[House Report 107-268]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    107-268

======================================================================



 
   AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ESTABLISH THE RONALD 
   REAGAN BOYHOOD HOME NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

November 5, 2001.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 400]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 400) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
establish the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic 
Site, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the bill do pass.

                          purpose of the bill

    The purpose of H.R. 400 is to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to establish the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home 
National Historic Site, and for other purposes.

                  background and need for legislation

    Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United 
States, was born on February 6, 1911, in Tampico, Illinois. 
After moving to a succession of rural towns in Illinois, the 
Reagans settled in 1920 in Dixon, Illinois; the place Ronald 
Reagan considers his hometown. President Reagan lived in the 
home located at 816 South Hennepin Road during part of his 
teenage years (1924-1928). From 1926 to 1933, Reagan was 
employed as a lifeguard in Lowell Park in Dixon where he was 
credited with saving seventy-seven lives. In 1928, President 
Reagan graduated from Dixon High School where he served as 
student body president.
    The Reagan Boyhood Home was restored and refurnished in 
1984 by the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home Foundation to appear as 
it did during the period President Reagan lived in the home. 
The boyhood home and museum, which is on the National Register 
of Historic Properties and part of the Ronald Reagan Boyhood 
Complex, is currently located on approximately \3/4\ of a 
square city block with three other structures and a parking lot 
for visitors. It has an annual visitation of approximately 
20,000 people, and is located within a historical district 
created by the City of Dixon pursuant to local ordinances.
    The Ronald Reagan Boyhood Complex (land and structures) 
designated under this legislation consists of the following: 
The North Half (N\1/2\) of Lot Three (3), Block One Hundred and 
Three (103), of the original Town (now city) of Dixon, Lee 
County, Illinois, and more commonly known as 816 South Hennepin 
Avenue, Dixon, Illinois (Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home); The South 
half (S\1/2\) of Lot Two (2), Block One Hundred and Three 
(103), of the original Town (now city) of Dixon, Lee County, 
Illinois, and more commonly known as 810 South Hennepin Avenue, 
Dixon, Illinois (Visitors Center); The South two-thirds (S\2/
3\) of Lot Four (4) in Block One Hundred Three (103) in the 
original Town (now city) of Dixon, Lee County, Illinois, and 
more commonly known as 821 South Galena Avenue, Dixon, Illinois 
(Parking Lot); The Westerly Ninety feet of the Southerly One 
half (S\1/2\) of Lot 3 in Block 103 in the Town (now city) of 
Dixon, Lee County, Illinois.
    Establishing the Boyhood Home as a National Historic Site 
will ensure the long-term preservation of the museum and its 
eligibility for funding from the National Park Service.

                            committee action

    H.R. 400 was introduced on February 6, 2001, by Congressman 
J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and was referred to the Committee on 
Resources. On February 15, 2001, the bill was referred within 
the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks, 
Recreation, and Public Lands. On March 8, 2001, the 
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On April 26, 2001, the 
Subcommittee met to mark up the bill. Congressman Joel Hefley 
(R-CO) offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute 
requiring that the Secretary of the Interior conduct a study on 
the suitability and feasibility of designating the Ronald 
Reagan Boyhood Home as a national historic site, and to submit 
a report to Congress within one year. The amendment was adopted 
by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was then forwarded to the 
Full Committee.
    On October 3, 2001, the Full Resources Committee met to 
consider the bill as introduced. Congressman Hefley offered an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute which mirrored the 
amendment adopted during Subcommittee markup. The amendment 
failed by a roll call vote of 11 to 12, as follows:


    There were no further amendments. The bill was then ordered 
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice 
vote.

            committee oversight findings and recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   constitutional authority statement

    Article I, section 8 and Article IV, section 3 of the 
Constitution of the United States grant Congress the authority 
to enact this bill.

                    compliance with house rule xiii

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. The purpose of 
H.R. 400 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
establish the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic 
Site.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, October 10, 2001.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 400, a bill to 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Ronald 
Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site, and for other 
purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 400--A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
        establish the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic 
        Site, and for other purposes

    H.R. 400 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
purchase the site of Ronald Reagan's boyhood home in Dixon, 
Illinois, at its fair market value. Once the property is 
acquired, the Secretary would designate it as the Ronald Reagan 
Boyhood Home National Historic Site. The National Park Service 
(NPS) would execute a cooperative agreement with the Ronald 
Reagan Boyhood Home Foundation (the site's current owner), to 
operate the site. Within two years, the NPS, in consultation 
with the foundation, would develop a general management plan 
that would define the roles of the two parties in interpreting 
and preserving the site.
    CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost 
the federal government about $700,000 over the next two years, 
subject to appropriation of the necessary amounts. Based on 
available information on area property values, we estimate that 
the NPS would spend about $400,000 of this amount to purchase 
the site from the foundation. (This nonprofit organization paid 
around $30,000 for the former Reagan home in the early 1980s 
and has since invested several million dollars in the home and 
adjacent properties.) The remaining $300,000 would be used to 
complete a general management plan for the site and develop 
interpretive materials. CBO further estimates that once the 
plan and cooperative agreement have been finalized, the NPS 
would spend between $250,000 and $500,000 annually to provide 
technical and financial assistance to the foundation, which 
would operate the historic site. The costs of this bill are 
based on information provided by the NPS and local tax 
authorities.
    H.R. 400 would not affect direct spending or receipts; 
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. The 
legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would have no significant impact on the budgets of state, 
local, or tribal governments.
    The staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. The 
estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

             DISSENTING VIEWS OF THE HONORABLE JOEL HEFLEY

    The decision of this committee to ignore the actions of its 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands 
with regard to H.R. 400 flies in the face of legislative comity 
and negates a nearly 10-year effort to establish a rational 
process for the creation of National Park Service units. For 
that reason, I must oppose this legislation.
    As adopted by the committee, H.R. 400 would establish the 
Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historical Site in Dixon, 
Illinois. There is no question in my mind that the Reagan site 
deserves eventual inclusion in the system. But the Park Service 
has never studied the site nor been given the opportunity to 
recommend how it would be interpreted.
    Three years ago, this Congress passed an omnibus Interior 
bill that included the National Park Service Reform Act. That 
act required that proposed Park Service units first be studied 
by the National Park Service; that the Park Service present to 
Congress its recommendation for the unit, including its 
interpretation; and finally, that any unit must be authorized 
by this committee before any appropriations could be released. 
Even the National Parks & Conservation Association, which 
fought the Reform Act as a ``parks closure bill,'' conceded 
that adopting this process would amount to the most significant 
piece of parks legislation since the Organic Act of 1916. After 
a grueling three-year debate and no small amount of political 
grief to myself, Mr. Hansen (of Utah), Mr. Miller (of 
California), our late colleague, Mr. Vento and others, the bill 
became law in 1998.
    The National Park Service Reform Act grew out of debate 
over the Steamtown National Historic Site near Scranton, 
Pennsylvania. There, a powerful member of the House 
Appropriations Committee, managed to funnel over $100 million 
into the creation of a railway park of dubious authenticity. 
Even its sponsor conceded Steamtown's main purpose was economic 
development: ``My town's economy was based on coal and then on 
textiles,'' he told me. ``This is all we've got left.'' 
Meanwhile, Park Service backlogs in maintenance, land 
acquisition and housing continued to grow into the billions, a 
situation which would continue, without redress, until Mr. 
Regula (of Ohio) became chairman of the Interior Appropriations 
Subcommittee in 1994.
    I authored the National Park Service Reform Act because I 
believe--then and now--that Park Service units should be 
designated on the basis of what they are, not because they are 
the pet project of someone in a powerful position. As chairman 
of the National Parks Subcommittee, Dr. Christensen (of the 
Virgin Islands) and I worked to ensure a fair hearing for the 
proposal before our panel. Save for the Moccasin Bend National 
Historic Site in Tennessee, which has been studied for 50 
years, and an expansion of the Booker T. Washington NHS in 
Virginia, all the parks proposals, all the trails and heritage 
area proposals, were made subject to Park Service study. By a 
voice vote, that subcommittee amended H.R. 400 to mandate a 
study as well. The committee, however, has chosen to vote on 
the bill's original text, which designates the Reagan site 
immediately and without a study.
    There's no doubt that Speaker Hastert is in a powerful 
position. Nevertheless, I believe he should follow the same 
rules as everyone else. So should I. So should everyone on this 
committee or in this Congress. A year will endanger neither the 
significance nor the safety of the Reagan Home. Its present 
custodians have done an exemplary job creating and preserving 
the site. They are getting on in years and want only the 
safeguard of an NPS designation to preserve their work, but 
have no objection to a year's delay for the study. But by 
ignoring the actions of the Parks Subcommittee and the Park 
Service Reform Act, we risk returning to a balkanized Park 
System of units significant only to those who had enough clout 
to establish them.
    When I first entered into the park reform debate seven 
years ago, I said that if an authorizing committee wasn't going 
to stand firm on its policies, it might as well go home and 
leave things to the appropriators. By passing the unamended 
version of H.R. 400, that is basically what the Resources 
Committee has done.

                                   Joel Hefley.

                                  
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