[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 92 (Monday, June 18, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H3713-H3714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LAND GRANT PATENT MODIFICATION ACT
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules
and pass the bill (S. 404) to modify a land grant patent issued by the
Secretary of the Interior.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 404
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) pursuant to section 5505 of division A of the Omnibus
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104 208;
110 Stat. 3009 516), the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Bureau of Land Management, issued to the Great
Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society located in Chippewa County
of the State of Michigan United States Patent Number 61 98
0040 on September 23, 1998;
(2) United States Patent Number 61 98 0040 was recorded in
the Office of the Register of Deeds of Chippewa County of the
State of Michigan, on January 22, 1999, at Liber 757, on
pages 115 through 118;
(3) in order to correct an error in United States Patent
Number 61 98 0040, the Secretary issued a corrected patent,
United States Patent Number 61 2000 0007, on March 10, 2000;
(4) after issuance of the corrected United States Patent
Number 61 2000 0007, the original United States Patent Number
61 98 0040 was cancelled on the records of the Bureau of Land
Management; and
(5) corrected United States Patent Number 61 2000 0007
should be modified in accordance with this Act--
(A) to effectuate--
(i) the Human Use/Natural Resource Plan for Whitefish
Point, dated December 2002; and
(ii) the settlement agreement dated July 16, 2001, filed in
Docket Number 2:00 CV 206 in the United States District Court
for the Western District of Michigan; and
(B) to ensure a clear chain of title, recorded in the
Office of the Register of Deeds of Chippewa County of the
State of Michigan.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF LAND GRANT PATENT ISSUED BY SECRETARY
OF THE INTERIOR.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall modify
the matter under the heading ``Subject Also to the Following
Conditions'' of paragraph 6 of United States Patent Number 61
2000 0007 by striking ``Whitefish Point Comprehensive Plan of
October 1992 or for a gift shop'' and inserting ``Human Use/
Natural Resource Plan for Whitefish Point, dated December
2002''.
(b) Effect.--Each other term of the conveyance relating to
the property that is the subject of United States Patent
Number 61 2000 0007, including each obligation to maintain
the property in accordance with the National Historic
Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) and any other
appropriate law (including regulations), and the obligation
to use the property in a manner that does not impair or
interfere with the conservation values of the property, shall
remain in effect.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--The modification of United States Patent
Number 61 2000 0007 in accordance with section 2 shall become
effective on the date of the recording of the modification in
the Office of the Register of Deeds of Chippewa County of the
State of Michigan.
(b) Endorsement.--The Office of the Register of Deeds of
Chippewa County of the State of Michigan is requested to
endorse on the recorded copy of United States Patent Number
61 2000 0007 the fact that the Patent Number has been
modified in accordance with this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Hastings) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Lujan)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Washington.
General Leave
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. 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 materials on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Washington?
There was no objection.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, S. 404 would simply modify a land patent that was issued
by the Department of the Interior to the Great Lakes Shipwreck
Historical Society in 1998 to reflect an agreement between the
historical society, the Michigan Audubon Society, and the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service.
The current land patent references an outdated 1992 Comprehensive
Plan for Whitefish Point, a 43-acre spit of land surrounded by Lake
Superior. The Michigan Audubon Society sued when this plan for
development was proposed, and following a court-ordered settlement of
the lawsuit, a new plan was negotiated in 2002. This bill would modify
the land patent to appropriately reference the 2002 plan and finally
allow for the development to go forward.
[[Page H3714]]
Congressman Dan Benishek, our colleague from Michigan, is the author
of the companion House bill, H.R. 3411, and he should be commended for
his commonsense approach to help manage this important tourism area in
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
And with that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUJAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, S. 404 requires the Secretary of the Interior to modify
a land grant patent in Chippewa County, Michigan. The patent, issued to
the Michigan Audubon Society and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical
Society, will be amended to allow for use and modification of the
property to allow for new use plans.
We have no objection to this legislation, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 3
minutes to the author of the companion bill in the House of this
legislation, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Benishek).
Mr. BENISHEK. Mr. Speaker, this evening the House will take up Senate
bill S. 404, a bill authored by my colleague in the Senate, Senator
Carl Levin. As you heard, I authored a companion bill in the House last
November.
This bill will end a bureaucratic roadblock that has prevented the
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum from making improvements to its facility
located in Chippewa County, Michigan, along the southern shore of Lake
Superior. Only an act of Congress is able to correct an error in the
land patent that was enacted in 1992.
From the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald to the U.S. Coast Guard's
Whitefish Point Lighthouse, the shipwreck museum's exhibits tell the
story of brave men and women who have navigated the Great Lakes for
hundreds of years.
This facility displays important parts of Northern Michigan's
history. Each year, some 60,000 individuals visit the museum and
explore firsthand the rich maritime traditions of Michigan's First
District. Preserving Michigan's maritime history is a resource that
both Senator Levin and I agree warrants enthusiastic bipartisan support
for the benefit of future generations of visitors.
I want to thank Chairman Hastings for bringing this bill to the floor
today, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this measure and
bring it one step closer to the President's desk.
Mr. LUJAN. Mr. Speaker, we have no other speakers, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of S. 404,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, S. 404.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. 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, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
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