[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.

                          ____________________