II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 762

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study on

the inclusion of the Miami Circle in Biscayne National Park.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 25, 1999

Mr. GRAHAM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility

study on the inclusion of the Miami Circle in Biscayne

National Park.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

5 (1) the Tequesta Indians were one of the ear6 liest groups to establish permanent villages in south7 east Florida;

8 (2) the Tequestas had one of only two North

9 American civilizations that thrived and developed
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1 into a complex social chiefdom without an agricul2 tural base;

3 (3) the Tequesta sites that remain preserved

4 today are rare;

5 (4) the discovery of the Miami Circle, occupied

6 by the Tequesta approximately 2,000 years ago, pre7 sents a valuable new opportunity to learn more

8 about the Tequesta culture;

9 (5) Biscayne National Park in Homestead,

10 Florida, contains and protects several prehistoric

11 Tequesta sites; and

12 (6) as a valuable archaeological resource and

13 the only Tequesta site of its kind known to exist in

14 Florida, the Miami Circle should be preserved and

15 protected as part of the Park.

16 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to direct

17 the Secretary to determine the feasibility of including the

18 Miami Circle in the Biscayne National Park.

19 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

20 In this Act:

21 (1) MIAMI CIRCLE.—The term ‘‘Miami Circle’’

22 means the property in Miami-Dade County of the

23 State of Florida consisting of the three parcels de24 scribed in Exhibit A in the appendix to the summons

25 to show cause and notice of eminent domain pro-
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1 ceedings, filed February 18, 1999, in Miami-Dade

2 County v. Brickell Point, Ltd., in the circuit court

3 of the 11th judicial circuit of Florida in and for

4 Miami-Dade County.

5 (2) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means Biscayne

6 National Park in the southern part of the State of

7 Florida.

8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

9 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di10 rector of the National Park Service.

11 SEC. 3. FEASIBILITY STUDY.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year and 180

13 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

14 shall conduct a study to determine the feasibility of includ15 ing the Miami Circle in the Park.

16 (b) COMPONENTS.—The study shall include the anal17 ysis and recommendations of the Secretary with respect

18 to—

19 (1) which, if any, particular areas of or sur20 rounding the Miami Circle should be included in the

21 Park;

22 (2) whether any additional staff, facilities, or

23 other resources would be necessary to administer the

24 Miami Circle as a unit of the Park; and
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1 (3) any impact on the local area that would re2 sult from the inclusion of Miami Circle in the Park.

3 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after comple4 tion of the feasibility study, the Secretary shall submit a

5 report describing the findings and recommendations of the

6 study to—

7 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re8 sources of the Senate; and

9 (2) the Committee on Resources of the House

10 of Representatives.

11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

12 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec13 essary to carry out this Act.

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