II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1975 

To establish the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site as a unit 

of the National Park System, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. BOXER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HEITKAMP, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. STABENOW, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic 

Site as a unit of the National Park System, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sewall-Belmont House 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1975 IS

1 (1) the Sewall-Belmont House was designated 

2 as a National Historic Landmark, National Historic 

3 Site, and an affiliated area of the National Park 

4 Service in 1974; 

5 (2) beginning in 1929, the Sewall-Belmont 

6 House served as the headquarters of the National 

7 Woman’s Party, founded by Alice Paul (1885– 

8 1977), the most significant figure in the final phase 

9 of the struggle for a constitutional amendment 

10 granting women the right to vote; 

11 (3) Alice Paul revived the movement, employing 

12 dramatic techniques, White House demonstrations, 

13 hunger strikes, and relentless political pressure, to 

14 achieve victory just prior to the 1920 election; and 

15 (4) in June 2015, the National Park Service 

16 completed a feasibility study of the Sewall-Belmont 

17 House National Historic Site, in which the National 

18 Park Service determined that— 

19 (A) the Sewall-Belmont House National 

20 Historic Site met the criteria for inclusion in 

21 the National Park System, confirming national 

22 significance, suitability, feasibility, and the need 

23 for direct National Park Service management; 

24 and 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1975 IS

1 (B) the Sewall-Belmont House would help 

2 fill identified gaps in the National Park System 

3 related to the 20th century women’s rights 

4 movement and strengthening the overall inter5 pretation of women’s history. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab7 lish the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site as 

8 a unit of the National Park System to preserve and pro9 tect the site and to interpret the nationally significant re10 sources related to the women’s rights movement. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of the Interior. 

15 (2) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en16 titled ‘‘Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site 

17 Proposed Boundary’’, numbered 896/129106, and 

18 dated July 2015. 

19 (3) NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE.—The term ‘‘na20 tional historic site’’ means the Sewall-Belmont 

21 House National Historic Site established under sec22 tion 4(a). 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1975 IS

1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF SEWALL-BELMONT HOUSE AS A 

2 UNIT OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

4 Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site is estab5 lished as a unit of the National Park System, to be known 

6 as the ‘‘Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site’’. 

7 (b) CONDITIONS.—The national historic site shall not 

8 be established as a unit of the National Park System until 

9 the date on which the Secretary determines that— 

10 (1) the National Woman’s Party has trans11 ferred the land and any improvements to the land 

12 within the boundaries described in subsection (c) to 

13 the Secretary; and 

14 (2) the Secretary and the National Woman’s 

15 Party have entered into a Management Agreement 

16 in accordance with subsection (d). 

17 (c) BOUNDARIES.—The national historic site shall 

18 consist of the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic 

19 Site, also known as the ‘‘Sewall-Belmont House and Mu20 seum’’, located at 144 Constitution Avenue, Northeast, 

21 Washington, DC, as depicted on the map. 

22 (d) MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT.—The Secretary may 

23 enter into a management agreement with the National 

24 Woman’s Party that provides for— 

25 (1) National Park Service operation and main26 tenance of the national historic site; 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1975 IS

1 (2) the National Woman’s Party to retain own2 ership and management of the National Woman’s 

3 Party collection, which includes an extensive library 

4 and archival and museum holdings relating to the 

5 women’s suffrage movement; and 

6 (3) collaboration and cooperation by the Na7 tional Park Service and the National Woman’s Party 

8 on management and interpretation of the Sewall9 Belmont House National Historic Site. 

10 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall admin11 ister the national historic site in accordance with— 

12 (1) this Act; and 

13 (2) the laws generally applicable to units of the 

14 National Park Service, including— 

15 (A) section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and 

16 sections 100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 

17 102101 of title 54, United States Code; and 

18 (B) chapter 3201 of title 54, United States 

19 Code. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS