[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 20 (Monday, February 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S868-S869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KAINE:
  S. 331. A bill to remove the use restrictions on certain land 
transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, this bill has a complex backstory, but it 
serves a simple purpose--to allow a small daycare facility in Virginia 
to undertake routine repairs and maintenance.
  For more than 20 years, the Plains Area Day Care Center in Broadway, 
VA, has served children from moderate-income families in Rockingham 
County. This facility sits on a 3-acre parcel that was once Federal 
land before the National Park Service conveyed it to Rockingham County 
in 1989

[[Page S869]]

under the Federal Lands to Parks Program. The county in turn leases 
this land to the center for $1 per year, with a contract that runs 
through the year 2027.
  The center is in need of repairs and maintenance, including a new 
roof; however, it has had difficulty in securing private financing for 
these activities because of the complex land ownership structure--
Federal land conveyed conditionally to a county and leased to a private 
company. Due to Virginia's status as a Dillon Rule State, Rockingham 
County cannot execute a loan either.
  This bill would specify that the 1989 land conveyance is transferred 
in fee simple, with no further use restrictions. I appreciate the goal 
of the Federal Lands to Parks Program to preserve land as open space, 
particularly after having overseen the preservation of 400,000 acres of 
open space in Virginia during my time as Governor of the Commonwealth. 
There are no plans to develop the open space on this site, only to fix 
the daycare center building--a former Forest Service garage that has 
been on the site since before its transfer from Federal ownership.
  My Virginia colleague, Congressman Bob Goodlatte, has introduced 
companion legislation in the House of Representatives. During the 114th 
Congress, this bill was passed unanimously through the full House as a 
standalone; reported favorably without opposition by the Senate Energy 
and Natural Resources Committee; and adopted by unanimous consent to be 
included in the Senate's bipartisan Energy bill. Unfortunately, it fell 
just short of final passage.
  This is a small modification that simply removes unnecessary 
bureaucratic hurdles and allows the daycare center to continue doing 
what it has been doing for 25 years. I am pleased to partner with 
Congressman Goodlatte in this commonsense, bipartisan effort.
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