[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 112 (Thursday, July 17, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S4623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 507--DESIGNATING AUGUST 7, 2014, AS ``NATIONAL 
              LIGHTHOUSE AND LIGHTHOUSE PRESERVATION DAY''

  Mr. KING (for himself, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Schumer) submitted the 
following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 507

       Whereas August 7, 2014, marks the 225th anniversary of the 
     signing by President George Washington of the Act entitled 
     ``An Act for the establishment and support of lighthouses, 
     beacons, buoys, and public piers'', approved August 7, 1789 
     (commonly known as the ``Lighthouse Act of 1789'') (1 Stat. 
     53, chapter 9);
       Whereas in 1789, the ninth Act of the first Congress, 
     established a Federal role in the support, maintenance, and 
     repair of all lighthouses, beacon buoys, and public piers 
     necessary for safe navigation, commissioned the first Federal 
     lighthouse, and represented the first public works act in the 
     young United States;
       Whereas the establishment of the United States system of 
     navigational aids set the United States on a path to the 
     forefront of international maritime prominence and 
     established lighthouses that played an integral role in the 
     rich maritime history of the United States, as that history 
     spread from the Atlantic coast through the Great Lakes and 
     the Gulf coast and Pacific States;
       Whereas those iconic structures, standing at the margins of 
     land and water, sometimes for as long as 2 centuries, have 
     symbolized safety, security, heroism, duty, and faithfulness;
       Whereas architects, designers, engineers, builders, and 
     keepers devoted, and in some cases jeopardized, their lives 
     for the safety of others during centuries of light tending by 
     the United States Lighthouse Service and the United States 
     Coast Guard;
       Whereas the automation of the light system exposed the 
     historic lighthouse towers to the ravages of time and 
     vandalism and yet, at the same time, opened an opportunity 
     for citizen involvement in efforts to save and restore those 
     beacons that mark the evolving maritime history of the United 
     States and its coastal communities;
       Whereas the national lighthouse preservation movement has 
     gained momentum over the past half century and is making 
     major contributions to the preservation of maritime history 
     and heritage and, through the development and enhancement of 
     cultural tourism, to the economies of coastal communities in 
     the United States;
       Whereas the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act 
     of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 470w-7 et seq.), enacted on October 24, 
     2000, with the aid of the lighthouse preservation community, 
     provides an effective process administered by the General 
     Services Administration and the National Park Service for 
     transferring lighthouses to the best possible stewardship 
     groups;
       Whereas 2014 is the 200th anniversary of the 
     August 24, 1814, rescue of the original copies of the 
     Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, 
     the United States Constitution, and many irreplaceable 
     original government documents and books from destruction when 
     the British burned Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812 by 
     Stephen Pleasonton, who later served as General 
     Superintendent of Lighthouses for 32 years;
       Whereas 2014 is also the 75th anniversary of 
     when Congress dissolved the United States Lighthouse Service 
     and turned all of its duties over to the United States Coast 
     Guard;
       Whereas although the United States Coast Guard was created 
     in 1915 with the merger of the United States Life Saving 
     Service and the United States Revenue Marine Service, the 
     United States Coast Guard uses the United States Revenue 
     Marine founding date of 1790 as its anniversary year, and 
     thus, August 7, 2014, is also the 225th anniversary of the 
     United States Coast Guard;
       Whereas 2014 also marks the 250th anniversary of the Sandy 
     Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey, the oldest standing lighthouse 
     tower in the United States, which was built before the United 
     States was a country and was still part of the British 
     colonies;
       Whereas for the past several decades, regional and national 
     groups have formed within the lighthouse preservation 
     community to promote lighthouse heritage through research, 
     education, tourism, and publications;
       Whereas despite progress, many lighthouses in the United 
     States remain threatened by erosion, neglect, vandalism, and 
     deterioration by the elements; and
       Whereas the many completed, ongoing, or planned private and 
     public efforts to preserve lighthouses demonstrate the public 
     support for those historic structures: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates August 7, 2014, as ``National Lighthouse and 
     Lighthouse Preservation Day'';
       (2) encourages lighthouse grounds to be opened to the 
     general public to the extent feasible; and
       (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     National Lighthouse and Lighthouse Preservation Day with 
     appropriate ceremonies and activities.

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