[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14294-14296]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
DOROTHY BUELL MEMORIAL VISITOR CENTER LEASE ACT
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1423) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease a
portion of a visitor center to be constructed outside the boundary of
the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Porter County, Indiana, and for
other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1423
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DOROTHY BUELL MEMORIAL VISITOR CENTER.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center Partnership Act''.
(b) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Secretary of the
Interior may enter into a memorandum of understanding to
establish a joint partnership with the Porter County
Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission. The memorandum
of understanding shall--
(1) identify the overall goals and purpose of the Dorothy
Buell Memorial Visitor Center;
(2) establish how management and operational duties will be
shared;
(3) determine how exhibits, Signs, and other information
are developed;
(4) indicate how various activities will be funded;
(5) identify who is responsible for providing site
amenities;
(6) establish procedures for changing or dissolving the
joint partnership; and
(7) address any other issues deemed necessary by the
Secretary or the Porter County Convention, Recreation and
Visitor Commission.
(c) Development of Exhibits.--The Secretary may plan,
design, construct, and install exhibits in the Dorothy Buell
Memorial Visitor Center related to the use and management of
the resources at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, at a cost
not to exceed $1,500,000.
(d) National Lakeshore Presence.--The Secretary may use
park staff from Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in the
Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center to provide visitor
information and education.
SEC. 2. INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE.
Section 19 of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the
establishment of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and
for other purposes'' (16 U.S.C. 460u-19) is amended--
(1) by striking ``After notifying'' and inserting ``(a)
After notifying''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Contiguous Clarified.--For purposes of subsection
(a), lands may be considered contiguous to other lands if the
lands touch the other lands, or are separated from the other
lands by only a public or private right-of-way, such as a
road, railroad, or utility corridor.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wittman) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.
General Leave
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Guam?
There was no objection.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1423 would allow the National Park
Service to share visitor center facilities for the Indiana Dunes
National Lakeshore with the Porter County Indiana Convention,
Recreation and Visitor Commission.
The bill also allows the National Park Service to construct exhibits
at the visitor center and authorizes National Park Service employees to
work there. Congress must approve the spending and the use of personnel
because the visitor center lies outside the established boundaries of
the park.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1423 would clarify the definition of
``contiguous lands'' in the park's original legislation so that the
National Park Service could accept donations of contiguous land even if
that land is separated by a right-of-way such as a road, a railway line
or utility corridor.
I commend the sponsor, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky),
for his work on the legislation, and I ask my colleagues to support
passage of this measure.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore, on the southern tip of Lake Michigan, is comprised of 15,000
acres along 15 miles of shoreline. This bill authorizes the Secretary
of Interior to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Porter
County Commission to lease space for the use of a visitor center. It
also permits the Secretary to accept donations of lands that are
located along the borders of the lakeshore but are separated by a
right-of-way.
And today, as we are dealing with this particular unit of the
National Park Service, I think it's fitting to remember that our
constituents are dealing with high gasoline prices that are cutting
into family vacations this summer, making it increasingly costly to
visit our national parks.
Over the Independence Day work period back in my district, I spoke
with a number of constituents who are still frustrated about high
gasoline prices and also are frustrated with what they perceive as
Congress' failure to do anything to adopt a comprehensive energy
policy. This Congress needs to take action to put all of our available
resources and technologies on the table,
[[Page 14295]]
including increase American-made energy, conservation and efficiency to
bring relief at the pumps.
I thought the best story that I heard was a lady that came to me and
I asked her, I said, what do you think we ought to be doing about this
energy issue that we're dealing with? And she said, Mr. Wittman, do you
remember the movie Apollo 13? And I said, yes, I did. And she said, do
you remember the scene there where the oxygen tank on the outside of
the service capsule blew up and the engineers there had to figure out
how they were going to get those astronauts back to Earth? So they
moved the astronauts into the command module, but the problem with the
command module is it didn't have enough capacity to take CO2
out of the air, so eventually the astronauts would be asphyxiated if
they didn't come up with a solution to that problem and still have
enough oxygen to propel the spaceship back to Earth.
So what did they do? They sent the engineers to the duplicate capsule
they had there at Mission Control in Houston. And they sent them in
there and they said take everything out of there that's available to
these astronauts and put it in a box. So those engineers put those
materials in a box and they brought it downstairs to Mission Control
and they laid those pieces out on the table. And they told those
engineers, solve the problem, make sure we get those astronauts back
here. Come up with a CO2 scrubber that gets that
CO2 out of the air so those astronauts can survive and get
back to Earth. And lo and behold, those engineers did just that. But
they weren't crippled by saying, well, you can only use this in the box
and that in the box. They were there to use everything.
Folks, if we're going to be successful in this effort for our
comprehensive energy policy, we need to make sure that we use
everything. And that includes looking at the energy that we have
available here in the United States, being aggressive with
conservation, being aggressive in developing alternative and renewable
sources here. And this country has shown to have the engineering and
ability and the willingness to get to work on these tough issues and to
solve them. Our history has been wrought with just those efforts to
make sure that we solve these problems.
The American people are looking at us now to make sure that we solve
this problem. And they don't want us to take anything out of that
Apollo 13 box to solve this problem. They expect us to put everything
there and to make sure that we come up with a solution to this, and I
believe that this country can do that.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Indiana, the bill's sponsor, Mr. Visclosky.
Mr. VISCLOSKY. I want to thank the gentlelady.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1423, the Dorothy
Buell Memorial Visitor Center Lease Act, as amended. I am proud to
sponsor this legislation, and I thank Mr. Donnelly for joining me as a
cosponsor.
I also do want to thank Chairman Rahall and Ranking Member Don Young,
the chairman of the subcommittee, as well as the ranking member, and
especially the exceptional staff of the subcommittee and the full
committee of Natural Resources for their consideration and good work on
this measure.
This measure will grant the Secretary of the Interior the authority
to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a joint
partnership with Porter County. This partnership will allow the
National Park Service and the Porter County Convention, Recreation and
Visitor Commission to develop a plan to maximize the efficiency of the
Visitor Center at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and enhance the
visitor experience. The measure also will provide funding to develop
exhibits for the center.
Additionally, the bill will help us enhance the Indiana Dunes
National Lakeshore in the most affordable fashion possible. It will
permit, but not require, the Secretary of the Interior to accept
donations of lands located outside the present boundaries of the
Lakeshore if they are contiguous with the park or separated by only a
right-of-way. At present, the Secretary of the Interior cannot accept
such donations. This provision makes a minor technical correction that
has no financial impact, and will allow this natural treasure to expand
by the generosity of those wishing to enhance the Lakeshore. It is my
sincere hope that this legislation will continue our efforts to protect
and enhance the Lakeshore, and to ensure that all Americans can benefit
from the park.
The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is an incredible natural
treasure, as was mentioned, comprised of about 15,000 pristine acres
along the southern shore of Lake Michigan in the midst of an urban
environment. With its vast array of flora and fauna in northwest
Indiana, a short distance from downtown Chicago, the Lakeshore receives
over 3 million visitors from that urban area each year.
The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore owes a great deal of gratitude
to Dorothy Buell, who was instrumental in its establishment and
development. Buell devoted much of her life to saving the dunes. In
1952, she founded the Save the Dunes Council to obtain dunes land and
to give it to the National State Park so that the unique habitat could
be preserved and enjoyed by the general public.
In 1992, Buell's extraordinary contributions to the dunes were
recognized when the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Access and
Enhancement Act was signed into law, thereby naming the park's visitor
center for her and commemorating her vision, dedication and work.
{time} 1500
The Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center is an excellent facility
for providing environmental education programs and recreational
activities. Visitors can enjoy displays and exhibits.
I am very proud of the continued investment in the Indiana Dunes
National Lakeshore by the National Park Service staff, our local
communities, and Lakeshore volunteers in Indiana's First Congressional
District. They seek to preserve, protect, and restore the Lakeshore and
surrounding resources for an enhanced quality of life.
Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank the members and the leaders of the
committee and subcommittee as well as the staff, and I ask my
colleagues to support the measure.
Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Westmoreland).
Mr. WESTMORELAND. I thank my friend for yielding again.
Mr. Speaker, I got the whip report today and was looking over some of
the bills that we're going to be going over today and this week. And I
felt like, Mr. Speaker, it might be good just to remind our colleagues
maybe of what all we're going to be doing this week so they can get
their staffs down and start looking at this real hard.
I was hoping that we might be talking about some ways to improve our
energy management because what has happened so far on this House floor
by the majority has simply not worked. We voted, I guess, almost 6
weeks ago now, to stop sending oil into the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve, and so thus far I believe, today is July 8; so at 70,000
barrels of oil a day, that's over half a million barrels of oil that we
have kept from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and yet gas is at a new
record of $4.11 a gallon. So that's not working.
The energy bill that the majority passed in January of 2007, which we
called the ``No Energy Policy,'' has actually turned out to be a no
energy policy because gas has gone from $2.35 a gallon to $4.11 a
gallon. And light bulbs, or the CFLs, was mentioned over 350 times in
that bill, and we have now learned that you can't dispose of those
things because of the mercury in them, and they are only produced in
China.
So we have got a long way to go on correcting our energy situation in
this Congress, and for some reason the majority just keeps turning its
head.
But I just felt like for some of our colleagues that are listening
today
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they might know that we have already heard today that we amended High
Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act. We're going to get a
chance to vote today to authorize the Preserve America Program and Save
America's Treasures. We are now authorizing the Secretary of Interior
to lease a portion of the visitor center to be constructed outside the
boundary of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Porter County,
Indiana. I know that's a big one. You all need to be looking at that,
Mr. Speaker.
Number four, to amend the Dayton Aviation Heritage Preservation Act
of 1992 to add sites to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park, and
I know that's an important piece of legislation. We're also going to do
the Maritime Pollution Prevention Act. And we're going to name three
post offices today.
Now, tomorrow we are going to get into the real meat of some of this
stuff. We've got 12 more suspensions, which are bills that really just
come to the floor with about 20 minutes of debate, I believe, on either
side, no amendments, not structured to any rule. We are going to look
at the Pension Protection Technical Corrections Act, and I know, Mr.
Speaker, these people at home will be glad to know that we're doing
that. And then we have got to honor the goal of the International Year
of Astronomy; celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first American
woman in space, Dr. Sally Ride; the Federal Ocean Acidification
Research and Monitoring Act; commemorating the 25th anniversary of the
Space Foundation; commemorating the 50th anniversary of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration; Homes For Heroes Act; America's
Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act; Community Building
Code Amendment Grant Act; Lead-Safe Housing for Kids; and Money
Services Business Act.
And then we have got one real bill that's going to be subject to a
rule, Mr. Speaker: the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
National Historic Trail Designation Act. So any Members listening to
this might want to get their amendments ready for that, and I don't
know if we can amend that to talk about energy.
But, Mr. Speaker, I just thought it was important that we discuss
here among ourselves what we are doing in this Congress this week.
People are paying $4.11 a gallon for gas at the pump. People are having
to make decisions about whether they can go to work or go visit a loved
one in a hospital. We need to be discussing our energy crisis because
this is not something that just happened.
And, look, we are not innocent in this. We had 12 years. We could
have led the charge. But I remember back in April of 2006, then
minority leader, now Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said, ``Elect us. The
Democrats have a commonsense plan for lowering the skyrocketing price
of gasoline.''
Please bring out that plan, Mr. Speaker. Bring out that commonsense
plan so that we can see what can lower the skyrocketing prices because
since that plan has not been revealed, gas has gone from $2.35 to
$4.11.
So while we are talking about all these important things today, and I
know the American people are sitting on the edge of their seat to see
if these things pass or not because of the effect it's going to have on
their lives, I think if they could honestly have a good, bipartisan
debate with an open rule, a good energy bill that all the people could
come that represent the people all over this country to come in and
discuss what we can do to give them relief at the pump.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First and foremost, I would like to remind my colleagues across the
aisle that I feel that all legislation that is heard in the U.S.
Congress is important legislation. I want to go on record saying that.
And I would remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that
in 2005, just 3 years ago, 2005, when you were in the majority, you
passed an energy bill that you claimed would produce America's energy
independence. It did not work, did it? What were gas prices then in
2005, and what are they today?
So I would again say the blame game is not working and we should
truly sit down and get serious, dispense with the rhetoric, and address
the issues facing the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Westmoreland).
Mr. WESTMORELAND. I want to thank my colleague for yielding to me.
Just to my good friend from Guam, I don't have a problem with what
you said because it sounds like we have had a bite of the apple, the
new majority has had a bite of the apple. People have seen their gas
prices continue to go up. So why not come up with a bill that we could
put on the floor, to have an open rule, because there is nothing more
important in this country right now, not just because the price of
gasoline is $4.11 a gallon. This is a national security issue. We are
writing Hugo Chavez a check to the Venezuelans for $170 million a day.
This is a national security issue. This is an economic issue that we
are talking about. This is affecting our stock market. This is
affecting our gross national product. This is affecting a loaf of
bread. This is affecting a gallon of milk. This is something we need to
be talking about.
So I'm glad to hear that you've taken notice that our plan of 2005
has not been totally successful because it has not been totally
implemented yet. But I am more than willing to have a discussion on
this floor, open rule, energy package. Let's write one. Let's let it go
through regular order. Let's let it have amendments. Let's let it have
discussion. And I think if we could do that, then we maybe could come
up with something that could succeed.
Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues, all of the
Members of Congress, to support this very important piece of
legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 1423, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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