I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4158

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

A BILL

To establish the Lower East Side Tenement Museum

National Historic Site.

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

5 Tenement Museum National Historic Site Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 As used in this Act:—

8 (1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

9 of the Interior.
2

•HR 4158 IH

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

2 East Side Tenement Museum designated as a na3 tional historic site by section 4.

4 (3) The term ‘‘Museum’’ means the Lower East

5 Side Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard Street, New

6 York City, in the State of New York, and related fa7 cilities owned or operated by the Museum.

8 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

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

10 (1) the Lower East Side Tenement Museum at

11 97 Orchard Street is an outstanding survivor of the

12 vast number of humble buildings that housed immi13 grants to New York City during the greatest wave

14 of immigration in American history;

15 (2) the Museum is well suited to represent a

16 profound social movement involving great numbers

17 of unexceptional but courageous people;

18 (3) no single identifiable neighborhood in the

19 United States absorbed a comparable number of

20 immigrants;

21 (4) the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is

22 dedicated to interpreting immigrant life on the

23 Lower East Side and its importance to United

24 States history, within a neighborhood long associ25 ated with the immigrant experience in America; and
3

•HR 4158 IH

1 (5) the National Park Service found the Lower

2 East Side Tenement Museum to be nationally sig3 nificant, suitable, and feasible for inclusion in the

4 National Park System.

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

6 (1) to assure the preservation, maintenance,

7 and interpretation of this site and to interpret in the

8 site and in the surrounding neighborhood, the

9 themes of early tenement life, the housing reform

10 movement, and tenement architecture in the United

11 States;

12 (2) to assure the continuation of the Museum

13 at this site, the preservation of which is necessary

14 for the continued interpretation of the nationally sig15 nificant immigrant phenomenon associated with the

16 New York City’s Lower East Side, and its role in

17 the history of immigration to the United States; and

18 (3) to enhance the interpretation of the Castle

19 Clinton National Historic Monument and Ellis Is20 land National Historic Monument through coopera21 tion with the Museum.

22 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF HISTORIC SITE.

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

24 Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461–7), the Lower

25 East Side Tenement Museum at 97 Orchard Street, in the
4

•HR 4158 IH

1 city of New York, State of New York, is hereby designated

2 as a national historic site.

3 SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OR COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.

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

5 this Act and the Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461–

6 7), the Secretary may either acquire the historic site with

7 donated or appropriated funds or enter into cooperative

8 agreements with the Lower East Side Tenement Museum

9 designed to effectuate the purposes of this Act.

10 (b) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Such

11 agreements may include provisions by which the Secretary

12 will provide technical assistance to mark, restore, inter13 pret, operate, and maintain the historic site and may also

14 include provisions by which the Secretary will provide fi15 nancial assistance to the Museum to acquire ownership of

16 and to maintain the historic site, or to mark, interpret,

17 and restore the historic site, including the making of

18 preservation-related capital improvements and repairs.

19 (c) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.—Such agreement may

20 also contain provisions that—

21 (1) the Secretary, acting through the National

22 Park Service, shall have the right of access at all

23 reasonable times to all public portions of the prop24 erty covered by such agreement for the purpose of
5

•HR 4158 IH

1 conducting visitors through such properties and in2 terpreting them to the public; and

3 (2) no changes or alterations shall be made in

4 such properties except by mutual agreement between

5 the Secretary and the other parties to such agree6 ments.

7 SEC. 6. LAND ACQUISITION.

8 The Secretary is authorized to acquire properties

9 owned or occupied or required by the Museum or to assist

10 the Museum in the acquisition of properties which it occu11 pies or requires through the use of appropriated funds or

12 by donation or purchase with donated funds.

13 SEC. 7. APPROPRIATIONS.

14 There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such

15 sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of

16 this Act.

Æ