[House Report 109-286]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-286

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    COMMEMORATING THE LITE, OR LIFETIME INNOVATIONS OF THOMAS EDISON

                                _______
                                

 November 10, 2005.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1096]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 1096) to establish the Thomas Edison National Historical 
Park in the State of New Jersey as the successor to the Edison 
National Historic Site, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill 
as amended do pass.
  The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Act Commemorating the LITE, or 
Lifetime Innovations of Thomas Edison''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

  The purposes of this Act are--
          (1) to recognize and pay tribute to Thomas Alva Edison and 
        his innovations; and
          (2) to preserve, protect, restore, and enhance the Edison 
        National Historic Site to ensure public use and enjoyment of 
        the Site as an educational, scientific, and cultural center.

SEC. 3. THOMAS EDISON NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.

  (a) Establishment.--There is established the Thomas Edison National 
Historical Park as a unit of the National Park System (hereafter the 
``Historical Park'').
  (b) Boundaries.--The Historical Park shall be comprised of--
          (1) all property owned by the United States in the Edison 
        National Historic Site as well as all property authorized to be 
        acquired by the Secretary of the Interior for inclusion in the 
        Edison National Historic Site before the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, as generally depicted on the map entitled the 
        ``Edison National Historic Site'', numbered 20003B, and dated 
        April 1977; and
          (2) all property authorized to be acquired for inclusion in 
        the Historical Park by this Act or other law enacted after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
  (c) Map.--The map of the Historical Park shall be on file and 
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the 
National Park Service.

SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION.

  (a) In General.--The Secretary shall administer the Historical Park 
in accordance with this Act and with the provisions of law generally 
applicable to units of the National Park System, including the Acts 
entitled ``An Act to establish a National Park Service, and for other 
purposes,'' approved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1 et 
seq.) and ``An Act to provide for the preservation of historic American 
sites, buildings, objects, and antiquities of national significance, 
and for other purposes,'' approved August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et 
seq.).
  (b) Acquisition of Property.--
          (1) Real property.--The Secretary may acquire land or 
        interests in land within the boundaries of the Historical Park, 
        from willing sellers only, by donation, purchase with donated 
        or appropriated funds, or exchange.
          (2) Personal property.--The Secretary may acquire personal 
        property associated with, and appropriate for, interpretation 
        of the Historical Park.
  (c) Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary may consult and enter into 
cooperative agreements with interested entities and individuals to 
provide for the preservation, development, interpretation, and use of 
the Historical Park.
  (d) Repeal of Superseded Law.--Public Law 87-628 (76 Stat. 428), 
regarding the establishment and administration of the Edison National 
Historic Site, is repealed.
  (e) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, 
paper, or other record of the United States to the ``Edison National 
Historic Site'' shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Thomas 
Edison National Historical Park''.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

  There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 
to carry out this Act.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 1096 is to establish the Thomas Edison 
National Historical Park in the State of New Jersey as the 
successor to the Edison National Historic Site.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    In 1955 the Edison Laboratory National Monument was 
established after 1.5 acres and 12 buildings were donated to 
the federal government by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. An additional 
16 acres and Edison's home were donated in 1959, and became the 
Edison Home National Historic Site. The two sites, which are 
approximately one mile apart, were redesignated as the Edison 
National Historic Site in 1962. Typically, a historic site is 
considered by the National Park Service to contain a single 
historical feature, while generally a national historic park 
extends beyond single properties or buildings. Based on this 
definition, proponents of H.R. 1096 believe the Edison Historic 
Site would be more appropriately designated as a national 
historic park. Supporters of H.R. 1096 anticipate that this 
redesignation will bring more attention, visitation, and 
revenue to the Edison Historic Site.
    H.R. 1096 will redesignate the Edison National Historic 
Site as the Thomas Edison National Historic Park. The Park will 
encompass all lands currently contained in the Historic Site 
and property designated for inclusion by the Secretary of the 
Interior prior to passage of this Act.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 1096 was introduced on March 3, 2005, by Congressman 
Scott Garrett (R-NJ). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
National Parks. On June 9, 2005, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the bill. On October 19, 2005, the full Committee on 
Resources met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 
discharged from further consideration of the bill by unanimous 
consent. Congressman Stevan Pearce (R-NM) offered an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute which struck the findings in 
Section 2 of the legislation. The Pearce amendment was adopted 
by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, was then ordered 
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous 
consent.

            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 tax 
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 
enactment of this bill would increase offsetting receipts and 
direct spending, but ``any net change in direct spending would 
be negligible.''
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the general performance goal or objective of 
this bill is to establish the Thomas Edison National Historical 
Park in the State of New Jersey as the successor to the Edison 
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:

H.R. 1096--Act Commemorating the LITE, or Lifetime Innovations of 
        Thomas Edison

    H.R. 1096 would redesignate the Edison National Historic 
site in New Jersey as the Thomas Edison National Historical 
Park. Based on information provided by the National Park 
Service (NPS), CBO estimates that implementing this bill would 
have no significant effect on the federal budget. Under the 
bill, the unit's boundaries, the agency's authority to acquire 
land and execute cooperative agreements with local entities, 
and annual operating costs would be similar or identical to 
those under existing law. We expect that one-time costs to 
revise NPS brochures, maps, and signs would be minimal because 
most such revisions would take place in conjunction with 
scheduled reprinting and other routine maintenance. Finally, 
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1096 would not affect revenues 
or direct spending.
    H.R. 1096 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 CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
This 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 Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets and 
existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

                        ACT OF SEPTEMBER 5, 1962


                          (Public Law 87-628)

 AN ACT to change the names of the Edison Home National Historic Site 
     and the Edison Laboratory National Monument, to authorize the 
            acceptance of donations, and for other purposes.

  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, [That the 
Edison Home National Historic Site and the Edison Laboratory 
National Monument, together with adjacent parcels aggregating 
approximately seventy-one one-hundredths of an acre which have 
been donated to the United States for addition to the monument, 
are designated the Edison National Historic Site.
  [Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Interior may accept the 
donation of such lands and interests in lands, for addition to 
the site, as he determines will further the preservation of the 
Edison National Historic Site and its enjoyment by the public.
  [Sec. 3. The Edison National Historic Site shall be 
administered by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to the 
Act entitled ``An Act to establish a National Park Service and 
for other purposes,'' approved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 
16 U.S.C. 1, 2, 3), as amended and supplemented.]

                                  
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