II 

Calendar No. 977 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D 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, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Natural Resources 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 

Reported by Mr. BINGAMAN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

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

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

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

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

6 three great protest traditions in United States his7 tory, sharing that status with the struggle for racial 

8 equality and the labor movement. These movements 

9 challenged Americans to consider the essential 

10 meaning of the Declaration of Independence: ‘‘that 

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

12 their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that 

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

14 Happiness. That to secure these rights, Govern15 ments are instituted among Men, deriving their just 

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

17 (2) New York State in the nineteenth century 

18 was at the cutting edge of these movements, includ19 ing the womans’ rights movement. On July 19, 

20 1848, a group of activists including Elizabeth Cady 

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

22 and Mary Ann M’Clintock, convened the first Wom23 en’s Rights Convention at Wesleyan Chapel in Sen24 eca Falls, New York. During the Convention, 68 

25 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of SentiVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:05 Sep 17, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1816.RS S1816

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1 ments calling for a broad array of rights for women, 

2 including suffrage. 

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

4 Association, refuted ideas that women were inferior 

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

6 also campaigned for the rights of women to own 

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

8 custody of their children. In 1900, she persuaded 

9 the University of Rochester to admit women. 

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

11 Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and others formed 

12 the National Woman Suffrage Association, and Lucy 

13 Stone, Henry Blackwell, and others formed the 

14 American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1890, 

15 these merged into the National American Woman 

16 Suffrage Association. Through mass campaigns in17 volving thousands of women and men all across the 

18 country, National American Woman Suffrage Asso19 ciation helped secure passage of the Nineteenth 

20 amendment to the United States Constitution, offi21 cially certified on August 26, 1920, giving women 

22 the right to vote. 

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

24 the women’s movement expanded to play a critical 


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1 role in shaping policies on education, legal reform, 

2 and economic and social welfare. 

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

4 TRAIL ROUTE AS FEATURE OF WOMEN’S 

5 RIGHTS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 

6 Title XVI of Public Law 96–607 is amended by in7 serting after section 1601 (16 U.S.C. 410ll) the following 

8 new section: 

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

10 ‘‘(a) FINDING.—Congress finds that there is an op11 portunity for the Women’s Rights National Historical 

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

13 in partnership with historically and thematically related 

14 properties in the corridor between the eastern border of 

15 New York State and the Niagara Frontier, including the 

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

17 fight for women’s suffrage. 

18 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAIL ROUTE.—The Sec19 retary of the Interior, acting through the Director of Na20 tional Park Service, with concurrence of the agency having 

21 jurisdiction over the relevant roads, is authorized to des22 ignate a vehicular tour route, to be known as the ‘Votes 

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

24 State of New York that are historically and thematically 


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

2 United States. 

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

4 shall be administered by the National Park Service 

5 through Women’s Rights National Historical Park. 

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

7 the Votes for Women Trail and the dissemination of infor8 mation regarding the Trail Route, the Secretary shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) produce and disseminate appropriate edu10 cational materials regarding the Trail Route, such 

11 as handbooks, maps, exhibits, signs, interpretive 

12 guides, and electronic information; 

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

14 standards of the auto route in partnership with par15 ticipating properties, other Federal agencies, and 

16 State and local governments; 

17 ‘‘(3) create and adopt an official, uniform sym18 bol or device to mark the Votes for Women History 

19 Trail Route; and 

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

21 or device. 

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

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

24 History Trail Route any of the following properties, sub25 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. 

4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Women’s 

6 Rights History Project Act’’. 

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

8 TRAIL ROUTE AS A FEATURE OF THE WOM9 EN’S RIGHTS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 

10 Title XVI of Public Law 96–607 (16 U.S.C. 410ll) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) PARK.—The term ‘Park’ means the Wom15 en’s Rights National Historical Park established by 

16 section 1601. 

17 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

18 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di19 rector of the National Park Service. 

20 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the State 

21 of New York. 

22 ‘‘(4) TRAIL.—The term ‘Trail’ means the Votes 

23 for Women History Trail Route designated under 

24 subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAIL ROUTE.—The Sec2 retary, with concurrence of the agency having jurisdiction 

3 over the relevant roads, may designate a vehicular tour 

4 route, to be known as the ‘Votes for Women History Trail 

5 Route’, to link properties in the State that are historically 

6 and thematically associated with the struggle for women’s 

7 suffrage in the United States. 

8 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Trail shall be adminis9 tered by the National Park Service through the Park. 

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

11 the Trail and the dissemination of information regarding 

12 the Trail, the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) produce and disseminate appropriate edu14 cational materials regarding the Trail, such as hand15 books, maps, exhibits, signs, interpretive guides, and 

16 electronic information; 

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

18 standards of the Trail in partnership with partici19 pating properties, other Federal agencies, and State 

20 and local governments; 

21 ‘‘(3) create and adopt an official, uniform sym22 bol or device to mark the Trail; and 

23 ‘‘(4) issue guidelines for the use of the symbol or 

24 device adopted under paragraph (3). 


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1 ‘‘(e) ELEMENTS OF TRAIL ROUTE.—Subject to the con2 sent of the owner of the property, the Secretary may des3 ignate as an official stop on the Trail— 

4 ‘‘(1) all units and programs of the Park relating 

5 to the struggle for women’s suffrage; 

6 ‘‘(2) other Federal, State, local, and privately 

7 owned properties that the Secretary determines have 

8 a verifiable connection to the struggle for women’s 

9 suffrage; and 

10 ‘‘(3) other governmental and nongovernmental 

11 facilities and programs of an educational, commemo12 rative, research, or interpretive nature that the Sec13 retary determines to be directly related to the struggle 

14 for women’s suffrage. 

15 ‘‘(f) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND MEMORANDA OF

16 UNDERSTANDING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To facilitate the establish18 ment of the Trail and to ensure effective coordination 

19 of the Federal and non-Federal properties designated 

20 as stops along the Trail, the Secretary may enter into 

21 cooperative agreements and memoranda of under22 standing with, and provide technical and financial 

23 assistance to, other Federal agencies, the State, local24 ities, regional governmental bodies, and private enti25 ties. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

4 fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to provide financial 

5 assistance to cooperating entities pursuant to agree6 ments or memoranda entered into under paragraph 

7 (1).’’. 

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

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior (re11 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may make annual 

12 grants to State historic preservation offices for not more 

13 than 5 years to assist the State historic preservation offices 

14 in surveying, evaluating, and nominating to the National 

15 Register of Historic Places women’s rights history prop16 erties. 

17 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—In making grants under subsection 

18 (a), the Secretary shall give priority to grants relating to 

19 properties associated with the multiple facets of the women’s 

20 rights movement, such as politics, economics, education, re21 ligion, and social and family rights. 

22 (c) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall ensure that the Na23 tional Register travel itinerary website entitled ‘‘Places 

24 Where Women Made History’’ is updated to contain— 


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1 (1) the results of the inventory conducted under 

2 subsection (a); and 

3 (2) any links to websites related to places on the 

4 inventory. 

5 (d) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—The Federal 

6 share of the cost of any activity carried out using any as7 sistance made available under this section shall be 50 per8 cent. 

9 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out 

11 this section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 

12 2013. 

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

14 PARTNERSHIPS NETWORK. 

15 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make matching 

16 grants and give technical assistance for development of a 

17 network of governmental and nongovernmental entities (re18 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘network’’), the purpose of 

19 which is to provide interpretive and educational program 

20 development of national women’s rights history, including 

21 historic preservation. 

22 (b) MANAGEMENT OF NETWORK.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, through a 

24 competitive process, designate a nongovernmental 

25 managing network to manage the network. 


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1 (2) COORDINATION.—The nongovernmental man2 aging entity designated under paragraph (1) shall 

3 work in partnership with the Director of the National 

4 Park Service and State historic preservation offices to 

5 coordinate operation of the network. 

6 (c) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the cost 

8 of any activity carried out using any assistance made 

9 available under this section shall be 50 percent. 

10 (2) STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICES.— 

11 Matching grants for historic preservation specific to 

12 the network may be made available through State his13 toric preservation offices. 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out 

16 this section $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 

17 2013. 


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Calendar No. 977 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1816 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to estabfrage, and for other purposes. associated with the struggle for women’s suf- properties that are historically and thematically Women’s Rights National Historical Park to link lish a commemorative trail in connection with the 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 

Reported with an amendment 


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