I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4986 

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

of the National Park System, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2016 

Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on 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 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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

8 (1) the Sewall-Belmont House was designated 

9 as a National Historic Landmark, National Historic 


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1 Site, and an affiliated area of the National Park 

2 Service in 1974; 

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

4 House served as the headquarters of the National 

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

6 1977), the most significant figure in the final phase 

7 of the struggle for a constitutional amendment 

8 granting women the right to vote; 

9 (3) Alice Paul revived the movement, employing 

10 dramatic techniques, White House demonstrations, 

11 hunger strikes, and relentless political pressure, to 

12 achieve victory just prior to the 1920 election; and 

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

14 completed a feasibility study of the Sewall-Belmont 

15 House National Historic Site, in which the National 

16 Park Service determined that— 

17 (A) the Sewall-Belmont House National 

18 Historic Site met the criteria for inclusion in 

19 the National Park System, confirming national 

20 significance, suitability, feasibility, and the need 

21 for direct National Park Service management; 

22 and 

23 (B) the Sewall-Belmont House would help 

24 fill identified gaps in the National Park System 

25 related to the 20th century women’s rights 


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1 movement and strengthening the overall inter2 pretation of women’s history. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab4 lish the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site as 

5 a unit of the National Park System to preserve and pro6 tect the site and to interpret the nationally significant re7 sources related to the women’s rights movement. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

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

11 the Secretary of the Interior. 

12 (2) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en13 titled ‘‘Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site 

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

15 dated July 2015. 

16 (3) NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE.—The term ‘‘na17 tional historic site’’ means the Sewall-Belmont 

18 House National Historic Site established under sec19 tion 4(a). 

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

21 UNIT OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM. 

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

23 Sewall-Belmont House National Historic Site is estab24 lished as a unit of the National Park System, to be known 

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


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

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

3 the date on which the Secretary determines that— 

4 (1) the National Woman’s Party has trans5 ferred the land and any improvements to the land 

6 within the boundaries described in subsection (c) to 

7 the Secretary; and 

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

9 Party have entered into a Management Agreement 

10 in accordance with subsection (d). 

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

12 consist of the Sewall-Belmont House National Historic 

13 Site, also known as the ‘‘Sewall-Belmont House and Mu14 seum’’, located at 144 Constitution Avenue, Northeast, 

15 Washington, DC, as depicted on the map. 

16 (d) MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT.—The Secretary may 

17 enter into a management agreement with the National 

18 Woman’s Party that provides for— 

19 (1) National Park Service operation and main20 tenance of the national historic site; 

21 (2) the National Woman’s Party to retain own22 ership and management of the National Woman’s 

23 Party collection, which includes an extensive library 

24 and archival and museum holdings relating to the 

25 women’s suffrage movement; and 


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1 (3) collaboration and cooperation by the Na2 tional Park Service and the National Woman’s Party 

3 on management and interpretation of the Sewall4 Belmont House National Historic Site. 

5 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall admin6 ister the national historic site in accordance with— 

7 (1) this Act; and 

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

9 National Park Service, including— 

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

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

12 102101 of title 54, United States Code; and 

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

14 Code. 

Æ 


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