49–010 

Calendar No. 209 

114TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 114–129 

THURGOOD MARSHALL’S ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDY 

ACT 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015.—Ordered to be printed 

Ms. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 610] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 610) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 

to conduct a special resource study of P.S. 103 in West Baltimore, 

Maryland and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that 

the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 610 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 

to conduct a special resource study of Public School (P.S.) 103 in 

West Baltimore, Maryland. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

One of the nation’s leading lawyers and a hero of the Civil Rights 

movement, Justice Thurgood Marshall (1908–1993), was born, 

raised, and educated in Baltimore, Maryland. As a young attorney 

for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, he began his fight to desegregate public schools in Baltimore. 

He ultimately argued and won the seminal Supreme Court case of 

Brown v. Board of Education, which ended the policy of segregation 

in public schools. Marshall was appointed to the United States Supreme Court in 1967 by President Johnson and served until October 1991. Justice Marshall was the first African American to serve 

on the Supreme Court. 

The elementary school Justice Marshall attended as a child, Public School 103, still stands in the Upton neighborhood of West BalVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Sep 11, 2015 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR129.XXX SR129

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timore. A story is told that a young Thurgood Marshall studied the 

United States Constitution in the basement of the building while 

serving detention. As a segregated school, P.S. 103 tells the story 

of racial segregation in America and marks the academic beginning 

of one of the country’s foremost legal minds and a pioneer of the 

civil rights movement. 

This legislation would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) 

to undertake a special resource study of P.S. 103, and any other 

resources in the neighborhood surrounding P.S. 103 that relate to 

the early life of Thurgood Marshall, to evaluate whether this site 

meets the NPS’s criteria of national significance, suitability, and 

feasibility for potential designation of the area as a unit of the 

NPS, and the need for NPS management of the resource versus 

management by state or local government entities or other private 

or non-profit organizations. The study is informational; Congress 

would still have to act on separate legislation to establish a unit 

of the National Park System. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 610 was introduced by Senators Cardin and Mikulski on February 27, 2015. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on the bill on June 10, 2015. 

Senators Cardin and Mikulski introduced a similar bill in the 

113th Congress, S. 103, on January 23, 2013. 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on July 30, 2015, and ordered S. 610 favorably reported. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on July 30, 2015, by a majority voice vote of 

a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 610. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 contains the short title, the ‘‘Thurgood Marshall’s Elementary School Study Act.’’ 

Section 2 contains definitions. 

Section 3 directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 

resource study of Public School 103 and any other resources in the 

neighborhood surrounding P.S. 103 that relate to the early life of 

Thurgood Marshall. Section 3(b) requires the study to: evaluate the 

national significance of the site; determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the site as a unit of the National Park System; 

include cost estimates for any necessary acquisition, development, 

operation and maintenance of the site; consult with interested government entities, private and non-profit organizations or other interested individuals; and identify alternatives for the management, 

administration and protection of the site. Section 3(c) requires that 

the study shall be conducted in accordance with section 100507 of 

title 54, United States Code, which sets forth criteria for National 

Park Service special resource studies. Section 3(d) requires the Secretary to submit a report that describes the findings and conclusions of the study and any recommendations to the House Natural 

Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Sep 11, 2015 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR129.XXX SR129

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sources Committee within three years after the funds are made 

available to carry out the study. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 610—Thurgood Marshall’s Elementary School Study Act 

S. 610 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the 

suitability and feasibility of designating P.S. 103 in West Baltimore, Maryland, as a unit of the National Park System (P.S. 103 

is the public school that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall 

attended as a child). CBO estimates that carrying out the proposed 

study would cost about $200,000; such spending would be subject 

to the availability of appropriated funds. Enacting S. 610 would not 

affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

S. 610 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not 

affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Marin Burnett. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 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. 610. 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. 610, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 610, 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 June 

10, 2015, Subcommittee hearing on S. 610 follows: 

STATEMENT OF VICTOR KNOX, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, PARK

PLANNING, FACILITIES AND LANDS, NATIONAL PARK

SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank 

you for the opportunity to provide the Department of the 

Interior’s views on S. 610, to authorize the Secretary of the 

Interior to conduct a special resource study of P.S. 103 in 

West Baltimore, Maryland, and for other purposes. 


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The Department supports enactment of S. 610. However, 

we believe that priority should be given to the 33 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 Rivers System that 

have not yet been transmitted to Congress. 

S. 610 authorizes a special resource study of Public 

School 103 and other resources in the neighborhood that 

relate to the early life of Thurgood Marshall in Baltimore, 

Maryland. This study would determine whether this site 

meets the National Park Service’s criteria for inclusion in 

the National Park System of national significance, suitability, and feasibility, and need for National Park Service 

management. The study would also consider other alternatives for preservation, protection, and interpretation of 

the resources by the Federal government, State or local 

government entities, or private and non-profit entities. Alternatives might include, for example, the designation of 

the site as an affiliated area of the National Park Service, 

where the National Park Service would provide technical 

assistance to the site but not own or manage it. We estimate the cost of the study to range from $200,000 to 

$300,000, based on similar types of studies conducted in 

recent years. 

P.S. 103 was originally built in 1877 for West Baltimore’s white immigrant population but, in 1911, it became 

a segregated African-American school serving the Upton 

community of West Baltimore. The school is significant for 

its role in the education of Thurgood Marshall, who is best 

known as the lead counsel for the landmark school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and as 

the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Marshall’s life and his life’s work began in Baltimore: it is the 

city where he was born in 1908, where he began his public 

education, and where he won his first civil rights cases as 

a young attorney. Thurgood Marshall attended P.S. 103 

from 1st through 8th grade (1914 to 1921). 

Marshall’s accomplishments in systematically dismantling the legal framework for Jim Crow segregation are the 

foundation upon which the success of the Civil Rights 

Movement was built. P.S. 103 is owned by the City of Baltimore and is included in the Baltimore National Heritage 

Area. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes our prepared statement. I 

would be happy to respond to any questions about this 

matter. 

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. 610, as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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