II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 857 

To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National 

Park Service the African American Civil Rights Network, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 5 (legislative day, APRIL 4), 2017 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within 

the National Park Service the African American Civil 

Rights Network, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African American Civil 

5 Rights Network Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to recognize— 


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1 (A) the importance of the African Amer2 ican civil rights movement; and 

3 (B) the sacrifices made by the people who 

4 fought against discrimination and segregation; 

5 and 

6 (2) to authorize the National Park Service to 

7 coordinate and facilitate Federal and non-Federal 

8 activities to commemorate, honor, and interpret— 

9 (A) the history of the African American 

10 civil rights movement; 

11 (B) the significance of the civil rights 

12 movement as a crucial element in the evolution 

13 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

14 2000a et seq.); and 

15 (C) the relevance of the African American 

16 civil rights movement in fostering the spirit of 

17 social justice and national reconciliation. 

18 SEC. 3. AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS NETWORK PRO19 GRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subdivision 1 of division B of sub21 title III of title 54, United States Code, is amended by 

22 inserting after chapter 3083 the following: 

23 ‘‘CHAPTER 3084—AFRICAN AMERICAN 

24 CIVIL RIGHTS NETWORK 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘308401. Definition of Network. 


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‘‘308402. African American Civil Rights Network. 

‘‘308403. Cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding. 

1 ‘‘§ 308401. Definition of Network 

2 ‘‘In this chapter, the term ‘Network’ means the Afri3 can American Civil Rights Network established under sec4 tion 308402(a). 

5 ‘‘§ 308402. African American Civil Rights Network 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 

7 within the Service, a program to be known as the ‘African 

8 American Civil Rights Network’. 

9 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—In carrying out the 

10 Network, the Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) review studies and reports to complement 

12 and not duplicate studies of the historical impor13 tance of the African American civil rights movement 

14 that may be underway or completed, such as the 

15 Civil Rights Framework Study; 

16 ‘‘(2) produce and disseminate appropriate edu17 cational materials relating to the African American 

18 civil rights movement, such as handbooks, maps, in19 terpretive guides, or electronic information; 

20 ‘‘(3) enter into appropriate cooperative agree21 ments and memoranda of understanding to provide 

22 technical assistance under subsection (c); and 

23 ‘‘(4)(A) create and adopt an official, uniform 

24 symbol or device for the Network; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) issue regulations for the use of the symbol 

2 or device adopted under subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(c) ELEMENTS.—The Network shall encompass the 

4 following elements: 

5 ‘‘(1) All units and programs of the Service that 

6 are determined by the Secretary to relate to the Af7 rican American civil rights movement during the pe8 riod from 1939 through 1968. 

9 ‘‘(2) Other Federal, State, local, and privately 

10 owned properties that— 

11 ‘‘(A) relate to the African American civil 

12 rights movement; 

13 ‘‘(B) have a verifiable connection to the 

14 African American civil rights movement; and 

15 ‘‘(C) are included in, or determined by the 

16 Secretary to be eligible for inclusion in, the Na17 tional Register of Historic Places. 

18 ‘‘(3) Other governmental and nongovernmental 

19 facilities and programs of an educational, research, 

20 or interpretive nature that are directly related to the 

21 African American civil rights movement. 

22 ‘‘§ 308403. Cooperative agreements and memoranda 

23 of understanding 

24 ‘‘To achieve the purposes of this chapter and to en25 sure effective coordination of the Federal and non-Federal 


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1 elements of the Network described in section 308402(c) 

2 with System units and programs of the Service, the Sec3 retary may enter into cooperative agreements and memo4 randa of understanding with, and provide technical assist5 ance to the heads of other Federal agencies, States, units 

6 of local government, regional governmental bodies, and 

7 private entities.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

9 for subdivision 1 of division B of subtitle III of title 54, 

10 United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 

11 item relating to chapter 3083 the following: 

‘‘3084. African American Civil Rights Network ......................................308401’’. 

Æ 


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