district 
is within the proposed study area. And that in and of itself of course 
is very interesting. They have garnered strong support locally. Twenty-
four local organizations have already endorsed the bill, and I expect 
to see that there will be more in the coming weeks and months.
  The Hudson River Valley is one of the most significant river 
corridors in our country. The historical, natural, cultural, 
commercial, scenic, and recreational resources spread throughout the 
region, and in the way they do so they are absolutely unparalleled. The 
Hudson River Valley's landscapes are known around the world. In fact, 
the beauty of these great landscapes inspired the first and one of 
America's great artistic movements, the Hudson River school of art. 
Painters such as Thomas Cole and Frederic Church immortalized the 
region's scenery for generations to come. These works and others 
inspired the American preservationist movement and the movement to 
establish in our country national parks.
  Today the region is home to a rich and sensitive ecosystem that also 
affords ample recreational opportunities, including hiking, canoeing, 
and other activities. One of the most recent additions is the Walkway 
Over the Hudson. Initially a rail bridge that was considered a marvel 
of the Industrial Revolution, it was abandoned in the 1970s following a 
fire on one of the trains that went across that bridge at that time. It 
recently was restored and reopened, however, over the course of this 
past October, and it is now the longest and highest pedestrian overpass 
in the United States. It is a remarkable bridge, where people get 
enormous amounts of joy walking across it, over a mile across it, and 
give them an opportunity to get a sense of the Hudson River Valley 
looking north and south as they walk across this marvelous now Walkway 
Over the Hudson.
  From a historical perspective, the Hudson River Valley has played a 
central role in our Nation's narrative and our Nation's development. In 
1609, of course, Henry Hudson first sailed up the river that now bears 
his name. And we just recently celebrated the 400th anniversary of that 
very important trip. During the American Revolution, the region bore 
witness to events that determined the course of that Revolutionary War 
and the establishment of the freedom and independence of our Nation.
  In the 19th century, the Hudson River Valley helped foster the 
American Industrial Revolution and became one of the commercial 
corridors of our country. In 1807, Robert Fulton piloted the first 
successful steamboat voyage up the river. Later in the century, the 
Hudson and its estuary, the Mohawk River, connected the Nation's 
greatest port, New York City, with the entire western section of the 
United States through the Erie Canal network and the central Great 
Lakes. In the last century, the region was home to Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt at Hyde Park. Later, the region gave birth to the modern 
environmental and labor movements.
  Preserving and promoting the Hudson River Valley's resources has been 
a top priority for me dating back to my time in the New York State 
Assembly. While in the State legislature, I authorized legislation to 
lead to the creation of the Hudson River Valley Greenway, creating a 
process for voluntary regional cooperation among 264 communities within 
13 counties that border the Hudson River on both sides, east and west. 
When I came to the Congress, I authorized legislation that led to the 
designation of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, which 
provides technical assistance to local communities or local managers to 
assist them in managing natural and historic sites of national 
importance up and down the Hudson River. These designations have 
provided tremendous benefits to the Hudson Valley region, but it is 
clear that more can be done to protect, preserve, and promote the 
area's unique resources and its dramatic contribution to the historic 
development of the United States.

                              {time}  1515

  I believe an enhanced National Park Service presence is warranted 
completely and would have a tremendously positive impact on our local 
economy while at the same time preserving and protecting the region's 
resources. The authorization of this special resource study will begin 
that process.
  Just to be clear, no one believes the Hudson River Valley should be 
turned into a Yellowstone-type park. That would make no sense for the 
region. In fact, I firmly believe that any eventual park unit 
designation should and will protect private property rights and that 
local governments should retain local control of land-use decisions 
involving all of the property up and down the Hudson River that is not 
Federal property. There are civil existing park units, such as the 
Mississippi River and recreation area, a little bit we have heard about 
just recently, which fit these criteria and could be models for our 
region.
  I believe the study should examine these models and the positive 
impact they have had on their local economies.
  Passage of this bill and the subsequent study would position the 
Hudson River Valley to gain the full attention of the National Park 
Service for all of the significant and substantial historic 
contributions this region has made to the development, establishment, 
and the continuation of the United States, as well as for the area's 
pristine natural beauty.
  For all of these reasons and more, we are offering this Hudson River 
Valley Special Resource Study Act, and we have gained enormous support 
from everyone who has heard about it internally here within the 
Government of the United States, but even more importantly, widespread 
endorsements of this up and down the Hudson River Valley, north and 
south and east and west.
  And so I offer this bill.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I appreciate sincerely the gentleman's sensitivity to the property 
rights of the individuals in the Hudson River Valley and the 
prerogatives of local government control; and for that reason, I should 
think that he would welcome the amendment that was placed in the bill 
that would give all of the people notice of what existing activities 
may be restricted if the study concludes that the area should be 
designated as a unit of the National Park System and if in fact it does 
become a unit.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support the bill, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4003, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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