II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 225 

To provide for partnerships among State and local governments, regional 

entities, and the private sector to preserve, conserve, and enhance the 

visitor experience at nationally significant battlefields of the American 

Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2019 

Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for partnerships among State and local governments, regional entities, and the private sector to preserve, conserve, and enhance the visitor experience at 

nationally significant battlefields of the American Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War, 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 ‘‘Preserving America’s 

5 Battlefields Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELD PRESERVATION ACT OF 

2 2002. 

3 Section 2 of the Civil War Battlefield Preservation 

4 Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–359) is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) Battlefields of the American Revolution, 

9 War of 1812 and the Civil War— 

10 ‘‘(A) provide a means for the people of the 

11 United States to understand our Nation’s tur12 bulent first century; 

13 ‘‘(B) serve as living memorials to those 

14 who fought and sacrificed in these conflicts to 

15 establish and maintain our freedom and liberty; 

16 ‘‘(C) serve as training grounds for our Na17 tion’s Armed Forces; and 

18 ‘‘(D) serve as heritage tourism destina19 tions, generating revenue for local economies. 

20 ‘‘(2) According to the Report on the Nation’s 

21 Civil War Battlefields, prepared by the National 

22 Park Service and updated in 2010, of the 383 Civil 

23 War battlefields identified as national preservation 

24 priorities— 


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1 ‘‘(A) only at 31 battlefields is more than 

2 half of the surviving landscape permanently 

3 protected; 

4 ‘‘(B) at 227 battlefields, less than half of 

5 the surviving landscape is permanently pro6 tected; 

7 ‘‘(C) 65 battlefields have no protection at 

8 all; and 

9 ‘‘(D) 113 battlefields have been severely 

10 hampered by development since the Civil War 

11 or are on the verge of being overwhelmed. 

12 ‘‘(3) According to the 2007 Report to Congress 

13 on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War 

14 and War of 1812 Sites in the United States, pre15 pared by the National Park Service, of the 243 prin16 cipal Revolutionary War and War of 1812 battle17 fields identified as national preservation priorities— 

18 ‘‘(A) almost 70 percent lie within urban 

19 areas as denoted in the 2000 U.S. Census; 

20 ‘‘(B) 141 are lost or extremely fragmented, 

21 with residential and commercial development 

22 being the chief threats; 

23 ‘‘(C) 100 other battlefields retain signifi24 cant features and lands from the period of batVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S225.IS S225

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1 tle, although on average these battlefields retain 

2 only 37 percent of the original historic scene; 

3 ‘‘(D) of these 100 surviving but diminished 

4 battle landscapes, 82 are partially owned and 

5 protected by public and nonprofit stewards, al6 though the extent of that protection varies from 

7 site to site; 

8 ‘‘(E) 18 are without any legal protection; 

9 ‘‘(F) the condition of two battlefields is un10 known, with additional research and survey 

11 being required to determine their exact location 

12 and condition; and 

13 ‘‘(G) the paucity of existing battlefield 

14 landscapes necessitates preservation and main15 tenance of what precious little remains today. 

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

17 ‘‘(1) to act quickly and proactively to preserve 

18 and protect nationally significant battlefields of the 

19 American Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War 

20 through conservation easements and fee-simple pur21 chases of those battlefields from willing sellers; and 

22 ‘‘(2) to create partnerships among State and 

23 local governments, regional entities, and the private 

24 sector to preserve, conserve, and enhance the visitor 


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1 experience at nationally significant battlefields of the 

2 American Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. PRESERVATION ASSISTANCE. 

4 Section 308103(f) of title 54, United States Code, is 

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to pro8 vide grants under this section $20,000,000 for each fiscal 

9 year through 2028, of which not more than 10 percent 

10 may be used each fiscal year as follows: 

11 ‘‘(1) Not more than $1,000,000 for projects 

12 and programs that modernize battlefield interpretive 

13 and educational assets through the deployment of 

14 technology, disbursed through the competitive grant 

15 process to non-profit organizations. 

16 ‘‘(2) Not more than $1,000,000 for grants to 

17 organizations described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

18 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from 

19 taxation under section 501(a) of such Code to be 

20 used for projects that restore day-of-battle condi21 tions on land preserved through Battlefield Land 

22 Acquisition Grant Program funds.’’. 

Æ 


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