89–006 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 111–307 

TO EXPAND THE BOUNDARY OF THE JIMMY CARTER NATIONAL HISTORIC 

SITE IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA, TO REDESIGNATE THE UNIT AS A NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

OCTOBER 21, 2009.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. RAHALL, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1471] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1471) to expand the boundary of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in the State of Georgia, to redesignate the unit 

as a National Historical Park, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and 

recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. BOUNDARY EXPANSION. 

Section 1 of Public Law 100–206 is amended— 

(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (3) and inserting: 

‘‘(3) preserve and interpret a southern agricultural-based rural community 

during the early to middle years of the 20th century.’’; 

(2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘map entitled ‘Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and Preservation District Boundary Map’, numbered NHS–JC–80000, 

and dated April 1987’’ and inserting ‘‘map titled ‘Jimmy Carter National Historical Park and Preservation District, Proposed Boundary Map’, numbered 330/ 

80,019, and dated September 2009’’; 

(3) in subsection (b)(2)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘and described more particularly as follows—’’ and inserting ‘‘or is needed to enhance the visitor experience, and includes—’’; 

(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘15’’ and inserting ‘‘18’’; 

(C) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

(D) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘Carter.’’ and inserting ‘‘Carter, and 

properties in the vicinity of the residence along West Church Street that 

are needed for administrative and visitor uses and to protect scenic values, 

not to exceed 10 acres;’’; and 

(E) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

‘‘(G) the Billy Carter Service Station at 104 West Church Street, consisting of less than one acre; 


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‘‘(H) the property at 147 Old Plains Highway, known locally as the 

‘Haunted House’, where Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter resided from 1956 to 

1961, consisting of approximately one acre; 

‘‘(I) the Georgia Welcome Center on State Route 280/27, consisting of approximately 18 acres; and 

‘‘(J) two corridors of land no wider than 50 feet each between the Georgia 

Welcome Center and the President Carter boyhood home for the purpose of 

establishing walking and biking trails while using, to the greatest extent 

practicable, the right-of-way for the Shoreline Excursion Train.’’; 

(4) in subsection (c)(1)— 

(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting 

‘‘; and’’; and 

(C) after subparagraph (B), insert the following: 

‘‘(C) by donation only, other lands and interests in lands in the environs 

of Plains that the Secretary deems appropriate to add to the national historical park which, upon acquisition, shall be included in and administered 

as part of the national historical park.’’; and 

(5) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ‘‘, the Georgia Welcome Center (referred 

to in subsection (b)(2)(I)),’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(A))’’. 

SEC. 2. REDESIGNATION AS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 

(a) REDESIGNATION.—Public Law 100–206 is amended— 

(1) by striking ‘‘National Historic Site’’ each place it appears and inserting 

‘‘National Historical Park’’; 

(2) by striking ‘‘historic site’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘national historical park’’; 

(3) in the section heading of section 1, by striking ‘‘NATIONAL HISTORIC 

SITE’’ and inserting ‘‘NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK’’; 

(4) in the subsection heading of section 1(b), by striking ‘‘NATIONAL HISTORIC

SITE’’ and inserting ‘‘NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK’’; and 

(5) in the section heading of section 3, by striking ‘‘HISTORIC SITE’’ and 

inserting ‘‘NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK’’. 

(b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or 

other record of the United States to the ‘‘Jimmy Carter National Historic Site’’ shall 

be deemed a reference to the ‘‘Jimmy Carter National Historical Park’’. 

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

Public Law 100–206 is further amended by striking section 7. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1471 is to expand the boundary of the 

Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in the State of Georgia, to redesignate the unit as a National Historical Park, and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Jimmy Carter National Historic Site was established in 1987 

(P.L. 100–206) to preserve the boyhood home and current residence 

of the 39th President in Plains, Georgia. The former President and 

his wife, Rosalynn, have a lifetime tenancy in their home, and are 

actively involved in the interpretive work of the park. 

The park also encompasses the Plains railroad depot that served 

as the headquarters of the 1976 Carter presidential campaign. 

Plains High School serves as the park visitor center. 

H.R. 1471 would expand the national historic site’s authorized 

boundaries from 15 acres to 18 acres around the boyhood home. It 

would further allow the National Park Service to acquire several 

additional properties for the park, including a house that the 

Carter family lived in from 1956–1961, which is one of the oldest 

houses in Sumter County. 

Other properties that would be added to the park include the 

nearby Georgia Welcome Center, which property would be used to 


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develop camping facilities; a new site for the park’s maintenance 

facility and curatorial storage; and a corridor along the Southwest 

Georgia Railroad lines that will serve as a multiuse trail between 

the Welcome Center and the President’s boyhood home. The bill 

would also permit the acquisition of the gas station formerly owned 

by President Carter’s brother, Billy; the gas station served as an 

informal headquarters for the national press during the 1976 and 

1980 presidential campaigns. 

H.R. 1471 would redesignate the park from a national historic 

site to a national historical park and would amend the purposes of 

the original statute to include language directing that the park 

‘‘preserve and interpret a southern agricultural-based rural community during the early to middle years of the 20th century.’’ 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1471 was introduced on March 12, 2009, by Representative 

Sanford Bishop (D–GA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. At a May 14, 2009, 

hearing before the Subcommittee, a representative of the Department of the Interior testified that the Administration supports the 

bill. 

On September 30, 2009, the Subcommittee was discharged from 

further consideration of H.R. 1471 and the full Natural Resources 

Committee met to consider the bill. Subcommittee Chairman Rau ́l 

Grijalva (D–AZ) offered an en bloc amendment to add a map reference, allow the Secretary of the Interior to accept donations of 

lands or easements outside the boundaries of the park if the Secretary deems appropriate, and make further technical corrections. 

The amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as 

amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that Rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 


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2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to expand the boundary of the Jimmy Carter National 

Historic Site in the State of Georgia, to redesignate the unit as a 

National Historical Park, and for other purposes. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 1471—A bill to expand the boundary of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in the state of Georgia, to redesignate the 

unit as a National Historic Park, and for other purposes 

H.R. 1471 would expand the boundaries of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, Georgia, by about 30 acres. The National Park Service (NPS) could acquire that acreage (or lesser 

property interests such as easements) by purchase or donation. In 

addition, the legislation would change the name of the site to the 

Jimmy Carter National Historical Park. 

Based on information from the NPS, CBO estimates that imple- menting H.R. 1471 would cost about $17 million over the next five 

years, assuming the appropriation of the necessary amounts. We 

estimate that the NPS would spend about $1 million of this 

amount over the next three years to purchase less than 10 acres 

of land around the current site. (We expect that about 20 acres 

would be donated, including the Billy Carter Service Station Museum, the Georgia Welcome Center, and a former home of Jimmy 

and Rosalynn Carter.) We also estimate that the NPS would spend 

$10 million over the next few years for planning and for constructing and rehabilitating buildings, facilities, and trails. Finally, 

we estimate that the NPS would spend about $2 million annually 

to manage the new areas. Enacting H.R. 1471 would have no effect 

on direct spending or revenues. 

The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no 

costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

CBO expects that H.R. 1471 would impose no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA. Under UMRA, if the Secretary of the 

Interior acquires private property by means of condemnation, such 

an action would constitute a private-sector mandate. However, the 

NPS indicates that it expects to acquire properties for the expansion area through other means (such as donation or purchase). 

If the Secretary uses condemnation to acquire a property, the 

cost of the mandate would be equal to its value. Since the value 

of property in the expansion area that could be obtained by condemnation is about $1 million, CBO estimates that the cost of the 

mandate, if imposed, would fall well below the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($139 million in 

2009, adjusted annually for inflation). 


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The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The 

estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

H.R. 1471 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule 

XXI. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

ACT OF DECEMBER 23, 1987 

(Public Law 100-206) 

AN ACT To establish the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and Preservation 

District in the State of Georgia, and for other purposes. 

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF JIMMY CARTER øNATIONAL HISTORIC SITE¿ NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to provide for the benefit, inspiration, and education of the American people, there is hereby established the Jimmy Carter øNational Historic Site¿ National Historical Park in the State of Georgia. In administering the øhistoric 

site¿ national historical park, the Secretary shall— 

(1) preserve the key sites and structures located within the 

øhistoric site¿ national historical park associated with Jimmy 

Carter during his lifespan; 

* * * * * * * 

ø(3) present the history of a small rural southern town.¿ 

(3) preserve and interpret a southern agricultural-based rural 

community during the early to middle years of the 20th century. 

(b) DESCRIPTION OF JIMMY CARTER øNATIONAL HISTORIC SITE¿ 

NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.—(1) The øhistoric site¿ national historical park shall consist of the lands and interests in lands (including the real property described in paragraph (2)) as generally 

depicted on the ømap entitled ‘‘Jimmy Carter National Historic 

Site and Preservation District Boundary Map’’, numbered NHS– 

JC–80000, and dated April 1987¿ map titled ‘‘Jimmy Carter National Historical Park and Preservation District, Proposed Boundary Map’’, numbered 330/80,019, and dated September 2009. The 

map shall be on file and available for public inspection at appropriate offices of the National Park Service. 


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(2) The real property referred to in paragraph (1) is that real 

property which has significant historical association with the life of 

James Earl Carter, Jr., 39th President of the United States, located 

in the town of Plains and the County of Sumter, Georgia, øand described more particularly as follows—¿ or is needed to enhance the 

visitor experience, and includes— 

(A) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(C) the boyhood home of former President Carter, consisting 

of the residence, together with not more than ø15¿ 18 acres, 

located west of Plains near the community of Archery, Georgia; 

* * * * * * * 

(E) the Plains High School and grounds of approximately 12 

acres; øand¿ 

(F) the Gnann House at 1 Woodland Drive, which is adjacent 

to the residence referred to in subparagraph (A) of former 

President øCarter.¿ Carter, and properties in the vicinity of the 

residence along West Church Street that are needed for administrative and visitor uses and to protect scenic values, not to exceed 10 acres; 

(G) the Billy Carter Service Station at 104 West Church 

Street, consisting of less than one acre; 

(H) the property at 147 Old Plains Highway, known locally 

as the ‘‘Haunted House’’, where Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter resided from 1956 to 1961, consisting of approximately one acre; 

(I) the Georgia Welcome Center on State Route 280/27, consisting of approximately 18 acres; and 

(J) two corridors of land no wider than 50 feet each between 

the Georgia Welcome Center and the President Carter boyhood 

home for the purpose of establishing walking and biking trails 

while using, to the greatest extent practicable, the right-of-way 

for the Shoreline Excursion Train. 

(c) ACQUISITION OF REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY.—(1) Except 

as otherwise provided in this subsection and subject to such terms, 

reservations, and conditions as the Secretary determines reasonable or necessary, the Secretary may acquire by donation, purchase 

with donated or appropriated funds, exchange, or otherwise— 

(A) lands and interests in lands within the boundaries of the 

øhistoric site; and¿ national historical park; 

(B) personal property and artifacts for purposes of the øhistoric site.¿ national historical park; and 

(C) by donation only, other lands and interests in lands in 

the environs of Plains that the Secretary deems appropriate to 

add to the national historical park which, upon acquisition, 

shall be included in and administered as part of the national 

historical park. 

(2) The Carter home (described in subsection (b)(2)(A)), the Georgia Welcome Center (referred to in subsection (b)(2)(I)), and the 

Plains High School (referred to in subsection (b)(2)(E)) may only be 

acquired by donation. 

* * * * * * * 


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SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF øHISTORIC SITE¿ NATIONAL HISTORICAL 

PARK AND PRESERVATION DISTRICT. 

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

site¿ national historical park and the preservation district in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and the provisions of law 

generally applicable to national historic sites, including the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish a National Park Service, and for other 

purposes’’, approved August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1, 2–4), and the 

Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the preservation of historic 

American sites, buildings, objects and antiquities of national significance, and for other purposes’’, approved August 21, 1935 (16 

U.S.C. 461 et seq.). 

* * * * * * * 

(c) HISTORY.—The Secretary shall gather oral history on the øhistoric site¿ national historical park, its occupants, and environs. The 

Secretary may also preserve personal property that has been acquired by the Secretary for purposes of the øhistoric site¿ national 

historical park. (d) REPORT.—25 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

Secretary shall convene a distinguished group of nationally recognized historians, scholars, and other experts to examine the life of 

President Carter in greater historical perspective. The group shall 

examine the research then available on President Carter, his life 

and Presidency, and make recommendations on interpretation, 

preservation, and other issues (as appropriate) at the Jimmy 

Carter øNational Historic Site¿ National Historical Park and the 

Jimmy Carter National Preservation District. 

SEC. 4. ADVISORY COMMISSION. 

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish an advisory 

commission to provide advice on achieving balanced and accurate 

interpretation of the øhistoric site¿ national historical park. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

the Secretary shall develop and submit to the Congress a general 

management plan for the use and development of the øhistoric 

site¿ national historical park and the preservation district. Such 

plan shall— 

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

For the purposes of this Act— 

(1) * * * 

(2) the term ‘‘øhistoric site¿ national historical park’’ means 

the Jimmy Carter øNational Historic Site¿ National Historical 

Park established under section 1; and 

* * * * * * * 

øSEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

ø(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appropriated such 

sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act, except that not 

more than $3,500,000 is authorized to be appropriated for acquisition of real and personal property (including preservation easeVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:08 Oct 22, 2009 Jkt 089006 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HR307.XXX HR307

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ments) and development of the preservation district and the historic site. 

ø(b) COST SHARING.—Not more than 60 percent of the aggregate 

cost of restoring the Plains High School (referred to in section 

1(b)(2)(E)) may be provided from appropriated Federal funds. The 

remaining 40 percent, non-Federal share of such cost may be in the 

form of cash, goods, or services, fairly valued.¿ 

Æ 


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