II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4120 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource 

study to evaluate resources at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in 

Brunswick, Maine, to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing the site as a unit of the National Park System, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2006 

Ms. SNOWE 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 conduct a 

special resource study to evaluate resources at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Brunswick, Maine, to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing the 

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 ‘‘Harriet Beecher Stowe 

5 House Special Resource Study Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) Harriet Beecher Stowe, who lived from 

4 1811 to 1896, was an important author, humani5 tarian, and abolitionist during the 19th century; 

6 (2) from the period beginning in 1850 and end7 ing in 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe lived at the 

8 house located at 63 Federal Street in Brunswick, 

9 Maine (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Harriet Bee10 cher Stowe House’’); 

11 (3) while living in that house, Harriet Beecher 

12 Stowe penned ‘‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’’, one of the 

13 most influential antislavery novels that introduced to 

14 the citizens of the United States the horrors of slav15 ery; 

16 (4) the influence of that novel proved to be so 

17 great that it prompted President Abraham Lincoln, 

18 when meeting with Harriet Beecher Stowe, to re19 mark ‘‘So you’re the little lady who wrote the book 

20 that started this Great War.’’; 

21 (5) ‘‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’’— 

22 (A) has been translated into 23 languages; 

23 and 

24 (B) is still considered by many critics and 

25 academics to be the most famous example of 

26 antislavery literature; and 


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1 (6) the Harriet Beecher Stowe House was des2 ignated as a National Historic Landmark in 1963. 

3 SEC. 3. STUDY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

5 date on which funds are made available to carry out this 

6 Act, the Secretary of the Interior (referred to in this Act 

7 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall complete a study of the Harriet 

8 Beecher Stowe House in Brunswick, Maine, to evaluate— 

9 (1) the national significance of the Harriet Bee10 cher Stowe House and surrounding land; and 

11 (2) the suitability and feasibility of designating 

12 the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and surrounding 

13 land as a unit of the National Park System. 

14 (b) STUDY GUIDELINES.—In conducting the study 

15 authorized under subsection (a), the Secretary shall use 

16 the criteria for the study of areas for potential inclusion 

17 in the National Park System contained in section 8(c) of 

18 Public Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–5(c)). 

19 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

20 Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds 

21 are made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary 

22 shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re23 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Resources 

24 of the House of Representatives a report containing the 


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1 findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the study 

2 conducted under section 3. 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

5 as are necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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