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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 507 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 507

  Designating August 7, 2014, as ``National Lighthouse and Lighthouse 
                          Preservation Day''.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 17, 2014

  Mr. King (for himself, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Schumer) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Designating August 7, 2014, as ``National Lighthouse and Lighthouse 
                          Preservation Day''.

Whereas August 7, 2014, marks the 225\th\ anniversary of the signing by 
        President George Washington of the Act entitled ``An Act for the 
        establishment and support of lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and public 
        piers'', approved August 7, 1789 (commonly known as the ``Lighthouse Act 
        of 1789'') (1 Stat. 53, chapter 9);
Whereas in 1789, the ninth Act of the first Congress, established a Federal role 
        in the support, maintenance, and repair of all lighthouses, beacon 
        buoys, and public piers necessary for safe navigation, commissioned the 
        first Federal lighthouse, and represented the first public works act in 
        the young United States;
Whereas the establishment of the United States system of navigational aids set 
        the United States on a path to the forefront of international maritime 
        prominence and established lighthouses that played an integral role in 
        the rich maritime history of the United States, as that history spread 
        from the Atlantic coast through the Great Lakes and the Gulf coast and 
        Pacific States;
Whereas those iconic structures, standing at the margins of land and water, 
        sometimes for as long as 2 centuries, have symbolized safety, security, 
        heroism, duty, and faithfulness;
Whereas architects, designers, engineers, builders, and keepers devoted, and in 
        some cases jeopardized, their lives for the safety of others during 
        centuries of light tending by the United States Lighthouse Service and 
        the United States Coast Guard;
Whereas the automation of the light system exposed the historic lighthouse 
        towers to the ravages of time and vandalism and yet, at the same time, 
        opened an opportunity for citizen involvement in efforts to save and 
        restore those beacons that mark the evolving maritime history of the 
        United States and its coastal communities;
Whereas the national lighthouse preservation movement has gained momentum over 
        the past half century and is making major contributions to the 
        preservation of maritime history and heritage and, through the 
        development and enhancement of cultural tourism, to the economies of 
        coastal communities in the United States;
Whereas the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 
        470w-7 et seq.), enacted on October 24, 2000, with the aid of the 
        lighthouse preservation community, provides an effective process 
        administered by the General Services Administration and the National 
        Park Service for transferring lighthouses to the best possible 
        stewardship groups;
Whereas 2014 is the 200\th\ anniversary of the August 24, 1814, rescue of the 
        original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of 
        Confederation, the United States Constitution, and many irreplaceable 
        original government documents and books from destruction when the 
        British burned Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812 by Stephen 
        Pleasonton, who later served as General Superintendent of Lighthouses 
        for 32 years;
Whereas 2014 is also the 75\th\ anniversary of when Congress dissolved the 
        United States Lighthouse Service and turned all of its duties over to 
        the United States Coast Guard;
Whereas although the United States Coast Guard was created in 1915 with the 
        merger of the United States Life Saving Service and the United States 
        Revenue Marine Service, the United States Coast Guard uses the United 
        States Revenue Marine founding date of 1790 as its anniversary year, and 
        thus, August 7, 2014, is also the 225\th\ anniversary of the United 
        States Coast Guard;
Whereas 2014 also marks the 250\th\ anniversary of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in 
        New Jersey, the oldest standing lighthouse tower in the United States, 
        which was built before the United States was a country and was still 
        part of the British colonies;
Whereas for the past several decades, regional and national groups have formed 
        within the lighthouse preservation community to promote lighthouse 
        heritage through research, education, tourism, and publications;
Whereas despite progress, many lighthouses in the United States remain 
        threatened by erosion, neglect, vandalism, and deterioration by the 
        elements; and
Whereas the many completed, ongoing, or planned private and public efforts to 
        preserve lighthouses demonstrate the public support for those historic 
        structures: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates August 7, 2014, as ``National Lighthouse and 
        Lighthouse Preservation Day'';
            (2) encourages lighthouse grounds to be opened to the 
        general public to the extent feasible; and
            (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
        National Lighthouse and Lighthouse Preservation Day with 
        appropriate ceremonies and activities.
                                 <all>
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