[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20908]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL PARK

  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, later this morning, I will introduce 
legislation, along with Senator Biden, calling for a feasibility study 
by the Department of the Interior for establishing a National Park 
Service unit in a State that has never had a national park.
  Believe it or not, the State that started the Nation, the first State 
to ever ratify the Constitution, has no national park.
  The State in which the first Swedes and Finns came to America and 
landed on what is now Wilmington, DE, calling it New Sweden, has no 
national park.
  The State where John Dickinson grew up, who is a coauthor of the 
Great Compromise creating a bicameral legislature, has no national 
park.
  I could go on.
  The heritage of our State and the history of our State together 
create a fabric which, in a sense, is the tapestry of America. Senator 
Biden and I thus call on the Department of the Interior to conduct a 
feasibility study to see if maybe a wonderful idea that has evolved 
from a committee led by Dr. Jim Soles, a professor at the University of 
Delaware, might win favor with the Department of the Interior and maybe 
with our colleagues in the year to come.
  What is being proposed is a Delaware national coastal heritage park.
  It would weave together many of the elements and attractions along 
the coast of our State, which include the Atlantic Ocean, the Delaware 
Bay, and the Delaware River.
  For the last year or more, a wonderful group of Delawareans has 
worked together with the Delaware State Division of Parks and 
Recreation, with the National Park Service, with the Delaware Division 
of Historical and Cultural Affairs to develop what we believe is a 
unique and innovative concept, a concept that would include four hubs. 
The major hub would be in Wilmington, DE, at the rocks where the first 
Swedes and Finns came ashore in 1638 to America to establish what is 
now the longest living active Episcopal church, Old Swedes Church, in 
North America.
  That hub would be almost like the hub of a wheel, with spokes 
emanating to historic sites, natural areas, recreational opportunities, 
and other attractions in the area. There would be three other similar 
hubs up and down the State of Delaware as well.
  Later today, when I have more time, I welcome the opportunity to 
share with my colleagues a bit more about this proposal. I have
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. I yield myself time under the intelligence bill.
  Mr. REID. Has the bill been reported?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. No.

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