I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3498

To amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 to establish 

a battlefield acquisition grant program for the acquisition and protection 

of nationally significant battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2003

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 

MCHUGH, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SWEENEY, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. BOEHLERT, 

Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. SANDERS, 

Mr. SKELTON, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASE, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. COOPER, Mr. 

SHAYS, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To amend the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 

to establish a battlefield acquisition grant program for 

the acquisition and protection of nationally significant 

battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War 

and the War of 1812, 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 ‘‘Revolutionary War and 

5 War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The battlefields of the American Revolu4 tionary War and the War of 1812 provide a unique 

5 means for the people of the United States to relate 

6 to these epic struggles in the history of the United 

7 States and to understand their importance in the es8 tablishment and early development of the United 

9 States. 

10 (2) Urbanization, suburban sprawl, and un11 planned commercial and residential development are 

12 constantly encroaching on many of the nationally 

13 significant battlefields of the American Revolu14 tionary War and the War of 1812, as well as on as15 sociated sites, and this encroachment poses a severe 

16 and growing risk to the preservation of such battle17 fields and related sites. 

18 (3) According to the Revolutionary War and 

19 War of 1812 Historical Preservation Study, pre20 pared by the National Park Service, and dated Sep21 tember 2003, of the 825 principal nationally signifi22 cant battlefields and associated sites of the Amer23 ican Revolutionary War and the War of 1812—

24 (A) thirteen percent are lost; 

25 (B) thirty percent are fragmented or in 

26 poor condition; or 
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1 (C) twenty-seven percent may be destroyed 

2 or impaired within the next ten years, and nine 

3 percent of this percentage figure are in immi4 nent danger of damage occurring within the 

5 next three years. 

6 SEC. 3. BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

7 BATTLEFIELDS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY 

8 WAR AND WAR OF 1812. 

9 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The American Battlefield 

10 Protection Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 469k) is amended—

11 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub12 section (f); and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol14 lowing new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(e) BATTLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROGRAM

16 FOR BATTLEFIELDS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND

17 WAR OF 1812.—

18 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) BATTLEFIELD REPORT.—The term 

20 ‘battlefield report’ means the document entitled 

21 ‘Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Historic 

22 Preservation Study’, prepared by the National 

23 Park Service, and dated September 2003. 

24 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi25 ble entity’ means a State or local government. 
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1 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE SITE.—The term ‘eligible 

2 site’ means a site that—

3 ‘‘(i) is not within the exterior bound4 aries of a unit of the National Park Sys5 tem; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) is identified in the battlefield re7 port. 

8 ‘‘(D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

9 means the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

10 through the American Battlefield Protection 

11 Program. 

12 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es13 tablish a battlefield acquisition grant program for 

14 nationally significant battlefields and associated sites 

15 of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 

16 under which the Secretary may make grants to eligi17 ble entities to pay the Federal share of the cost of 

18 acquiring fee-simple or lesser interests from willing 

19 sellers in eligible sites for the preservation and pro20 tection of those eligible sites. 

21 ‘‘(3) NONPROFIT PARTNERS.—An eligible entity 

22 may acquire an interest in an eligible site using a 

23 grant under this subsection in partnership with a 

24 nonprofit organization. 
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1 ‘‘(4) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

2 share of the total cost of acquiring an interest in an 

3 eligible site under this subsection shall be not less 

4 than 50 percent. 

5 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON LAND USE.—An interest 

6 in an eligible site acquired under this subsection 

7 shall be subject to section 6(f)(3) of the Land and 

8 Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 

9 4601–8(f)(3)). 

10 ‘‘(6) REPORTS.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 

12 after the date of the enactment of this sub13 section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

14 a report on the activities carried out under this 

15 subsection. 

16 ‘‘(B) UPDATE ON BATTLEFIELD RE17 PORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date of 

18 the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 

19 shall submit to Congress a report that updates 

20 the battlefield report to reflect—

21 ‘‘(i) preservation activities carried out 

22 at the 871 battlefields and associated sites 

23 identified in the battlefield report during 

24 the period between publication of the bat25 tlefield report and the update; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) changes in the condition of the 

2 battlefields and associated sites during 

3 that period; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) any other relevant developments 

5 relating to the battlefields and associated 

6 sites during that period. 

7 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

9 to be appropriated to the Secretary from the 

10 Land and Water Conservation Fund to provide 

11 grants under this subsection $10,000,000 for 

12 each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008. 

13 ‘‘(B) UPDATE OF BATTLEFIELD RE14 PORT.—There are authorized to be appro15 priated to the Secretary to carry out paragraph 

16 (6)(B), $500,000.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such Act is fur18 ther amended—

19 (1) in subsection (d)—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘BATTLEFIELD ACQUISI21 TION GRANT PROGRAM’’ and inserting ‘‘BAT22 TLEFIELD ACQUISITION GRANT PROGRAM FOR

23 BATTLEFIELDS OF THE CIVIL WAR’’; and 
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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘grant 

2 program’’ and inserting ‘‘grant program for 

3 battlefields of the Civil War’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (f) (as redesignated by sub5 section (a)(1))—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘REPEAL’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘EXPIRATION’’; and 

8 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘is re9 pealed’’ and inserting ‘‘expires on’’.

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