Sewall-Belmont House Act of 2015

Sewall-Belmont House Act of 2015

This bill establishes the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site (the former headquarters of the National Woman's Party of the women's suffrage movement) as a unit of the National Park System (NPS).

The Site shall not be established as an NPS unit, however, until the Department of the Interior determines that: (1) the National Woman's Party has transferred to Interior the land and any improvements within the boundaries of the Site, and (2) Interior and the National Woman's Party have entered into a management agreement.

The national historic site shall consist of the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, located at 144 Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington, DC.

[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1975 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1975

To establish the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site as a unit 
          of the National Park System, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2015

Ms. Mikulski (for herself, Ms. Baldwin, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. 
 Feinstein, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Heitkamp, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Klobuchar, 
   Mrs. McCaskill, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Stabenow, and Ms. 
    Warren) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site as a unit 
          of the National Park System, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Sewall-Belmont House Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Sewall-Belmont House was designated as a National 
        Historic Landmark, National Historic Site, and an affiliated 
        area of the National Park Service in 1974;
            (2) beginning in 1929, the Sewall-Belmont House served as 
        the headquarters of the National Woman's Party, founded by 
        Alice Paul (1885-1977), the most significant figure in the 
        final phase of the struggle for a constitutional amendment 
        granting women the right to vote;
            (3) Alice Paul revived the movement, employing dramatic 
        techniques, White House demonstrations, hunger strikes, and 
        relentless political pressure, to achieve victory just prior to 
        the 1920 election; and
            (4) in June 2015, the National Park Service completed a 
        feasibility study of the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic 
        Site, in which the National Park Service determined that--
                    (A) the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site 
                met the criteria for inclusion in the National Park 
                System, confirming national significance, suitability, 
                feasibility, and the need for direct National Park 
                Service management; and
                    (B) the Sewall-Belmont House would help fill 
                identified gaps in the National Park System related to 
                the 20th century women's rights movement and 
                strengthening the overall interpretation of women's 
                history.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish the Sewall-
Belmont House National Historic Site as a unit of the National Park 
System to preserve and protect the site and to interpret the nationally 
significant resources related to the women's rights movement.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map entitled ``Sewall-
        Belmont House National Historic Site Proposed Boundary'', 
        numbered 896/129106, and dated July 2015.
            (3) National historic site.--The term ``national historic 
        site'' means the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site 
        established under section 4(a).

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF SEWALL-BELMONT HOUSE AS A UNIT OF THE NATIONAL 
              PARK SYSTEM.

    (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the Sewall-Belmont 
House National Historic Site is established as a unit of the National 
Park System, to be known as the ``Sewall-Belmont House National 
Historic Site''.
    (b) Conditions.--The national historic site shall not be 
established as a unit of the National Park System until the date on 
which the Secretary determines that--
            (1) the National Woman's Party has transferred the land and 
        any improvements to the land within the boundaries described in 
        subsection (c) to the Secretary; and
            (2) the Secretary and the National Woman's Party have 
        entered into a Management Agreement in accordance with 
        subsection (d).
    (c) Boundaries.--The national historic site shall consist of the 
Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site, also known as the 
``Sewall-Belmont House and Museum'', located at 144 Constitution 
Avenue, Northeast, Washington, DC, as depicted on the map.
    (d) Management Agreement.--The Secretary may enter into a 
management agreement with the National Woman's Party that provides 
for--
            (1) National Park Service operation and maintenance of the 
        national historic site;
            (2) the National Woman's Party to retain ownership and 
        management of the National Woman's Party collection, which 
        includes an extensive library and archival and museum holdings 
        relating to the women's suffrage movement; and
            (3) collaboration and cooperation by the National Park 
        Service and the National Woman's Party on management and 
        interpretation of the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic 
        Site.
    (e) Administration.--The Secretary shall administer the national 
historic site in accordance with--
            (1) this Act; and
            (2) the laws generally applicable to units of the National 
        Park Service, including--
                    (A) section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and sections 
                100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of title 54, 
                United States Code; and
                    (B) chapter 3201 of title 54, United States Code.
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