[Senate Report 111-141]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 291
111th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     111-141

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   LONGFELLOW HOUSE--WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

                                _______
                                

                 March 2, 2010.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1405]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1405) to redesignate the Longfellow 
National Historic Site, Massachusetts, as the ``Longfellow 
House--Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site'', 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 1405 is to redesignate the Longfellow 
National Historic Site in Massachusetts as the Longfellow 
House--Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Longfellow National Historic Site located in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, preserves and tells the story of famed American 
poet and writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow and his 
wife Frances Appleton were given the home as a wedding gift and 
Longfellow lived there from 1843 until his death in 1882. The 
structure serves as an outstanding example of New England 
colonial architecture and it, the grounds, and the furnishings 
are all well preserved.
    The historical site also served as George Washington's 
headquarters during the siege of Boston in 1775 and 1776. The 
house had been abandoned in the early stages of the war by the 
owner who sympathized with the British. It was later chosen by 
George Washington as his first headquarters during the 
Revolutionary War. Washington and his officers moved in soon 
after he assumed command of the Continental Army in July, 1775. 
The house was occupied by Washington until April.
    S. 1405 redesignates the national historic site as the 
Longfellow House--Washington's Headquarters National Historic 
Site, which will more accurately describe a significant 
component of the site's history.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1405 was introduced on July 7, 2009, by Senators Kennedy 
and Kerry. Senator Kirk is a cosponsor. The Subcommittee on 
National Parks held a hearing on the bill on November 4, 2009. 
At its business meeting on December 16, 2009, the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 1405 favorably reported 
without amendment.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on December 16, 2009, by a voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1405.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 contains the short title for the bill, the 
``Longfellow House--Washington's Headquarters National Historic 
Site Designation Act.''
    Section 2 redesignates the Longfellow National Historic 
Site in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the Longfellow House--
Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, and provides 
that any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
or other record of the United States to the Longfellow National 
Historic Site shall be considered to be a reference to the 
Longfellow House--Washington's Headquarters National Historic 
Site.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

S. 1405--Longfellow House--Washington's Headquarters National Historic 
        Site Designation Act

    S. 1405 would rename the Longfellow National Historic Site, 
located in Massachusetts, the Longfellow House--Washington's 
Headquarters National Historic Site. CBO estimates that 
implementing the name change would have no significant effect 
on the federal budget. Enacting S. 1405 would not affect direct 
spending or revenues.
    The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 1405.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
economic responsibilities on private individuals and 
businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 1405, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 1405, as reported, does not contain any congressionally 
directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the 
November 4, 2009, Subcommittee hearing on S. 1405 follows:

   Statement of Katherine H. Stevenson, Assistant Director, Business 
      Services, National Park Service, Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to provide the 
Department of the Interior's views on S. 1405 to redesignate 
the Longfellow National Historic Site in Massachusetts as the 
Longfellow House-Washington Headquarters National Historic 
Site.
    The Department supports enactment of this legislation.
    On June 16, 1775, George Washington accepted the 
appointment of the Continental Congress as commander of the 
yet-to-be-formed Continental Army. He immediately journeyed 
north to take command of New England militia troops on July 3, 
1775, and conduct a siege of British-held Boston, 
Massachusetts. A house, abandoned by Loyalist John Vassall, on 
Brattle Street in Cambridge became his headquarters for nine 
months during the conflict. Vassall had been forced to flee the 
house shortly after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. 
Washington's wife Martha, along with other family members and 
servants from Virginia, joined him there for four of those 
months.
    From a ground floor office in the house, Washington 
struggled with the numerous problems of his new command. Among 
these were defending the region against the well-trained 
British troops occupying Boston, bringing discipline to the 
untrained militia, and supplying his army with arms and the 
accoutrements of war. It was here, too, that he gave command to 
Benedict Arnold of a small force to attack Quebec over the 
mountains of Maine and confronted Dr. Benjamin Church, a 
patriot leader, with evidence that he was a British spy. From 
Cambridge, Washington provided for the development of a network 
of spies in Boston to report on British plans and movements. He 
also approved the arming and use of vessels to confront British 
supply ships.
    The siege proved to be successful and the British withdrew 
from Boston without the destruction of lives and property that 
a major battle would have caused. For his efforts, Washington 
received a medal from Congress and an honorary degree from 
Harvard.
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his wife Fanny received the 
house on Brattle Street as a wedding gift from his wife's 
father in 1843. Both expressed pride in owning the house that 
had been Washington's headquarters. Fanny Longfellow wrote:

        ``. . . we are full of plans and projects with no 
        desire, however, to change a feature of the old 
        countenance which Washington has rendered sacred.''

    Longfellow relished conducting tours of the house when 
tourists would inquire about the period when it was 
Washington's headquarters. The Longfellows also collected 
Washington memorabilia, which are prominent among the 
furnishings they left and which are preserved today at the 
national historic site.
    Public Law 92-475, which authorized the establishment of 
the national historic site in 1972, recognized the role that 
the house played as the headquarters of General George 
Washington during the siege of Boston between 1775 and 1776. 
Redesignation of the national historic site will better enable 
visitors to identify the importance of the full history of the 
resource and appreciate Longfellow's veneration of George 
Washington.
    The appropriateness of redesignating the name of the 
national historic site was perhaps best expressed by Henry 
Wadsworth Longfellow, himself, from the same ground floor 
office used by Washington. In 1845, in his poem entitled ``To a 
Child'', he wrote this passage:

        Once, ah, once, within these walls,
        One whom memory oft recalls,
        The Father of his Country, dwelt.
        And yonder meadows broad and damp
        The fires of the besieging camp
        Encircled with a burning belt.
        Up and down these echoing stairs,
        Heavy with the weight of cares,
        Sounded his majestic tread;
        Yes, within this very room
        Sat he in those hours of gloom,
        Weary both in heart and head.

    Mr. Chairman, that concludes my testimony. I would be 
pleased to answer any questions you or members of the committee 
may have regarding the proposed redesignation.


                        changes in existing law


    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 1405, as 
ordered reported.

                                  
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