I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1927 

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 

APRIL 5, 2017 

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

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

CARSON of Indiana, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, 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 of Georgia, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 

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

Mrs. TORRES, Mr. TURNER, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. WILSON of 

Florida, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. 

SABLAN, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 

Mr. ROSS, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. PRICE of North 

Carolina, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. PETERS, Ms. 

PLASKETT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. DEMINGS, and Ms. LOFGREN) 

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. 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

2 

•HR 1927 IH

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 ‘‘African American Civil 

5 Rights Network Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the African American civil rights movement 

9 includes historic events, court decisions, and legisla10 tion, the goals of which were— 

11 (A) to end segregation based upon race; 

12 (B) to end discrimination against African 

13 Americans; and 

14 (C) to ensure that African American citi15 zens could exercise their basic constitutional 

16 rights, including the right to vote; 

17 (2) the civil rights movement— 

18 (A) helped bridge the divides of race, reli19 gion, sectional differences, and nationality; 

20 (B) spanned State lines; and 

21 (C) joined the ideals of liberty and freedom 

22 expressed in the Declaration of Independence, 

23 the Constitution, and the Civil Rights Act of 

24 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.) to the extraormstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

3 

•HR 1927 IH

1 dinary actions of ordinary men and women 

2 working in common purpose for equal rights; 

3 (3) the National Park Service and Organization 

4 of American Historians conducted a theme study 

5 that identified and interpreted sites related to the 

6 Civil Rights movement (Public Law 106–113, Ap7 pendix C, ‘‘The National Park System New Area of 

8 Study Act of 2000’’ [s. 1349]); 

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

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

11 Organization of American Historians found that— 

12 (A) although many sites relating to the Af13 rican American civil rights movement have been 

14 identified and recognized in existing National 

15 Park System units— 

16 (i) a number of sites relating to the 

17 African American civil rights movement 

18 have not been recognized; 

19 (ii) many sites relating to the African 

20 American civil rights movement are in im21 minent danger of being lost or destroyed; 

22 and 

23 (iii) many important resource types 

24 relating to the African American civil 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

4 

•HR 1927 IH

1 rights movement are not adequately rep2 resented and protected; 

3 (B) there are many important sites relat4 ing to the African American civil rights move5 ment that have high potential for preservation 

6 and visitor use in a number of States, the Dis7 trict of Columbia, and territories of the United 

8 States; 

9 (C) no single site completely reflects and 

10 characterizes the African American civil rights 

11 movement, since the story of, and resources as12 sociated with, the African American civil rights 

13 movement involve networks, regions, and terri14 tories of the United States rather than indi15 vidual sites; and 

16 (D) the establishment of a variety of part17 nerships among the Federal Government, State, 

18 and units of local government, and the private 

19 sector would be most appropriate for the pro20 tection, restoration, and interpretation of the 

21 African American Civil Rights Network; 

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

23 role in facilitating the creation and sustained success 

24 of the African American Civil Rights Network; and 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

5 

•HR 1927 IH

1 (6) the story and significance of the African 

2 American civil rights movement can best engage the 

3 people of the United States through a national pro4 gram of the National Park Service that links, in a 

5 unified and flexible manner— 

6 (A) historic buildings, structures, and sites 

7 relating to the African American civil rights 

8 movement; 

9 (B) geographic areas relating to the Afri10 can American civil rights movement; 

11 (C) interpretive centers, museums, and in12 stitutions relating to the African American civil 

13 rights movement; and 

14 (D) programs, activities, community 

15 projects, exhibits, and multimedia materials re16 lating to the African American civil rights 

17 movement. 

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

19 (1) to recognize— 

20 (A) the importance of the African Amer21 ican civil rights movement; and 

22 (B) the sacrifices made by the people who 

23 fought against discrimination and segregation; 

24 and 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

6 

•HR 1927 IH

1 (2) to authorize the National Park Service to 

2 coordinate and facilitate Federal and non-Federal 

3 activities to commemorate, honor, and interpret— 

4 (A) the history of the African American 

5 civil rights movement; 

6 (B) the significance of the civil rights 

7 movement as a crucial element in the evolution 

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

9 2000a et seq.); and 

10 (C) the relevance of the African American 

11 civil rights movement in fostering the spirit of 

12 social justice and national reconciliation. 

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

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

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

16 by inserting after chapter 3083 the following: 

17 ‘‘CHAPTER 3084—U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS 

18 NETWORK 

19 ‘‘§ 308401. Definition of network 

20 ‘‘In this chapter, the term ‘Network’ means the Afri21 can American Civil Rights Network established under sec22 tion 308402(a). 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

7 

•HR 1927 IH

1 ‘‘§ 308402. U.S. Civil Rights Network 

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

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

4 Civil Rights Network’. 

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

6 Network, the Secretary shall— 

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

8 and not duplicate studies of the historical impor9 tance of the African American civil rights movement 

10 that may be underway or completed, such as the 

11 Civil Rights Framework Study; 

12 ‘‘(2) produce and disseminate appropriate edu13 cational materials relating to the African American 

14 civil rights movement, such as handbooks, maps, in15 terpretive guides, or electronic information; 

16 ‘‘(3) enter into appropriate cooperative agree17 ments and memoranda of understanding to provide 

18 technical assistance under subsection (c); and 

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

20 symbol or device for the Network; and 

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

22 or device adopted under subparagraph (A). 

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

24 following elements: 

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

26 are determined by the Secretary to relate to the Afmstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

8 

•HR 1927 IH

1 rican American civil rights movement during the pe2 riod from 1939 through 1968. 

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

4 owned properties that— 

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

6 rights movement; 

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

8 African American civil rights movement; and 

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

10 Secretary to be eligible for inclusion in, the Na11 tional Register of Historic Places. 

12 ‘‘(3) Other governmental and nongovernmental 

13 facilities and programs of an educational, research, 

14 or interpretive nature that are directly related to the 

15 African American civil rights movement. 

16 ‘‘§ 308403. Cooperative agreements and memoranda 

17 of understanding 

18 ‘‘To achieve the purposes of this chapter and to en19 sure effective coordination of the Federal and non-Federal 

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

21 with System units and programs of the Service, the Sec22 retary may enter into cooperative agreements and memo23 randa of understanding with, and provide technical assist24 ance to the heads of other Federal agencies, States, units 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

9 

•HR 1927 IH

1 of local government, regional governmental bodies, and 

2 private entities.’’. 

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

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

5 after the item relating to chapter 3083 the following: 

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

Æ 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS