[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 12, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H7251-H7253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE BOUNDARY
MODIFICATION ACT
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 2611) to modify the boundary of the Little Rock Central
High School National Historic Site, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2611
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 ``Little Rock Central High
School National Historic Site Boundary Modification Act''.
SEC. 2. LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL NATIONAL HISTORIC
SITE BOUNDARY MODIFICATION.
Section 2 of Public Law 105-356 (112 Stat. 3268) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) as
subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), respectively;
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) Boundary Modification.--The boundary of the historic
site is modified to include the 7 residences on South Park
Street in Little Rock, Arkansas, consisting of 1.47 acres, as
generally depicted on the map entitled `Central High School
National Historic Site Proposed Boundary', numbered 037/
80,001, and dated August, 2004.''; and
(3) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by paragraph (1))--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(1) The Secretary'' and
inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--The Secretary'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``(2) The Secretary'' and
inserting the following:
``(3) Coordination.--The Secretary''; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Cooperative agreements for the preservation and
interpretation of certain properties.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may enter into cooperative
agreements with the owners of the 7 residences referred to in
subsection (b) pursuant to which the Secretary may use
appropriated funds to mark, interpret, improve, restore, and
provide technical assistance with respect to the preservation
and interpretation of the properties.
``(B) Inclusions.--An agreement entered into under
subparagraph (A) shall include a provision specifying that no
changes or alterations shall be made to the exterior of the
properties subject to the agreement, except by the mutual
agreement of the parties to the agreement.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Bishop) and the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Hanabusa) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.
General Leave
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise
[[Page H7252]]
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
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman
from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), the sponsor of this excellent piece of
legislation.
Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, 60 years ago today, all eyes were on South Park Street
that fronts the beautiful facade of Central High School in Little Rock,
Arkansas. Just days before, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had called
out the National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering the
school on September 4. Central High and its beautiful neighborhood had
become ground zero in the march to end the five-decade legacy of Plessy
v. Ferguson, ``separate but equal,'' to bring it to reality.
Now, just over 3 years after the Brown decision, it was time for
action. In a few days, on the 25th of this month, we will celebrate the
successful integration of Central High School, when the Little Rock
Nine entered the school escorted by the troops of the 101st Airborne.
It is fitting today, Mr. Speaker, that we pay tribute to the Little
Rock Nine, their defenders, and the successful end to separate but
equal. We recognize this important milestone today on this House floor
by passing a bill on the suspension calendar that expands the park
boundary of the national historic site at Little Rock Central High
School. This is a historic and important touchstone for all of those
modern-day history travelers retracing the steps of the civil rights
movement.
The Little Rock National Historic Site Visitor Center was opened in
2007 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the integration of
Central High. Today's measure, H.R. 2611, is a simple one: extending
the park boundaries to take in the houses that fronted the school along
beautiful South Park Street so that future generations will be able to
picture this tranquil street, an architecturally significant facade of
Central High, and reflect back on those 21 days of trauma in September
1957.
I thank my colleague who is in our Chamber today, civil rights
pioneer and courageous actor John Lewis, for his cosponsorship.
I thank our majority leader, Chairman Bishop, and the Natural
Resources Committee for their expeditious treatment of this important
measure, and I salute Senator Cotton for his leadership in advancing
this important legislation in the United States Senate.
I look forward to President Trump signing this bill and again
recognizing that we have to embrace our past and learn from our
history.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Ms. HANABUSA. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor at this time to yield such
time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), a
civil rights pioneer and legend.
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman
from Hawaii for yielding time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. I am proud to
join the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) in sponsoring this
legislation to update the Little Rock Central High School National
Historic Site.
In 1954, the Supreme Court issued a historic decision in the Brown v.
Board of Education case, which desegregated our Nation's public
schools. Unfortunately, the law of the land did not become the practice
of its people overnight. It took the will of brave men and women and
some very brave children, like the Little Rock Nine.
Parents swallowed the fear for their children. Strong, innocent
little children put their bodies on the line to force the change that
justice demands. The actions changed the heart and the soul of our
Nation, and we must admit today that our country is a better country
and we are a better people because of these children, the mothers and
fathers, the teachers, and many of our citizens.
When Little Rock, Arkansas, leaders attempted to desegregate Central
High School, the Governor fought back. He choose to stand on the side
of hate and bigotry. It took a determined mayor, a strong President,
the U.S. Army, and the Arkansas National Guard to protect these nine
teenagers as they entered the school.
In 1957, Mr. Speaker, I was 17 years old, and I vividly remember
those days. These young people inspired all of us to stand up, to speak
up, and to speak out. And many of us started saying: If the children in
Little Rock can do what they are doing, we, too, can do it.
For those of us watching on television, listening to the radio, and
reading the newspapers, we were deeply inspired. We were moved to do
something, to say something. I said to myself: We need to stand up the
same way the people and students in Little Rock are standing up. I
remember thinking that I could--that I must--find a way to get in the
way.
Mr. Speaker, Central High is part of our history that must be
preserved for a generation yet unborn.
I remember very well, a few years ago, I visited that school and
walked through the halls with a young African-American student who was
president of the student body, who the principal asked to escort me
through the school. I felt like I was walking in a special place,
almost a holy place. It brought tears to my eyes.
During those dark and difficult times, the national historic site
became a beacon of hope, an inspiration that we can never give up, that
we can never give in as we strive towards equal rights and justice for
all.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for introducing this
bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to stand with the gentleman from
Arkansas and the gentlewoman from Hawaii and support this piece of
legislation.
{time} 1400
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman
from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), also a member of our committee and who
has helped shepherd this bill through our committee and here on the
floor.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my colleague from Arkansas
Congressman French Hill's bill, H.R. 2611, that will modify the
boundary of the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
to include seven residences on South Park Street in Little Rock,
Arkansas.
While this bill would authorize the National Park Service to enter
into cooperative agreements with private property owners of the South
Street properties, H.R. 2611 will do more. It will also help us to
remember. It will help us to remember that on September 25, 1957, nine
young people, with Federal troops for escorts, bravely walked past
crowds of hatred, bigotry, emotional degradation, and even physical
abuse to desegregate Little Rock Central High School.
On that historic day in 1957, nine young people showed the United
States and the world that we were and are better than segregation and
better than racism and injustice. They proved to the world that, as
Americans, we really do believe the Declaration of Independence when it
says that all men are created equal.
I believe that allowing the historical residences surrounding Little
Rock Central High School to slip into disrepair or oblivion would be a
severe injustice to those who gave of themselves to further the cause
of civil rights and equality.
I would like to thank my colleague from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) and the
distinguished gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis) for their work on this
important issue, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Ms. HANABUSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2611, introduced by Representative Hill and
cosponsored by civil rights pioneer and legend, Representative Lewis of
Georgia, amends Public Law 105-356, which established Little Rock
Central High School National Historic Site.
H.R. 2611 would modify the park's boundary and expand the park's
authority to enter into cooperative agreements. The proposed boundary
modification would include seven privately owned residences on South
Park Street, consisting of 1.47 acres. The cooperative agreement
authority provided by the bill will allow the National Park Service to
give financial and technical aid to the property owners to preserve the
facades and maintain the ambience of a 1957 historic scene.
[[Page H7253]]
Images of the South Park Street properties are inextricably
associated with the 1957 events. As images of the Little Rock Nine,
crowds of protesters, the public, and the National Guardsmen appeared
in newspapers across the Nation and were broadcast live through the
emerging media of television, the neighborhood became as recognizable
as the high school itself.
Because South Park Street in front of Central High School retains a
high degree of historical integrity, this legislation would provide a
unique opportunity to preserve a setting that will allow visitors to
more accurately visualize the events that occurred there in 1957 when
the Little Rock Nine attempted to attend Central High School.
In 1996, the surrounding neighborhood, including these seven
privately owned homes, was listed on the National Register of Historic
Places as the Central High School Neighborhood Historic District. The
designation recognized the neighborhood's association with the
significant events of 1957 as well as the architectural characteristics
and qualities that remain relatively unchanged from that period.
All the property owners and several community members have expressed
their support for this proposal, including Central High Neighborhood,
Inc., and Preserve Arkansas.
As we move forward in these turbulent times, it is important that we
do not forget the struggles of the Little Rock Nine and the
neighborhood that moved America forward towards an integrated education
system.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of this bill, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, this bill, to me, is an extremely important bill. Sixty
years ago, during this month, nine extraordinary students attended
Little Rock, Arkansas' Central High School. They were kids picked for
their academic ability and their maturity level because they were going
to go through a year that no one had seen before and, hopefully, will
ever see again.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps because I taught high school for almost 30
years, I understand the environment that took place here, and I have a
great deal of empathy for these nine kids who went there. They could
have easily been my students.
This becomes a significant concept that on September 4, 60 years ago,
the Governor of Arkansas ordered the National Guard to bar these nine
kids from entrance into Central High School in Little Rock; then, after
some pressure, he withdrew the protection so the kids were subject to
the mobs and the violence that took place there at that time.
On September 25, 60 years ago, Dwight Eisenhower had the courage and
leadership--one of the reasons I respect him so much as a President--to
order the Army 101st Airborne Division to go down to Little Rock to
Central High School and to escort these nine kids through that first
year and lead them to a school year like no other has ever been.
This situation was, in my estimation, a pivotal moment in our
Nation's civil rights history as well as our education history. We have
often talked about how buildings and monuments are used to interpret
history. That is exactly what Mr. Hill is attempting to do here with a
significant site in America's history, to make sure that it is
preserved--and not just the high school itself, but the seven
residences that are across the street on South Park Street. Those
residences there are part of the historical landmark which was made and
designated in the Reagan administration. They are part of the
designation on the National Register of Historic Places.
Finally, in 1998, the high school and some surrounding areas were
established as a National Historic Site. Those buildings still have
significant historical integrity. They add to the definition and the
story of history which must--which must--be remembered at all times.
This bill expands the boundaries of this National Historic Site to
include those residences so the National Park Service can, in
cooperative agreements with the residents who still live there, make
sure that that area will always be preserved as a place to interpret,
improve, and provide the technical assistance to make sure this story
of American history is not forgotten. It is part of the milieu.
As the gentlewoman from Hawaii said, when you see pictures of these
kids giving press conferences, you see these homes in the background.
It is part and parcel to this story. The residents who live across the
street are connected to the landmark events in September of 1957 and
provide the backdrop for this particular element.
I am appreciative of Mr. Hill of Arkansas for leading forth with this
particular bill, realizing the significance, and I am happy that today,
on the very month this was happening 60 years ago, we actually are
talking about this particular event and desiring to secure these areas
so that the history of this country will be remembered to its fullest
extent.
One of our staffers in the committee who helped in the drafting of
this bill had the opportunity of having lunch with one of those Little
Rock Nine. His essay won, and his reward was to have a chance to
actually meet one of these heroic young women who went to Little Rock's
Central High School 60-plus years ago.
This is significant, and I cannot think of this story without in some
way feeling choked up inside because I know what it must have been like
for those kids to go there, and I know what it must have been like to
be part of that milieu. This was historic. They were true heroes. They
were truly brave kids who took this event on and did it with such
aplomb. They need to be remembered.
That is why I am happy that this bill is coming forward, so that we
can expand the horizon and we can expand the area of this historic site
so that we can make sure that this will be a protected area, so that
the history will not be forgotten and so what these kids did in that
very historic year of 1957 and 1958 in Little Rock will not be
forgotten, and so the significance and the conviction those kids had
and the experience they had to go through can be remembered and that we
can never again go back there. We could never again replicate that
area, and we will move forward in the area of civil rights as well as
education.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here to support this bill. I am going
to ask my colleagues to support this bill because it says so much about
us, about our commitments, about our priorities, and about what we want
to do, and it says so much about what is good in this country. This is
the primary example of what we are attempting to do.
Once again, Mr. Speaker, we appreciate all those who have spoken on
behalf of this particular bill, those who have worked on this bill, and
those who have sponsored this bill. This bill is something I think is
really significant. It says something that is very positive about this
country and helps us to remember that which is positive about this
country.
Mr. Speaker, I am urging all my colleagues to support this, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 2611.
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. BISHOP of Utah. 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 motion will be postponed.
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