I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3683 

To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National 

Park Service the African American Civil Rights Network, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 5, 2015 

Mr. CLAY (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. BASS, Mrs. 

BEATTY, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. 

BROWN of Florida, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, 

Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of 

Illinois, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. 

FUDGE, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HOYER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 

Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON

of Georgia, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MURPHY of 

Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 

POLIS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 

Mrs. TORRES, Mr. TURNER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 

VEASEY, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within 

the National Park Service the African American Civil 

Rights Network, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African American Civil 

3 Rights Network Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

6 (1) the African American civil rights movement 

7 includes historic events, court decisions, and legisla8 tion, the goals of which were— 

9 (A) to end segregation based upon race; 

10 (B) to end discrimination against African 

11 Americans; and 

12 (C) to ensure that African American citi13 zens could exercise their basic constitutional 

14 rights, including the right to vote; 

15 (2) the civil rights movement— 

16 (A) helped bridge the divides of race, reli17 gion, sectional differences, and nationality; 

18 (B) spanned State lines; and 

19 (C) joined the ideals of liberty and freedom 

20 expressed in the Declaration of Independence, 

21 the Constitution, and the Civil Rights Act of 

22 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.) to the extraor23 dinary actions of ordinary men and women 

24 working in common purpose for equal rights; 

25 (3) the National Park Service and Organization 

26 of American Historians conducted a theme study 


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1 that identified and interpreted sites related to the 

2 Civil Rights movement (Public Law 106–113, Ap3 pendix C, ‘‘The National Park System New Area of 

4 Study Act of 2000’’ [s. 1349]); 

5 (4) in conducting the theme study referred to in 

6 paragraph (3), the National Park Service and the 

7 Organization of American Historians found that— 

8 (A) although many sites relating to the Af9 rican American civil rights movement have been 

10 identified and recognized in existing National 

11 Park System units— 

12 (i) a number of sites relating to the 

13 African American civil rights movement 

14 have not been recognized; 

15 (ii) many sites relating to the African 

16 American civil rights movement are in im17 minent danger of being lost or destroyed; 

18 and 

19 (iii) many important resource types 

20 relating to the African American civil 

21 rights movement are not adequately rep22 resented and protected; 

23 (B) there are many important sites relat24 ing to the African American civil rights move25 ment that have high potential for preservation 


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1 and visitor use in a number of States, the Dis2 trict of Columbia, and territories of the United 

3 States; 

4 (C) no single site completely reflects and 

5 characterizes the African American civil rights 

6 movement, since the story of, and resources as7 sociated with, the African American civil rights 

8 movement involve networks, regions, and terri9 tories of the United States rather than indi10 vidual sites; and 

11 (D) the establishment of a variety of part12 nerships among the Federal Government, State, 

13 and units of local government, and the private 

14 sector would be most appropriate for the pro15 tection, restoration, and interpretation of the 

16 African American Civil Rights Network; 

17 (5) the National Park Service can play a vital 

18 role in facilitating the creation and sustained success 

19 of the African American Civil Rights Network; and 

20 (6) the story and significance of the African 

21 American civil rights movement can best engage the 

22 people of the United States through a national pro23 gram of the National Park Service that links, in a 

24 unified and flexible manner— 


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1 (A) historic buildings, structures, and sites 

2 relating to the African American civil rights 

3 movement; 

4 (B) geographic areas relating to the Afri5 can American civil rights movement; 

6 (C) interpretive centers, museums, and in7 stitutions relating to the African American civil 

8 rights movement; and 

9 (D) programs, activities, community 

10 projects, exhibits, and multimedia materials re11 lating to the African American civil rights 

12 movement. 

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

14 (1) to recognize— 

15 (A) the importance of the African Amer16 ican civil rights movement; and 

17 (B) the sacrifices made by the people who 

18 fought against discrimination and segregation; 

19 and 

20 (2) to authorize the National Park Service to 

21 coordinate and facilitate Federal and non-Federal 

22 activities to commemorate, honor, and interpret— 

23 (A) the history of the African American 

24 civil rights movement; 


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1 (B) the significance of the civil rights 

2 movement as a crucial element in the evolution 

3 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

4 2000a et seq.); and 

5 (C) the relevance of the African American 

6 civil rights movement in fostering the spirit of 

7 social justice and national reconciliation. 

8 SEC. 3. U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS NETWORK PROGRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subdivision 1 of Division B of 

10 subtitle III of title 54, United States Code, is amended 

11 by inserting after chapter 3083 the following: 

12 ‘‘CHAPTER 3084—U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS 

13 NETWORK 

14 ‘‘§ 308401. Definition of network 

15 ‘‘In this chapter, the term ‘Network’ means the Afri16 can American Civil Rights Network established under sec17 tion 308402(a). 

18 ‘‘§ 308402. U.S. Civil Rights Network 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, 

20 within the Service, a program to be known as the ‘U.S. 

21 Civil Rights Network’. 

22 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—In carrying out the 

23 Network, the Secretary shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) review studies and reports to complement 

25 and not duplicate studies of the historical imporVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:40 Oct 06, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3683.IH H3683

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1 tance of the African American civil rights movement 

2 that may be underway or completed, such as the 

3 Civil Rights Framework Study; 

4 ‘‘(2) produce and disseminate appropriate edu5 cational materials relating to the African American 

6 civil rights movement, such as handbooks, maps, in7 terpretive guides, or electronic information; 

8 ‘‘(3) enter into appropriate cooperative agree9 ments and memoranda of understanding to provide 

10 technical assistance under subsection (c); and 

11 ‘‘(4)(A) create and adopt an official, uniform 

12 symbol or device for the Network; and 

13 ‘‘(B) issue regulations for the use of the symbol 

14 or device adopted under subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(c) ELEMENTS.—The Network shall encompass the 

16 following elements: 

17 ‘‘(1) All units and programs of the Service that 

18 are determined by the Secretary to relate to the Af19 rican American civil rights movement during the pe20 riod from 1939 through 1968. 

21 ‘‘(2) Other Federal, State, local, and privately 

22 owned properties that— 

23 ‘‘(A) relate to the African American civil 

24 rights movement; 


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1 ‘‘(B) have a verifiable connection to the 

2 African American civil rights movement; and 

3 ‘‘(C) are included in, or determined by the 

4 Secretary to be eligible for inclusion in, the Na5 tional Register of Historic Places. 

6 ‘‘(3) Other governmental and nongovernmental 

7 facilities and programs of an educational, research, 

8 or interpretive nature that are directly related to the 

9 African American civil rights movement. 

10 ‘‘§ 308403. Cooperative agreements and memoranda 

11 of understanding 

12 ‘‘To achieve the purposes of this chapter and to en13 sure effective coordination of the Federal and non-Federal 

14 elements of the Network described in section 308402(c) 

15 with System units and programs of the Service, the Sec16 retary may enter into cooperative agreements and memo17 randa of understanding with, and provide technical assist18 ance to the heads of other Federal agencies, States, units 

19 of local government, regional governmental bodies, and 

20 private entities.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

22 for title 54, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

23 after the item relating to chapter 3083 the following: 

‘‘3084. U.S. Civil Rights Network.’’. 

Æ 


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