[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 177 (Wednesday, November 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H8325-H8326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL PARK ACT
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 1488) to retitle Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore as Indiana
Dunes National Park, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1488
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 ``Indiana Dunes National Park
Act''.
SEC. 2. INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE RETITLED AS INDIANA
DUNES NATIONAL PARK.
(a) In General.--Public Law 89-761 (16 U.S.C. 460u et seq.)
is amended--
(1) by striking ``National Lakeshore'' and ``national
lakeshore'' each place it appears and inserting ``National
Park''; and
(2) by striking ``lakeshore'' each place it appears and
inserting ``Park''.
(b) Nonapplication.--The amendment made by subsection
(a)(1) shall not apply to the title of the map referred to in
the first section of Public Law 89-761 (16 U.S.C. 460u), or
to the title of the maps referred to in section 4 of Public
Law 89-761 (16 U.S.C. 460u-3).
SEC. 3. PAUL H. DOUGLAS TRAIL.
The 1.6 mile trail within the Indiana Dunes National Park
designated the ``Miller-Woods Trail'' is hereby redesignated
as the ``Paul H. Douglas Trail''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Cook) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Torres)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days to revise 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 California?
There was no objection.
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1488 would redesignate Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore as Indiana Dunes National Park.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was established by Congress in 1966.
The designation of the national lakeshore as a unit of the National
Park Service was the culmination of decades of work by
conservationists, area residents, and elected officials.
The original law included 8,330 acres of land and water. The National
Park Service conservation advocates continued to seek expansion of the
boundaries, and five subsequent laws increased the size of the national
lakeshore to more than 15,000 acres.
In October 1916, shortly after the National Park Service was
established, NPS Director Stephen Mather held hearings in Chicago to
gauge public sentiment on a Sand Dunes National Park. In a Department
of the Interior report published after the hearings, Director Mather
stated: ``No national park or other Federal reservation offers this
phenomenon for the pleasure and edification of the people, and no
national park is as accessible. Furthermore, the dunes offer to the
visitor extraordinary scenery, a large variety of plant life,
magnificent bathing beaches, and splendid opportunities to camp and
live in the wild close to nature.''
Despite Director Mather's support, the national park proposal was
abandoned at the onset of World War I, and
[[Page H8326]]
several years later, in 1925, Indiana Dunes State Park was established.
Redesignation of the national lakeside as a national park would make
Indiana Dunes the 60th national park in the United States.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on H.R. 1488, the Indiana Dunes
National Park Act. This act seeks to rename the Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore to the Indiana Dunes National Park, one of the over 400 units
of the National Park System.
Upon successful redesignation, the Indiana Dunes National Park would
become the 60th national park, areas which are known for their variety
of resources, for encompassing large land and water areas, and for
providing protection of resources within their boundaries.
Designated in 1966, Indiana Dunes protects over 15,000 acres, 50
miles of trails, and provides both summer and winter recreational
activities for over 2 million visitors who trek to the lakeshore each
year.
When the lakeshore was admitted into the National Park System in
1966, it was through the hard work of President Kennedy in 1963-64 to
create a compromise for the national lakeshore and a port to promote
the industrial needs of the area.
Sponsors of this bill, including our esteemed colleague
Representative Visclosky, believe that renaming the lakeshore as the
Indiana Dunes National Park will capture the spirit and intent of the
first National Park Service Director Stephen Mather.
Director Mather visited the area in 1916 and recommended the area be
included as a national park within the newly designated National Park
System. Sadly, the United States' entry into World War I precluded that
addition. Now, 101 years later, this bill seeks to redesignate 15,000
acres of the Indiana Dunes National Park.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), the sponsor of this
legislation.
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman for
yielding.
I want to begin by thanking Chairman Bishop and Ranking Member
Grijalva for all of their work on this legislation, as well as Chairman
McClintock and Ranking Member Hanabusa and Mrs. Torres for their
diligence.
Mr. Speaker, the legislation we are considering today represents a
very small change--one word--but it would have an enormous benefit of
rightly placing the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore where it belongs
as the Nation's 60th national park and the first national park in the
State of Indiana.
As mentioned, located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, the
Indiana Dunes are a natural wonder and home of a vast array of rare
plants. According to the National Park Service, Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore is the seventh most biologically diverse National Park
Service unit.
I believe the chairman and Mrs. Torres ably described the history of
the dunes and its evolution. I thank them for that, and I would thank
all of the citizens over that half century and more that petitioned for
the creation of this great park.
The lakeshore currently does encompass about 15,000 acres of wetlands
and marshes, beaches, oak savannahs, and sand dunes. It is clear that
the title of the Indiana Dunes National Park is fitting for such a
unique natural resource.
The American taxpayers, over a number of generations, have invested
in the preservation of the park. It is incumbent that we do everything
possible to encourage citizens and travelers from around the world to
visit it, to learn about it, to recreate, and to simply enjoy the
environment of northwest Indiana's lakeshore. H.R. 1488 helps to
achieve this goal.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud that the act is supported in a bipartisan
fashion by the entire Indiana delegation. I would also like to thank
Senators Donnelly and Young, who have introduced a companion measure in
the Senate.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support passage.
Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Young of Iowa). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Cook) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1488, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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