II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1816 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a commemorative 

trail in connection with the Women’s Rights National Historical Park 

to link properties that are historically and thematically associated with 

the struggle for women’s suffrage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2007 

Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. MURRAY, and 

Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a 

commemorative trail in connection with the Women’s 

Rights National Historical Park to link properties that 

are historically and thematically associated with the 

struggle for women’s suffrage, 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘National Women’s Rights History Project Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The women’s rights movement is one of the 

2 three great protest traditions in United States his3 tory, sharing that status with the struggle for racial 

4 equality and the labor movement. These movements 

5 challenged Americans to consider the essential 

6 meaning of the Declaration of Independence: ‘‘that 

7 all men are created equal, that they are endowed by 

8 their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that 

9 among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of 

10 Happiness. That to secure these rights, Govern11 ments are instituted among Men, deriving their just 

12 powers from the consent of the governed.’’. 

13 (2) New York State in the nineteenth century 

14 was at the cutting edge of these movements, includ15 ing the womans’ rights movement. On July 19, 

16 1848, a group of activists including Elizabeth Cady 

17 Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, Jane Hunt, 

18 and Mary Ann M’Clintock, convened the first Wom19 en’s Rights Convention at Wesleyan Chapel in Sen20 eca Falls, New York. During the Convention, 68 

21 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Senti22 ments calling for a broad array of rights for women, 

23 including suffrage. 

24 (3) Susan B. Anthony formed the Equal Rights 

25 Association, refuted ideas that women were inferior 


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1 to men, and fought for women’s right to vote. She 

2 also campaigned for the rights of women to own 

3 property, to keep their own earnings, and to have 

4 custody of their children. In 1900, she persuaded 

5 the University of Rochester to admit women. 

6 (4) In 1869, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. 

7 Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and others formed 

8 the National Woman Suffrage Association, and Lucy 

9 Stone, Henry Blackwell, and others formed the 

10 American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1890, 

11 these merged into the National American Woman 

12 Suffrage Association. Through mass campaigns in13 volving thousands of women and men all across the 

14 country, National American Woman Suffrage Asso15 ciation helped secure passage of the Nineteenth 

16 amendment to the United States Constitution, offi17 cially certified on August 26, 1920, giving women 

18 the right to vote. 

19 (5) In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 

20 the women’s movement expanded to play a critical 

21 role in shaping policies on education, legal reform, 

22 and economic and social welfare. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF VOTES FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY 

2 TRAIL ROUTE AS FEATURE OF WOMEN’S 

3 RIGHTS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 

4 Title XVI of Public Law 96–607 is amended by in5 serting after section 1601 (16 U.S.C. 410ll) the following 

6 new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 1602. VOTES FOR WOMEN TRAIL. 

8 ‘‘(a) FINDING.—Congress finds that there is an op9 portunity for the Women’s Rights National Historical 

10 Park in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, New York, to work 

11 in partnership with historically and thematically related 

12 properties in the corridor between the eastern border of 

13 New York State and the Niagara Frontier, including the 

14 Susan B. Anthony House, to tell the story of the 72-year 

15 fight for women’s suffrage. 

16 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAIL ROUTE.—The Sec17 retary of the Interior, acting through the Director of Na18 tional Park Service, with concurrence of the agency having 

19 jurisdiction over the relevant roads, is authorized to des20 ignate a vehicular tour route, to be known as the ‘Votes 

21 for Women History Trail Route’, to link properties in the 

22 State of New York that are historically and thematically 

23 associated with the struggle for women’s suffrage in the 

24 United States. 


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1 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Votes for Women Trail 

2 shall be administered by the National Park Service 

3 through Women’s Rights National Historical Park. 

4 ‘‘(d) ACTIVITIES.—To facilitate the establishment of 

5 the Votes for Women Trail and the dissemination of infor6 mation regarding the Trail Route, the Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) produce and disseminate appropriate edu8 cational materials regarding the Trail Route, such 

9 as handbooks, maps, exhibits, signs, interpretive 

10 guides, and electronic information; 

11 ‘‘(2) coordinate the management, planning, and 

12 standards of the auto route in partnership with par13 ticipating properties, other Federal agencies, and 

14 State and local governments; 

15 ‘‘(3) create and adopt an official, uniform sym16 bol or device to mark the Votes for Women History 

17 Trail Route; and 

18 ‘‘(4) issue guidelines for the use of such symbol 

19 or device. 

20 ‘‘(e) ELEMENTS OF TRAIL ROUTE.—The Secretary 

21 may designate as an official stop on the Votes for Women 

22 History Trail Route any of the following properties, sub23 ject to the consent of the owner of the property: 


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1 ‘‘(1) All units and programs of Women’s Rights 

2 National Historical Park that pertain to the struggle 

3 for women’s suffrage. 

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

5 owned properties that the Secretary determines have 

6 a verifiable connection to the struggle for women’s 

7 suffrage. 

8 ‘‘(3) Other governmental and nongovernmental 

9 facilities and programs of an educational, commemo10 rative, research, or interpretive nature that the Sec11 retary determines to be directly related to the strug12 gle for women’s suffrage. 

13 ‘‘(f) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND MEMORANDA

14 OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

15 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED.—To facilitate the establish16 ment of the Votes for Women Trail and to ensure 

17 effective coordination of the Federal and non-Fed18 eral properties designated as stops along the Trail 

19 Route, the Secretary is authorized to enter into co20 operative agreements and memorandums of under21 standing with, and provide technical and financial 

22 assistance to, other Federal agencies, the State of 

23 New York, localities, regional governmental bodies, 

24 and private entities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec3 retary of the Interior such sums as are necessary for 

4 the period of fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 

5 2012 to provide financial assistance to cooperating 

6 entities pursuant to agreements or memorandums 

7 entered into under paragraph (1).’’. 

8 SEC. 3. NATIONAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS HISTORY PROJECT NA9 TIONAL REGISTRY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior is 

11 authorized to make annual grants to State historic preser12 vation offices for up to 5 years to assist those State his13 toric preservation offices in surveying, evaluating, and 

14 nominating women’s rights history properties to the Na15 tional Register of Historic Places. The Secretary shall en16 sure that the National Register travel itinerary website, 

17 ‘‘Places Where Women Made History’’ is updated to con18 tain the results of the inventory and links to websites re19 lated to places on the inventory when such links are avail20 able. 

21 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—When offering grants under sub22 section (a), the Secretary shall give priority grants related 

23 to properties associated with the multiple facets of the 

24 women’s rights movement such as politics, economics, edu25 cation, religion, and social and family rights. 


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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 

3 Interior to carry out this section such sums as are nec4 essary for the period of fiscal year 2008 through fiscal 

5 year 2012. 

6 SEC. 4. NATIONAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS HISTORY PROJECT 

7 PARTNERSHIPS NETWORK. 

8 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of the Interior is au9 thorized to make matching grants and give technical as10 sistance for development of a network of governmental and 

11 nongovernmental entities whose purpose is to provide in12 terpretive and educational program development of na13 tional women’s rights history, including historic preserva14 tion. Matching grants for historic preservation specific to 

15 the network may be made available through State historic 

16 preservation offices. 

17 (b) MANAGEMENT OF NETWORK.—The network shall 

18 be managed through a nongovernmental entity, identified 

19 by the Secretary of the Interior through a competitive 

20 process. The nongovernmental managing entity shall work 

21 in partnership with the National Park Service and State 

22 historic preservation offices to coordinate operation of the 

23 network. 

24 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 


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1 Interior to carry out this section such sums as are nec2 essary for the period of fiscal year 2008 through fiscal 

3 year 2012. 

Æ 


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