[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 217 (Sunday, December 20, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7859]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            U.S. AFRICAN-AMERICAN BURIAL GROUNDS NETWORK ACT

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss S. 2827, the 
African-American Burial Grounds Network Act, introduced by Senator 
Alexander from Tennessee and me.
  We know that for too long and in too many parts of our country, Black 
families were blocked from burying their loved ones in White 
cemeteries. These men and women were freed slaves, civil rights 
champions, veterans, mothers, fathers, and active workers in 
communities.
  Our bill is simple. It directs the National Park Service to conduct a 
study on ways to identify and preserve and record unmarked, abandoned, 
or other historic African-American burial grounds.
  We need to act now before these sites are lost to the ravages of time 
or development.
  In an op-ed published in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Senator 
Alexander summed up the need for bills like ours: ``Our children need 
to learn more history in order to grow up knowing what it means to be 
an American, including our struggle with race.''
  For more than two centuries, these cemeteries have been looked after 
by churches, community groups, and private citizens. I learned about 
these efforts and the struggle to preserve these sacred places when I 
visited Union Baptist Church in Cincinnati, where parishioners have 
worked to preserve their hallowed space from vandals and the inexorable 
passage of time.
  The cemetery I visited in Cincinnati was founded in 1864. It is a 
final resting place for freed slaves, for Black Union soldiers, and for 
civil rights activists.
  I was there last November on a very cold morning, I remember, with 
Ms. Angelita Jones, chair of the trustee board for Union Baptist 
Church, and other elected officials in the city and members of the 
church, to announce funding to help restore the cemetery. But there is 
more to do at this cemetery and so many more like it across the 
country.
  Our bill will help us better understand the scope and the scale of 
the issue and develop the tools needed to help churches, historic 
organizations, and communities to protect these sacred burial grounds.
  I would like to take a minute, as we move this legislation forward--
and I appreciate the cooperation of the people on all sides--to thank 
Senator Alexander for his help with this bill. In fact, almost 3 years 
ago to the day--it was almost exactly this day; I believe it was 
December 21, 2017--our bill to create an African American Civil Rights 
Network passed this Chamber. His interest in and awareness of 
protecting and preserving our history and the contributions to it by 
all Americans are so important.
  He has been a champion for so many issues that I have had the 
pleasure to work with him on over the years, from protecting the Smokey 
Mountains to STEM education, to helping me find funding for cleanup 
efforts at a former uranium enrichment plant in Southern Ohio. His 
willingness to work across the aisle and to work in good faith for an 
agreeable compromise will surely be missed. We all regret his 
retirement and thank him for amazing service.
  Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from 
further consideration of S. 2827 and the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2827) to amend title 54, United States Code, to 
     establish within the National Park Service the U.S. African-
     American Burial Grounds Network, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the 
Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Brown 
substitute amendment be agreed to and the bill, as amended, be 
considered read a third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2721) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to, 
as follows:


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On page S7859, December 20, 2020, second column, the following 
appears: The amendment (No. 2827) in the nature of a substitute 
was agreed to, as follows:
  
  The online Record has been corrected to read: The amendment (No. 
2721) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to, as follows:


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


                (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``African American Burial 
     Grounds Study Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Burial ground.--The term ``burial ground'' means any 
     natural or prepared physical location, whether originally 
     below, on, or above the surface of the earth, into which 
     human remains are deposited as a part of the death rite or 
     ceremony of a culture.
       (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National 
     Park Service.

     SEC. 3. AFRICAN AMERICAN BURIAL GROUNDS STUDY.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct a study of 
     ways to identify, interpret, preserve, and record unmarked, 
     previously abandoned, underserved, or other burial grounds 
     relating to the historic African American experience.
       (b) Requirements.--In conducting the study under subsection 
     (a), the Secretary shall consider--
       (1) ways to engage with descendant, local, and other 
     communities historically associated with identified burial 
     grounds by geography, genealogy, or culture;
       (2) appropriate processes to identify locations of unmarked 
     and unrecorded African American burial grounds with 
     appropriate consideration for the privacy and safety of the 
     burial grounds;
       (3) alternatives for providing in a public database, as 
     appropriate, the locations of, and information on, recorded 
     and unrecorded African American burial grounds;
       (4) alternatives for commemorating and interpreting African 
     American burial grounds; and
       (5) best practices for preserving burial ground landscapes 
     and caring for artifacts.
       (c) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date on which 
     funds are first made available to carry out the study under 
     subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 
     on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 
     Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
     Representatives a report describing--
       (1) the findings of the study; and
       (2) any recommendations of the Secretary.

  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read 
the third time.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the bill, as 
amended.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
  Hearing none, the bill having been read the third time, the question 
is, Shall the bill pass?
  The bill (S. 2827), as amended, was passed.
  Mr. BROWN. I ask unanimous consent that the title amendment be agreed 
to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The title amendment (No. 2722) was agreed to, as follows:


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On page S7859, December 20, 2020, third column, the following 
appears: The title amendment (No. 2827) was agreed to, as follows:
  
  The online Record has been corrected to read: The title 
amendment (No. 2722) was agreed to, as follows:


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


                     (Purpose: To amend the title)

       Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to authorize the 
     Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of African 
     American burial grounds, and for other purposes.''.

  Mr. BROWN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.

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