89–010 

Calendar No. 537 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 111–267 

COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG HOME STUDY ACT 

AUGUST 5, 2010.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. BINGAMAN, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 2933] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 2933) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 

to conduct a special resource study to determine the suitability and 

feasibility of designating the Colonel Charles Young Home in 

Xenia, Ohio, as a unit of the National Parks System, and for other 

purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 

with an amendment and recommends that the bill, as amended, do 

pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Beginning on page 1, strike line 6 and all that follows through 

page 3, line 19, and insert the following: 

SEC. 2. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 2933 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the suitability 

and feasibility of adding the Colonel Charles Young Home, in the 

State of Ohio, as a unit of the National Park System. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

In 1974, the Colonel Charles Young house in Wilberforce, Ohio, 

was designated a National Historic Landmark. Charles Young 

(1864–1922) is recognized because he was the third African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, 

the highest-ranking black officer in World War I, and the first 

black military attache ́ in American history. In addition to his military achievements, he was an accomplished musician and linguist. 


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Young lived in this house while teaching at Wilberforce University 

from 1894 to 1898. During his service as a professor of science and 

military tactics at the university, he met with such men as poet 

Paul Laurence Dunbar and W.E.B. DuBois. 

Colonel Young commanded the legendary ‘‘Buffalo Soldiers’’ in 

combat in the Spanish-American War and the Mexican expedition 

against Pancho Via. In 1902, Young commanded Troop 1 at the 

San Francisco Presidio and then was appointed acting superintendent of the Sequoia and General Grant National Parks, California (which at the time was administered by the War Department). Following his service in the West, Young was appointed 

U.S. military attache ́ to Haiti by President Theodore Roosevelt. 

Colonel Young’s experiences in the Army between 1884 and 1922 

illustrate the changing nature of race relations in the United 

States during a period spanning from the end of the Civil War to 

the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Colonel Young was nationally known at the time of his death. 

Today, the home remains a meeting place for the local Omega 

Psi Phi Fraternity. In a 2008 review as part of the National Historic Landmarks Program of the National Park Service, the unoccupied structure was listed in ‘‘threatened’’ status due to the condition of the home. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 2933 was introduced by Senators Voinovich and Brown on 

January 20, 2010. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a 

hearing on the bill on March 21, 2010. The Committee on Energy 

and Natural Resources considered the bill and adopted an amendment at its business meeting on June 16, 2010. The Committee ordered S. 2933 favorably reported with an amendment at its business meeting on June 21, 2010. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on June 21, 2010, by a voice vote of a quorum present, 

recommends that the Senate pass S. 2933, if amended as described 

herein. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

During the consideration of S. 2933, the Committee adopted an 

amendment that struck the Congressional findings section and renumbered the subsequent sections. The amendment is explained in 

detail in the section-by-section analysis, below. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 provides the short title as the ‘‘Colonel Charles Young 

Home Study Act’’. 

Section 2(a) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to conduct 

a special resource study. 

Subsection (b) directs the Secretary, in conducting the study, to 

evaluate the Colonel Charles Young home to determine the suitability and feasibility of adding the site as a unit of the National 

Park System, including consideration of alternatives for the preservation, protection, and interpretation of the home by Federal, 


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State, or local government entities or any other interested individuals, and to identify the costs estimates for any Federal acquisition, development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance associated with the range of management alternatives. 

Subsection (c) directs the study to be conducted in accordance 

with section 8 of Public Law 91–383, which sets forth requirements 

for National Park Service studies. 

Subsection (d) requires the Secretary to prepare and submit for 

review the results, conclusions, and recommendations of the study. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 2933—Colonel Charles Young Home Study Act 

S. 2933 would require the National Park Service (NPS) to conduct a special resource study of the Colonel Charles Young Home 

in Xenia, Ohio. Colonel Young was an African-American who 

served in the U.S. Army between 1884 and 1922. In the study, the 

NPS would evaluate the resources of the site and determine the 

suitability and feasibility of designating it as a unit of the National 

Park System. The NPS would have three years to complete the 

study and report to the Congress on its results. 

Based on information provided by the NPS and assuming the 

availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that carrying out 

the study required by S. 2933 would cost about $250,000 over the 

next three years. Enacting S. 2933 would not affect direct spending 

or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. 

S. 2933 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. 

On June 21, 2010, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

4514, the Colonel Charles Young Home Study Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on June 16, 

2010. H.R. 4514 and S. 2933 are very similar, and the CBO cost 

estimates are the same. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Alan Eder and 

Deborah Reis. The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 

Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 2933. 

The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing 

Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 2933, as ordered reported. 


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CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 2933, as ordered reported, does not contain any congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 

benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the 

March 17, 2010 Subcommittee hearing on S. 2933 follows: 

STATEMENT OF DANIEL N. WENK, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear 

before you to provide the Department of the Interior’s 

views on S. 2933, a bill to authorize a special resource 

study to determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the Colonel Charles Young Home in Xenia, Ohio, as 

a unit of the National Park System. 

The Department supports enactment of S. 2933. However, we believe that priority should be given to the 47 

previously authorized studies for potential units of the National Park System, potential new National Heritage 

Areas, and potential additions to the National Trails System and National Wild and Scenic River System that have 

not yet been transmitted to the Congress. 

S. 2933 authorizes a special resource study, in consultation with the Secretary of the Army, to determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the Colonel Charles 

Young Home as a unit of the National Park System, and 

to consider other alternatives for preservation and protection of the home and interpretation of the life and accomplishments of Colonel Young for future appreciation by the 

public. The bill also authorizes consultation and collaboration with the Ohio Historical Society, Central State University, Wilberforce University and other interested Federal, State or local governmental entities, private and nonprofit organizations or individuals in accomplishing the resource study. The home is a National Historic Landmark. 

We estimate the cost of this study to range from $200,000 

to $250,000, based on similar types of studies conducted in 

recent years. 

Colonel Charles Young was the third African-American 

to graduate from West Point, and a distinguished AfricanAmerican officer in the United States Army, commanding 

troops in combat in the Spanish-American War and the 

Mexican expedition against Pancho Villa. Colonel Young 

was one of the first military attache ́s in the United States, 

serving in Haiti and Liberia, and a pioneer of techniques 

in military intelligence. The experience of Colonel Young 

in the Army between 1884 and 1922 illustrates the changing nature of race relations in the United States during a 

period spanning from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. 


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Colonel Young was a friend and associate of other distinguished African-Americans of the period, including poet 

Paul Laurence Dunbar from nearby Dayton, Ohio; and as 

the commander of an Army unit assigned to protect and 

develop Sequoia National Park and General Grant National Park in the State of California, Colonel Young is 

recognized as the first African-American to be the superintendent of a National Park. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I 

would be happy to answer any questions that you or other 

Committee members may have regarding this bill. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 2933, as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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