19–006

108TH CONGRESS REPORT " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 1st Session 108–255

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JUNIOR, NATIONAL HISTORIC 

SITE LAND EXCHANGE ACT 

SEPTEMBER 3, 2003.—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. 1616] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 1616) to authorize the exchange of certain lands within the 

Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site for lands owned 

by the City of Atlanta, Georgia, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 

recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1616 is to authorize the exchange of certain 

lands within the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic 

Site for lands owned by the City of Atlanta, Georgia, and for other 

purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site Visitor 

Center and Museum is located in downtown Atlanta and has no 

emergency ingress or egress, making it virtually impossible for firefighting and other emergency equipment to reach the Historic Site. 

To address this problem, the City of Atlanta would exchange a parcel of land owned by the City for a vacant lot owned by the National Park Service, which has been deemed to have no historic significance. The acquisition of the city-owned property would enable 

the National Park Service to establish easy street access to the 

Historic Site Visitor Center, and would benefit the City by exchanging property that the City could develop. 

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COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1616 was introduced on April 3, 2003, by Congressman 

John Lewis (D-GA). The bill was referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands. On June 17, 2003, the 

Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On July 9, 2003, the Full 

Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 

on National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands was discharged 

from further consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. No 

amendments were offered and the bill was 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 grants 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 revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

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:

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U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, August 11, 2003. 

Hon. RICHARD POMBO, 

Chairman, Committee on Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1616, the Martin Luther 

King, Junior, National Historic Site Land Exchange Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis. 

Sincerly, 

DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1616—Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site 

Land Exchange Act 

H.R. 1616 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) to 

acquire land within for the Martin Luther King, Junior, National 

Historic Site by exchange. The new authority would enable the 

NPS to exchange a small parcel of land owned by the agency for 

a parcel owned by the city of Atlanta that is less than 0.5 acres. 

The newly acquired tract would be used for access to the historic 

site. 

Based on information provided by the NPS and assuming the 

availability of appropriations, CBO estimates that it would cost the 

federal government about $200,000 over the next fiscal year to 

complete the exchange and pave the new property. For this estimate, CBO assumes that the properties to be exchanged would be 

determined by NPS to be roughly equal in value. 

H.R. 1616 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. 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, new matter is printed in italics, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

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SECTION 2 OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 10, 1980

AN ACT To establish the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site in the 

State of Georgia, and for other purposes. 

SEC. 2. (a) * * * 

(b)(1) Within the national historic site the Secretary is authorized to acquire by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated 

funds, transfer, or exchange, lands and interests therein, except 

that property owned by the State of Georgia or any political subdivision thereof may be acquired only by donationø.¿ or exchange.

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