[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 176 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S7711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CASEY:
  S. 1897. A bill to amend Public Law 101-377 to revise the boundaries 
of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg 
Train Station, and for other purposes, to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, this Saturday, November 19, marks the 148 
Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. In this address, President 
Abraham Lincoln famously said, ``The world will little note nor long 
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. 
It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished 
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is 
rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before 
us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that 
cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we 
here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that 
this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that 
government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not 
perish from the earth.''
  In advance of this important historic occasion, I am introducing the 
Gettysburg National Military Park Expansion Act. If enacted, this 
legislation would expand the boundaries of Gettysburg National Military 
Park to include the historic Gettysburg Railroad Station and an 
additional 45 acres of land at the southern end of the battlefield. 
Through these acquisitions, the between 1.5 to 3 million people that 
visit Gettysburg each year will enjoy a more complete experience. 
Passage of this legislation is very important, especially right now as 
the Park prepares for the 150 Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
  The Gettysburg Railroad Station, which is also known as the Lincoln 
Train Station, is located in downtown Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was 
built in 1858 and is listed in the National Register of Historic 
Places. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the building served as a train 
station to transport thousands of troops and also as a hospital. 
Perhaps more important historically, this station was the site to which 
President Lincoln arrived on the day before he delivered the Gettysburg 
Address in 1863. This station is currently operated by the National 
Trust for Historic Gettysburg and is open to the public year round. It 
also serves as the home to the Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln 
Bicentennial Commission, which organized and held events in 2009 to 
commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. The station was 
renovated in 2006 using state grant money to serve as an information 
and orientation center, but currently does not serve as such because of 
a lack of funds to manage its day-to-day operations. The Gettysburg 
Borough Council voted in 2008 to transfer the station to the National 
Park Service so that it could be used as a visitor center for tourists 
coming to the Gettysburg area.
  The Gettysburg National Military Park Expansion Act would also expand 
the boundary of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include 45 
acres of land at the southern end of the battlefield. This area is both 
historically and environmentally significant. It was where cavalry 
skirmishes during the Battle for Gettysburg occurred and is also home 
to wetlands and wildlife habitat related to the Plum Run stream that 
runs through the National Park. The forty five acres were donated in 
April of 2009 and as a result no federal funding or land acquisition 
would be required to obtain the property and incorporate it into the 
National Park.
  The Gettysburg National Military Park Expansion Act would help 
preserve different sites that are historically significant while 
protecting the environment. The Civil War was a monumental moment in 
our Nation's history and because of this we must take steps to preserve 
the area's historical sites.
                                 ______