Union Calendar No. 348

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4158

[Report No. 103–642]

A BILL

To establish the Lower East Side Tenement

Museum National Historic Site.

AUGUST 1, 1994

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

dered to be printedof the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
IB

Union Calendar No. 348

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4158

[Report No. 103–642]

To establish the Lower East Side Tenement Museum National Historic Site.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 24, 1994

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

AUGUST 1, 1994

Additional sponsors: Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. BONIOR, Mr.

FILNER, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. NADLER, Mrs.

MALONEY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. OWENS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. SERRANO,

Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. WASHINGTON, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms.

SLAUGHTER, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. LOWEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. MANTON,

Mr. ENGEL, Mr. BOEHLERT, and Mr. SOLOMON

AUGUST 1, 1994

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 24, 1994]

A BILL

To establish the Lower East Side Tenement Museum

National Historic Site.
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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 ‘‘Lower East Side Tene5 ment National Historic Site Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 As used in this Act:

8 (1) The term ‘‘historic site’’ means the Lower

9 East Side Tenement National Historic Site estab10 lished by section 4.

11 (2) The term ‘‘Museum’’ means the Lower East

12 Side Tenement Museum, an education corporation

13 chartered under the laws of the State of New York.

14 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

15 the Interior.

16 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

17 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

18 (1) the Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Or19 chard Street, New York, New York, is an outstanding

20 survivor of the vast number of humble buildings in

21 New York City that housed immigrants to the United

22 States during the greatest wave of immigration in

23 American history;
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1 (2) the Lower East Side Tenement is well suited

2 to represent a profound social movement involving

3 great numbers of unexceptional but courageous people;

4 (3) between 1880 and 1921, almost three-quar5 ters of the immigrants to the United States entered

6 the country through New York Harbor, most passed

7 through immigration stations at Ellis Island and,

8 earlier, Castle Clinton, both of which have been des9 ignated as national monuments, and millions of these

10 immigrants made their way to the Lower East Side

11 of New York City;

12 (4) no other single identifiable neighborhood in

13 the United States absorbed a comparable number of

14 immigrants;

15 (5) the Museum is dedicated to interpreting im16 migrant life on the Lower East Side and its impor17 tance to United States history, and is located within

18 a neighborhood long associated with the immigrant

19 experience in America;

20 (6) the tenement building at 97 Orchard Street

21 has been designated as a National Historic Land22 mark, has been found to be historically significant,

23 and possesses a historic fabric of exceptional integrity

24 dating from the period of peak immigration to the

25 United States; and
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1 (7) the National Park Service has found the

2 Lower East Side Tenement to be nationally signifi3 cant and to be best protected and interpreted through

4 designation as an affiliated area of the National Park

5 System while remaining under private ownership and

6 management.

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

8 (1) to assure the preservation, maintenance, and

9 interpretation of the Lower East Side Tenement and

10 to interpret, in the tenement and the surrounding

11 neighborhood, the themes of early tenement life, the

12 housing reform movement, and tenement architecture

13 in the United States;

14 (2) to assure the continuation at this site of the

15 Lower East Side Tenement, the preservation of which

16 is necessary for the continued interpretation of the

17 nationally significant immigrant phenomenon associ18 ated with the Lower East Side of New York City and

19 the role of the phenomenon in the history of immigra20 tion to the United States; and

21 (3) to enhance the interpretation of the Castle

22 Clinton National Monument and Ellis Island Na23 tional Monument through cooperation with the Lower

24 East Side Tenement National Historic Site.
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1 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF HISTORIC SITE.

2 In order to further the purposes of this Act and the

3 Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461 et

4 seq.), the Lower East Side Tenement at 97 Orchard Street,

5 New York, New York, is hereby designated as a national

6 historic site.

7 SEC. 5. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the purposes of

9 this Act and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16

10 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), the Secretary may enter into a coopera11 tive agreement with the Museum to effectuate the purposes

12 of this Act.

13 (b) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Any

14 agreement entered into under subsection (a) may include

15 provisions by which the Secretary will provide technical as16 sistance to mark, restore, interpret, operate, and maintain

17 the historic site. Such an agreement may also include provi18 sions by which the Secretary will provide financial assist19 ance to mark, interpret, and restore the historic site (in20 cluding financial assistance for the making of preservation21 related capital improvements and repairs, but not includ22 ing financial assistance for other routine operations).

23 (c) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.—Any agreement entered

24 into under subsection (a) shall contain provisions that—

25 (1) the Secretary, acting through the National

26 Park Service, shall have the right of access at all rea-
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1 sonable times to all public portions of the property

2 covered by such agreement for the purpose of conduct3 ing visitors through such property and interpreting

4 the property to the public; and

5 (2) no changes or alterations may be made in

6 property covered by the agreement except by mutual

7 agreement between the Secretary and the other parties

8 to the agreement entered into under subsection (a).

9 SEC. 6. REPORT.

10 The Museum shall, as a condition of the receipt of any

11 assistance under this Act, provide to the Secretary and to

12 the Congress an annual report documenting the activities

13 and expenditures for which any such assistance was used

14 during the fiscal year preceding the report.

15 SEC. 7. APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There is hereby authorized to be appropriated

17 $6,400,000 to carry out the purposes of this Act, such sums

18 to remain available until expended.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to establish

the Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site.’’.