II 

Calendar No. 820 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2627 

[Report No. 110–388] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2007 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

JUNE 16, 2008 

Reported by Mr. BINGAMAN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

To establish the Thomas Edison National Historical Park 

in the State of New Jersey as the successor to the 

Edison National Historic Site. 

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 ‘‘Act Commemorating 

5 the LITE, or Lifetime Innovations of Thomas Edison’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Edison National Historic Site, located 

2 in West Orange, New Jersey, is a vital part of 

3 America’s national system of parks which preserves 

4 Thomas Alva Edison’s research and development 

5 laboratories, library, papers, and artifacts, as well as 

6 his home. 

7 (2) The Site is a national historic treasure and 

8 contains the world’s largest collection of materials 

9 related to Thomas Edison, encompassing an esti10 mated 5,000,000 pages of documents, over 400,000 

11 artifacts, approximately 35,000 sound recordings, 

12 and 10,000 books from Edison’s personal library. 

13 (3) Thomas Edison is one of America’s greatest 

14 inventors, whose inexhaustible energy and genius 

15 produced 1,093 patents in his lifetime, more than 

16 any other American, including patents for the incan17 descent light bulb, the motion picture camera, and 

18 the phonograph. 

19 (4) In 1928, Thomas Edison was awarded the 

20 Congressional Gold Medal for the ‘‘development and 

21 application of inventions that have revolutionized 

22 civilization in the last century.’’ 

23 (5) In 1998, Congress again honored Thomas 

24 Edison by directing the Secretary of the Treasury to 

25 mint a commemorative coin celebrating the 125th 


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1 anniversary of Edison’s invention of the light bulb, 

2 celebrated in 2004. 

3 (6) The Edison National Historic Site is one of 

4 America’s most endangered historic places. The Na5 tional Park Service, in its General Management Plan 

6 and Development Concept Plan, identified the need 

7 for numerous actions to preserve, protect, restore, 

8 and enhance the Site and determined that sufficient 

9 government funds are not likely to be appropriated 

10 to complete these necessary actions in the foresee11 able future. 

12 (7) On November 6, 1997, the National Park 

13 Service signed an agreement with the Thomas Alva 

14 Edison Preservation Foundation (now the Edison 

15 Preservation Foundation), establishing a public-pri16 vate partnership to jointly raise money to fund iden17 tified improvements at the Edison National Historic 

18 Site so as to leave the Site unimpaired for the enjoy19 ment of future generations. 

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

21 (1) to recognize and pay tribute to Thomas 

22 Alva Edison and his innovations; and 

23 (2) to preserve, protect, restore, and enhance 

24 the Edison National Historic Site to ensure public 


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1 use and enjoyment of the Site as an educational, sci2 entific, and cultural center. 

3 SEC. 3. THOMAS EDISON NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

5 Thomas Edison National Historical Park as a unit of the 

6 National Park System (hereafter the ‘‘Historical Park’’). 

7 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Historical Park shall be com8 prised of— 

9 (1) all property owned by the United States in 

10 the Edison National Historic Site as well as all 

11 property authorized to be acquired by the Secretary 

12 of the Interior for inclusion in the Edison National 

13 Historic Site before the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act, as generally depicted on the map entitled 

15 the ‘‘Edison National Historic Site’’, numbered 

16 20003B, and dated April 1977; and 

17 (2) all property authorized to be acquired for 

18 inclusion in the Historical Park by this Act or other 

19 law enacted after the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act. 

21 (c) MAP.—The map of the Historical Park shall be 

22 on file and available for public inspection in the appro23 priate offices of the National Park Service. 


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1 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer 

3 the Historical Park in accordance with this Act and with 

4 the provisions of law generally applicable to units of the 

5 National Park System, including the Acts entitled ‘‘An 

6 Act to establish a National Park Service, and for other 

7 purposes,’’ approved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 

8 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) and ‘‘An Act to provide for the preserva9 tion of historic American sites, buildings, objects, and an10 tiquities of national significance, and for other purposes,’’ 

11 approved August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.). 

12 (b) ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.— 

13 (1) REAL PROPERTY.—The Secretary may ac14 quire land or interests in land within the boundaries 

15 of the Historical Park, from willing sellers only, by 

16 donation, purchase with donated or appropriated 

17 funds, or exchange. 

18 (2) PERSONAL PROPERTY.—The Secretary may 

19 acquire personal property associated with, and ap20 propriate for, interpretation of the Historical Park. 

21 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

22 may consult and enter into cooperative agreements with 

23 interested entities and individuals to provide for the pres24 ervation, development, interpretation, and use of the His25 torical Park. 


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1 (d) REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED LAW.—Public Law 87– 

2 628 (76 Stat. 428), regarding the establishment and ad3 ministration of the Edison National Historic Site, is re4 pealed. 

5 (e) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, reg6 ulation, document, paper, or other record of the United 

7 States to the ‘‘Edison National Historic Site’’ shall be 

8 deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Thomas Edison National 

9 Historical Park’’. 

10 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

12 may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

13 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Act Commemorating the 

15 LITE, or Lifetime Innovations of Thomas Edison’’. 

16 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

17 The purposes of this Act are— 

18 (1) to recognize and pay tribute to Thomas Alva 

19 Edison and his innovations; and 

20 (2) to preserve, protect, restore, and enhance the 

21 Edison National Historic Site to ensure public use 

22 and enjoyment of the Site as an educational, sci23 entific, and cultural center. 


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1 SEC. 3. THOMAS EDISON NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Thom3 as Edison National Historical Park as a unit of the Na4 tional Park System (hereafter the ‘‘Historical Park’’). 

5 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Historical Park shall be com6 prised of all property owned by the United States in the 

7 Edison National Historic Site as well as all property au8 thorized to be acquired by the Secretary of the Interior for 

9 inclusion in the Edison National Historic Site before the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, as generally depicted on 

11 the map entitled the ‘‘Thomas Edison National Historical 

12 Park’’, numbered 403/80,000, and dated April 2008. 

13 (c) MAP.—The map of the Historical Park shall be on 

14 file and available for public inspection in the appropriate 

15 offices of the National Park Service. 

16 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer the 

18 Historical Park in accordance with this Act and with the 

19 provisions of law generally applicable to units of the Na20 tional Park System, including the Acts entitled ‘‘An Act 

21 to establish a National Park Service, and for other pur22 poses,’’ approved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 

23 1 et seq.) and ‘‘An Act to provide for the preservation of 

24 historic American sites, buildings, objects, and antiquities 

25 of national significance, and for other purposes,’’ approved 

26 August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.). 


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1 (b) ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.— 

2 (1) REAL PROPERTY.—The Secretary may ac3 quire land or interests in land within the boundaries 

4 of the Historical Park, from willing sellers only, by 

5 donation, purchase with donated or appropriated 

6 funds, or exchange. 

7 (2) PERSONAL PROPERTY.—The Secretary may 

8 acquire personal property associated with, and appro9 priate for, interpretation of the Historical Park. 

10 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary may 

11 consult and enter into cooperative agreements with inter12 ested entities and individuals to provide for the preserva13 tion, development, interpretation, and use of the Historical 

14 Park. 

15 (d) REPEAL OF SUPERSEDED LAW.—Public Law 87– 

16 628 (76 Stat. 428), regarding the establishment and admin17 istration of the Edison National Historic Site, is repealed. 

18 (e) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, regu19 lation, document, paper, or other record of the United 

20 States to the ‘‘Edison National Historic Site’’ shall be 

21 deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Thomas Edison National 

22 Historical Park’’. 

23 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

25 may be necessary to carry out this Act. 


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Calendar No. 820 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2627 

[Report No. 110

–388] 

AN ACT 

To establish the Thomas Edison National Historcessor to the Edison National Historic Site. ical Park in the State of New Jersey as the sucJUNE 16, 2008 

Reported with an amendment 


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