79–010 

Calendar No. 516 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 115–302 

THURGOOD MARSHALL’S ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDY 

ACT 

JULY 16, 2018.—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. 1645] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 1645) 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. 1645 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of Public School 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. 


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The elementary school Justice Marshall attended as a child, Public School 103, still stands in the Upton neighborhood of West Baltimore. 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. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 1645 was introduced by Senators Cardin and Van Hollen on 

July 27, 2017. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing 

on S. 1645 on February 14, 2018. 

In the 114th Congress, similar legislation, 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. The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 

610 favorably reported on July 30, 2015 (S. Rept. 114–129). 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on May 17, 2018 and ordered S. 1645 favorably reported. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on May 17, 2018, by a majority voice vote of 

a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass S. 1645. Senator Lee asked to be recorded as voting no. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 contains the short title. 

Section 2. Definitions 

Section 2 contains definitions. 

Section 3. Special resource study 

Section 3(a) 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. 

Subsection (b) requires the study to evaluate the national significance of the study area; determine the suitability and feasibility of 

designating the study area as a unit of the National Park System; 

identify alternatives for the preservation, protection, and interpretation of the study area; consult with interested government entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jul 21, 2018 Jkt 079010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR302.XXX SR302

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ties, private and non-profit organizations or other interested individuals; and identify cost estimates for any Federal acquisition, development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance associated 

with the alternatives. 

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

with applicable law. 

Subsection (d) requires the Secretary to submit a report on the 

study’s findings and conclusions, and provide any recommendations, to the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate 

Energy and Natural Resources Committee within three years after 

the funds are made available to carry out the study. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 1645 would direct the National Park Service (NPS) to conduct 

a special resource study of P.S. 103 elementary school in West Baltimore, Maryland, where former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood 

Marshall attended as a child. As part of that study, the NPS would 

determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the site as 

a unit of the National Park System. 

Based on the costs of similar studies, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1645 would cost less than $500,000; such spending 

would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. 

Enacting S. 1645 would not affect direct spending or revenues; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1645 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2029. 

S. 1645 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani Shankaran. 

The estimate was reviewed 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. 1645. 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. 1645, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 1645, 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. 


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EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at the February 14, 2018, hearing on S. 1645 follows: 

STATEMENT OF P. DANIEL SMITH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, EXERCISING THE AUTHORITY OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Chairman Daines, Ranking Member King, and members 

of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide the Department of the Interior’s views on S. 1645, 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. 

The Department recognizes that P.S. 103, the elementary school that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall 

attended, would be an appropriate subject for a National 

Park Service special resource study. However, we do not 

support enactment of S. 1645 at this time. In order to 

focus resources on reducing the National Park Service’s 

$11.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog and addressing 

other critical national park needs, no increase in funding 

is requested for special resource studies in the Administration’s FY 2019 budget. Currently, the National Park Service is conducting 22 previously authorized studies to determine if areas have potential for inclusion in the National 

Park System as new units, national heritage areas, national trails, or wild and scenic rivers. Under these circumstances, we believe it would be unwise to authorize a 

new special resource study. 

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. 

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 my statement. I would be 

pleased to answer any questions you or other members of 

the Subcommittee may have. 


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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. 1645 as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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