[Senate Report 117-87]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 295
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-87
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BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE EXPANSION ACT
_______
March 2, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Manchin, from the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 270]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 270), to amend the Act entitled ``Act to
provide for the establishment of the Brown v. Board of
Education National Historic Site in the State of Kansas, and
for other purposes'' to provide for inclusion of additional
related sites in the National Park System, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with an amendment and recommends that the bill, as amended, do
pass.
Amendment
The amendment is as follows:
At the end, add the following:
SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF THE BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION NATIONAL
HISTORICAL PARK.
(a) In General.--The Brown v. Board of Education National
Historic Site established by section 103(a) of Public Law 102-
525 (54 U.S.C. 320101 note; 106 Stat. 3439) shall be known and
designated as the ``Brown v. Board of Education National
Historical Park''.
(b) References.--Any reference in any law, regulation,
document, record, map, or other paper of the United States to
the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site shall be
considered to be a reference to the ``Brown v. Board of
Education National Historical Park''.
Purpose
The purpose of S. 270 is to include Summerton High School
in Clarendon County, South Carolina, within the boundary of the
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Kansas
and to designate additional sites associated with the other
cases in Virginia, Delaware, and Washington, DC, that were
consolidated into the Supreme Court's landmark Brown decision
in 1954 as National Park System affiliated areas.
Background and Need
The 1954 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that came to be
known as Brown v. Board of Education was actually the
consolidation of five separate cases that were heard by the
Court concerning the issue of segregation in public schools.
These cases were Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
(Kansas); Briggs v. Elliot (South Carolina); Davis v. Board of
Education of Prince Edward County (Virginia); Bolling v. Sharpe
(Washington, DC); and Gebhart v. Ethel (Delaware). While the
facts of each case were different, the main issue in each was
the constitutionality of state-sponsored segregation in public
schools. When the cases came before the Supreme Court in 1952,
the Court consolidated all five cases under the name of Brown
v. Board of Education.
In 1992, Congress enacted Public Law 102-525, which
established the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic
Site in Topeka, Kansas, as a unit of the National Park System.
The purposes of the park designation included preserving,
protecting, and interpreting ``for the benefit and enjoyment of
present and future generations, the places that contributed
materially to the landmark United States Supreme Court decision
that brought an end to segregation in public education, and to
interpret the integral role of the Brown v. Board of Education
case in the civil rights movement.'' Public Law 102-525, sec.
102(b).
However, the original national historic site designation
did not include protection or interpretation of the other sites
that were an integral part of the Brown v. Board of Education
decision. S. 270 incorporates the other sites into the national
historic site by adding Summerton High School in Clarendon
County, South Carolina to the boundary of the Brown v. Board of
Education National Historic Site, and by designating the
additional school sites in Virginia, Delaware, and Washington,
DC, as national park system affiliated areas to include sites
associated with the other cases that were consolidated into the
Supreme Court's landmark Brown decision in 1954.
Legislative History
Senators Coons, Graham, Warner, Scott of South Carolina,
Carper, Moran, and Kaine introduced S. 270 on February 8, 2021.
Senator Marshall later joined as a cosponsor. The Subcommittee
on National Parks held a hearing on the bill on June 23, 2021.
Representatives Clyburn, Blunt Rochester, Good, and Delegate
Norton introduced an identical bill, H.R. 920, on February 8,
2021. Representatives Foster, Hastings, Kuster, and McCollum
later joined as cosponsors. The House Natural Resources
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands held
a hearing on H.R. 920 on April 21, 2021. No further action has
been taken.
Committee Amendment
The Energy and Natural Resource Committee agreed to an
amendment that redesignates the Brown v. Board of Education
National Historic Site established by section 103(a) of Public
Law 102-525 (54 U.S.C. 320101 note; 106 Stat. 3439), and any
reference in law, regulation, document, record, map, or other
paper of the United States, as the ``Brown v. Board of
Education National Historical Park.''
Committee Recommendation
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on November 18, 2021, by a majority voice vote
of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 270, if
amended as described herein. Senator Lee asked to be recorded
as voting no.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 provides the short title for the bill as ``Brown
v. Board of Education National Historic Site Expansion Act.''
Section 2. Expansion of the Brown v. Board of Education National
Historic Site
Section 2 amends Public Law 102-525 (54 U.S.C. 320101 note;
106 Stat. 3438 et seq.) as follows:
Paragraph (1) adds definitions of ``affiliated area'' and
``affiliated areas'' to the definitions in section 101.
Paragraph (2) amends section 102(a) by adding Congressional
findings on the significance of the four other cases included
in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka opinion.
Paragraph (2) also adds descriptions of the sites and
affiliated areas associated with the four cases.
Paragraph (3) makes conforming edits.
Paragraph (4) adds a new subsection (c) which adds
Summerton High School and Scott's Branch High School located in
Clarendon County, South Carolina to the National Historic Site.
The new subsection (c) provides that the boundary shall not be
expanded to include the school sites until the Secretary has
acquired a sufficient quantity of land, or interests in land,
to constitute a manageable park unit.
Paragraph (5) prohibits the Secretary from acquiring the
land within the boundaries of the National Historic Site by
condemnation.
Paragraph (6) requires the Secretary to prepare and submit
a general management plan for the National Historic Site
locations in Clarendon County, South Carolina.
Paragraph (7) adds a new section 106 that designates the
locations associated with the other three court cases in Brown
v. Board of Education of Topeka, including Farmville, Virginia,
Wilmington, Delaware, and Washington, DC, as affiliated areas
of the National Park System, and describes the general
management plan requirements for the sites.
Sec. 3. Redesignation of the Brown v. Board of Education National
Historical Park
Section 3 redesignates the Brown v. Board of Education
National Historic Site established by section 103(a) of Public
Law 102-525 (54 U.S.C. 320101 note; 106 Stat. 3439), and any
reference in law, regulation, document, record, map, or other
paper of the United States, as the ``Brown v. Board of
Education National Historical Park.''
Cost and Budgetary Considerations
The Congressional Budget Office has not estimated the costs
of S. 270 as passed by the Senate. The Committee has requested,
but has not yet received, the Congressional Budget Office's
estimate of the cost of S. 270 as ordered reported. When the
Congressional Budget Office completes its cost estimate, it
will be posted on the Internet at www.cbo.gov.
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. 270. 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. 270, as ordered reported.
Congressionally Directed Spending
S. 270, as ordered 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 Department of the Interior at
the June 23, 2021, hearing on S. 270 follows:
Statement of Michael A. Caldwell, Acting Associate Director, Park
Planning, Facilities and Lands, National Park Service, U.S. Department
of the Interior
Chairman King, Ranking Member Daines, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the
Department of the Interior's (Department) views on S. 270, a
bill to amend the Act entitled ``Act to provide for the
establishment of the Brown v. Board of Education National
Historic Site in the State of Kansas, and for other purposes''
to provide for inclusion of additional related sites in the
National Park System, and for other purposes.
The Department supports efforts to broaden public
understanding of the events that led to the 1954 landmark U.S.
Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (Brown).
The Court's finding that racially segregated schools were
unconstitutional was unquestionably a pivotal event in our
nation's civil rights struggle.
S. 270 would expand the Brown v. Board of Education
National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas by authorizing the
addition of two school sites located in South Carolina to the
park unit upon their acquisition by the National Park Service
(NPS). It would also designate sites in Delaware, the District
of Columbia, and Virginia as affiliated areas of the National
Park System. The sites included in S. 270 are all associated
with the four additional court cases that were consolidated
into the Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case.
The affiliated areas would not be managed by the NPS, but they
would be required to be managed in accordance with any law
generally applicable to units of the National Park System. The
affiliated areas would be eligible for NPS technical and
financial assistance. The NPS would be required to prepare
general management plans for the proposed sites in South
Carolina--Summerton High School and Scott's Branch High School
in Clarendon County--and for the proposed affiliated areas.
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site was
established in Topeka, Kansas, on October 26, 1992, by Public
Law 102-525. The park opened to the public in 2004 on the 50th
anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. The
park's Monroe Elementary School and Sumner Elementary School
sites in Topeka, were designated National Historic Landmarks in
1987. This national historic site tells the story of all five
of the U.S. Supreme Court lawsuits with a special emphasis on
the one brought on behalf of Linda Brown, an African American
child who was denied the right to go to a public school near
her home because it was for white students only. As the lawsuit
that was the lead name for the five cases that were combined in
the case before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Brown case became
the most well-known of these cases.
However, the four other cases, and the sites associated
with those cases, also tell compelling stories about the
struggle to end school segregation:
Summerton High School in South Carolina was
an all-white school built in 1936. In 1947, Levi
Pearson, a black landowner, petitioned the local school
board to provide school bus transportation for his
children, detailing the glaring differences in
expenditures, buildings, and services available for
white and black students. That petition led to a series
of court cases including the one brought by plaintiffs
in Briggs v. Elliott, which was included in the Brown
v. Board decision in 1954. Of the five schools
mentioned in Pearson's petition, Summerton High School
is the only one still standing. It has been listed on
the National Register of Historic Places in recognition
of its national significance and is used as
administrative offices for Clarendon School District 1.
Robert Russa Moton School, the all-black
school in Farmville, Virginia, was the location of a
student-led strike in 1951 that led to Davis v. County
School Board of Prince Edward County, a case that
became part of Brown v. Board of Education. The site is
designated a National Historic Landmark in recognition
of its national significance and is now the Robert
Russa Moton Museum, governed by the Moton Museum, Inc.
and affiliated with Longwood University.
Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware,
was the first high school for African Americans in the
state of Delaware. Parents of students bused to Howard
included the plaintiffs in Belton v. Gebhart, who sued
to allow admittance to the closer all-white Claymont
High School. Howard High School served the entire state
of Delaware. The site is designated a National Historic
Landmark in recognition of its national significance.
Now the Howard High School of Technology, it is an
active school administered by the New Castle County
Vocational-Technical School District. The all-white
Claymont High School, which denied plaintiffs
admission, is now the Claymont Community Center,
administered by the Brandywine Community Resource
Council, Inc. The Hockessin School #107C (Hockessin
Colored School) was the all-black school in Hockessin,
Delaware that one of the plaintiffs in Belton v.
Gebhart was required to attend with no public
transportation provided. It is now utilized by Friends
of Hockessin Colored School #107, Inc. as a community
facility.
John Philip Sousa Junior High School was
built in 1950 in the Fort Dupont neighborhood in the
District of Columbia as an all-white school. When 12
African American students were denied admission, the
landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Bolling v. Sharpe case
was brought. The case was complex because the
Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause applies
only to the states. This case held that school
segregation was unconstitutional under the Due Process
Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States
Constitution and was noted in the Brown v. Board
decision. The site is designated a National Historic
Landmark in recognition of its national significance.
John Philip Sousa Junior High School, now John Philip
Sousa Middle School, is owned by the District of
Columbia and administered by the District of Columbia
Public Schools.
We would also recommend redesignating Brown v. Board of
Education National Historic Site as Brown v. Board of Education
National Historical Park, to reflect the park's larger
geographic scope. We would be happy to work with the sponsor
and the Committee on amendments.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the changes in existing law made
by S. 270, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
Public Law 102-525
102d Congress
AN ACT To provide for the establishment of the Brown v. Board of
Education National Historic Site in the State of Kansas, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I--BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this title--
(1) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Interior.
(2) The term ``historic site'' means the Brown v.
Board of Education National Historic Site as
established in section 103.
(3) The terms ``affiliated area'' and ``affiliated
areas'' mean one or more of the locations associated
with the four court cases included in Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka described in section 102(a)(8),
(9), and (10).
SEC. 102. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Supreme Court, in 1964, ruled that the
earlier 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v.
Ferguson that permitted segregation of races in
elementary schools violated the fourteenth amendment to
the United States Constitution, which guarantees all
citizens equal protection under the law.
(2) In the 1954 proceedings, Oliver Brown and twelve
other plaintiffs successfully challenged an 1879 Kansas
law that had been patterned after the law in question
in Plessy v. Ferguson after the Topeka, Kansas, Board
of Education refused to enroll Mr. Brown's daughter,
Linda.
(3) The Brown case was joined by four other cases
related to school segregation pending before the
Supreme Court (Briggs v. Elliott, filed in South
Carolina; Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward
County, Spottswood Thomas Bolling, et al., Petitioners,
v. C. Melvin Sharpe, President of the District of
Columbia Board of Education, et al., filed in Virginia;
Gebhart v. Belton, filed in Delaware; and Bolling v.
Sharpe, filed in the District of Columbia) and
consolidated into one case named Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka.
(4) A 1999 historic resources study examined the five
cases included in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
and found each to be nationally significant and to
contribute unique stories to the case for educational
equity.
[(3)](5) Sumner Elementary, the all-white school that
refused to enroll Linda Brown, and Monroe Elementary,
the segregated school she was forced to attend, have
subsequently been designated National Historic
Landmarks in recognition of their national
significance.
[(4)](6) Sumner Elementary, an active school, is
administered by the Topeka Board of Education; Monroe
Elementary, closed in 1975 due to declining enrollment,
is privately owned and stands vacant.
(7) Summerton High School in South Carolina, the all-
White school that refused to admit the plaintiffs in
Briggs v. Elliott, has been listed on the National
Register of Historic Places in recognition of its
national significance and is used as administrative
offices for Clarendon School District 1. Other sites
include former Scott's Branch High School, an
``equalization school'' constructed for African-
American students in 1951 to provide facilities
comparable to those of White students and that is now
the Community Resource Center owned by Clarendon School
District 1.
(8) Robert Russa Moton School, the all-Black school
in Farmville, Virginia, which was the location of a
student-led strike leading to Davis v. County School
Board of Prince Edward County, Spottswood Thomas
Bolling, et al., Petitioners, v. C. Melvin Sharpe,
President of the District of Columbia Board of
Education, et al., has been designated a National
Historic Landmark in recognition of its national
significance. The school, now the Robert Russa Moton
Museum, is governed by the Moton Museum, Inc., and
affiliated with Longwood University.
(9) Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware, an
all-Black school to which plaintiffs in Belton v.
Gebhart were forced to travel, has been designated a
National Historic Landmark in recognition of its
national significance. Now the Howard High School of
Technology, it is an active school administered by the
New Castle County Vocational-Technical School District.
The all-White Claymont High School, which denied
plaintiffs admission, is now the Claymont Community
Center administered by the Brandywine Community
Resource Council, Inc. The Hockessin School #107C
(Hockessin Colored School) is the all-Black school in
Hockessin, Delaware that one of the plaintiffs in
Belton v. Gebhart was required to attend with no public
transportation provided. The former Hockessin School
building is utilized by Friends of Hockessin Colored
School #107, Inc. as a community facility.
(10) John Philip Sousa Junior High School in the
District of Columbia, the all-White school that refused
to admit plaintiffs in Bolling v. Sharpe, has been
designated a National Historic Landmark in recognition
of its national significance. John Philip Sousa Junior
High School, now John Philip Sousa Middle School, is
owned by the District of Columbia Department of General
Services and administered by the District of Columbia
Public Schools.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this title are--
(1) to preserve, protect and interpret for the
benefit and enjoyment of present and future
generations, the places that contributed materially to
the landmark United States Supreme Court decision that
brought an end to segregation in public education; and
(2) to interpret the integral role of the Brown v.
Board of Education case in the civil rights movement.
(3) to assist in the preservation, protection, and
interpretation of related resources within the city of
Topeka, Kansas; Summerton, South Carolina; Farmville,
Virginia; Wilmington and Hockessin, Delaware; and the
District of Columbia that further the understanding of
the civil rights movement and the context of Brown v.
Board of Education.
SEC. 103. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS IN EDUCATION: BROWN V.
BOARD OF EDUCATION NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE.
(a) In General.--There is hereby established as a unit of
the National Park System the Brown v. Board of Education
National Historic Site in the State of Kansas.
(b) Description.--The historic site shall consist of the
Monroe Elementary School site in the city of Topeka, Shawnee
County Kansas, as generally depicted on a map entitled ``Brown
v. Board of Education National Historic Site,'' numbered
Appendix A and dated June 1992. Such map shall be on file and
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of
the National Park Service.
(c) Boundary Adjustment.--
(1) In general.--In addition to land described in
subsection (b), the historic site shall consist of land
and interests in land identified as Summerton High
School and Scott's Branch High School located in
Clarendon County, South Carolina, after such land, or
interests in land, is acquired by the Secretary and the
determination is made under paragraph (2).
(2) Determination by secretary.--The historic site
shall not be expanded until the date on which the
Secretary determines that a sufficient quantity of
land, or interests in land, has been acquired to
constitute a manageable park unit.
(3) Notice.--Not later than 30 days after the date on
which the Secretary makes a determination under
paragraph (2), the Secretary shall publish in the
Federal Register notice of the expansion of the
historic site.
(4) Map.--After the determination in subsection (2),
the Secretary shall publish a new map of the historic
site to include land or interests in land acquired
under this subsection.
SEC. 104. PROPERTY ACQUISITION.
The Secretary is authorized to acquire by donation,
exchange, or purchase with donated or appropriated funds the
real property described in [section 103(b)] subsections (b) and
(c) of section 103. Any property owned by the States of Kansas
or any political subdivision thereof may be acquired only by
donation. The Secretary may also acquire by the same methods
personal property associated with, and appropriate for, the
interpretation of the historic site: [Provided, however, That
the] The Secretary may not acquire such personal property
without the consent of the owner nor by condemnation of any
land or interest in land within the boundaries of the historic
site.
SEC. 105. ADMINISTRATION OF THE HISTORIC SITE.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall administer the
historic site in accordance with this title and the laws
generally applicable to units of the National Park System,
including the Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535), and the
Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666).
(b) Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary is authorized to
enter into cooperative agreements with private as well as
public agencies, organizations, and institutions in furtherance
of the purposes of this title.
(c) General Management Plan.--Within two complete fiscal
years after funds are made available, the Secretary shall
prepare and submit to the Committee on Interior and Insular
Affairs of the United States House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States
Senate a general management plan for the historic site in
Topeka, Kansas. After the boundary adjustment under section
103(c), the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Committee
on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a
general management plan for the historic site locations in
Clarendon County, South Carolina.
SEC. 106. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION AFFILIATED
AREAS.
(a) In General.--The locations associated with the three
court cases included in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
described in sections 102(a)(8), (9), and (10) are established
as affiliated areas of the National Park System.
(b) Administration.--The affiliated areas shall be managed
in accordance with--
(1) this section; and
(2) any law generally applicable to units of the
National Park System.
(c) General Management Plan.--
(1) In general.--Not later than two years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in
consultation with the management entity of each
affiliated area, shall develop a general management
plan for each of the affiliated areas in accordance
with section 100502 of title 54, United States Code.
The general management plan shall--
(A) be prepared in consultation and
coordination with the interested State, county,
and local governments, management entities,
organizations, and interested members of the
public associated with the affiliated area;
(B) identify, as appropriate, the roles and
responsibilities of the National Park Service
and management entity in administering and
interpreting the affiliated area in such a
manner that it does not interfere with existing
operations and continued use of existing
facilities; and
(C) require the Secretary to coordinate the
preparation and implementation of the
management plan and interpretation of the
affiliated area with the Brown v. Board of
Education National Historic Site.
(2) Public comment.--The Secretary shall--
(A) hold not less than one public meeting in
the general proximity of each affiliated area
on the proposed general management plan,
including opportunities for public comment; and
(B) publish the draft general management plan
on the internet and provide an opportunity for
public comment.
(3) Transmittal.--Not later than 3 years after the
date on which funds are made available to carry out
this section, the Secretary shall transmit the general
management plan for each affiliated area developed
under subparagraph (1) to the Committee on Natural
Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate.
(d) Management Entity.--The organizations described in
paragraphs (8), (9), and (10) of section 102(a) shall be the
management entity for its respective affiliated area.
(e) Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary may provide
technical assistance and grants and enter into cooperative
agreements with the management entity for each affiliated area
to provide financial assistance for the marketing, marking,
interpretation, and preservation of the respective affiliated
area.
(f) Land Use.--Nothing in this section affects land use
rights of private property owners within or adjacent to the
affiliated areas, including activities or uses on private land
that can be seen or heard within the affiliated areas and the
authorities for management entities to operate and administer
the affiliated areas.
(g) Limited Role of the Secretary.--Nothing in this section
authorizes the Secretary to acquire property in an affiliated
area or to assume overall financial responsibility for the
operation, maintenance, or management of an affiliated area.
Each affiliated area shall continue to be owned, operated, and
managed by its respective public and private owners.
SEC. [106]107. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated $1,250,000 to carry
out the purposes of this title including land acquisition and
initial development at the historic site, and there is
authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to
carry out sections 103(c) and 106.
[all]