[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3695]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          MANHATTAN PROJECT NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK STUDY ACT

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I briefly would like to say how pleased 
I am that the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Study Act was 
enacted in the last Congress. That Act, Public Law 108-340, directs the 
Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to assess 
the national significance, suitability, and feasibility of designating 
one or more of the historically significant sites associated with the 
Manhattan Project as a unit of the National Park System. The 
significance of the Manhattan Project to this Nation--and indeed the 
world--would be difficult to overstate, and I believe that passing this 
bill was an important step in fulfilling our responsibility to ensure 
that society neither forgets nor misunderstands it.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague, 
Senator Bingaman, for sponsoring that measure, and I appreciated the 
support of Senator Domenici and our colleagues from Tennessee and 
Washington.
  The Manhattan Project stands as one of the great technological 
achievements of the 20th century. Therefore, it is appropriate to 
recognize the historical importance of the sites most closely 
associated with the development of the atomic bomb. This legislation 
has begun a process for the Secretary of the Interior to provide that 
recognition.
  I want to call attention to the critical contributions made in 
Dayton, OH, toward the Manhattan Project, under what became known as 
the ``Dayton Project.'' Because the Dayton Project was shrouded in 
secrecy, its contribution has long been overlooked. Yet, the 
technological achievements of the Dayton Project were among the most 
important to the completion of the Manhattan Project. It was in Dayton 
that scientists discovered how to trigger the chain reaction that 
unleashed the power of the atom. To continue that effort, the Atomic 
Energy Commission established the Mound Laboratory in Miamisburg, just 
southeast of Dayton.
  As my colleague explained, the act directs the Secretary of the 
Interior to study three specifically named sites associated with the 
history of the Manhattan Project. I would like to ask the distinguished 
Senator if there is the opportunity for sites associated with the 
Dayton Project to be recognized?
  Mr. BINGAMAN. The legislation directs the Secretary to include within 
the study the ``historically significant sites associated with the 
Manhattan Project.'' While the bill lists three of those sites, it does 
not limit the study to only those sites. Additional sites may be 
included, and it leaves that decision to the discretion of the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and other 
interested Federal, State, tribal, and local officials, representatives 
of organizations, and members of the public. So, by those terms, there 
certainly is the opportunity for sites such as the Dayton Project to be 
included in the study.
  Mr. DeWINE. I thank the Senator from New Mexico.

                          ____________________