I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2838 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a long-term ground 

lease for the operation and maintenance of Rock Creek, Langston, and 

East Potomac as golf courses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2009 

Ms. NORTON (for herself and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into 

a long-term ground lease for the operation and maintenance of Rock Creek, Langston, and East Potomac as 

golf courses, 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. GOLF COURSE PRESERVATION AND MOD4 ERNIZATION. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Langston Golf Course, Rock Creek Golf 

7 Course, and East Potomac Golf Course are owned 

8 by the United States and are under the administraVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:20 Jun 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2838.IH H2838

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1 tive jurisdiction of the National Park Service, and 

2 each golf course has a long history of service to the 

3 general public as an integral part of the Nation’s 

4 capital, including services to local and regional resi5 dents, visitors, and tourists. 

6 (2) Golf courses differ considerably from other 

7 lands administered by the National Park Service be8 cause they require a significant and continuing in9 vestment that cannot be required of a conces10 sionaire. 

11 (3) East Potomac Golf Course opened in 1920 

12 with three courses to accommodate all levels of play, 

13 including an 18-hole tournament-level course and 

14 two 9-hole practice courses, and was initially seg15 regated, with African-Americans allowed to play on 

16 Mondays. 

17 (4) Rock Creek Golf Course opened in 1923 as 

18 a 9-hole course, and in 1925 the course was com19 pleted as an 18-hole tournament-level course. This 

20 course was located in Rock Creek Park, a major 

21 recreation and picnic facility for residents. 

22 (5) Langston Golf Course opened in 1939 as a 

23 golf facility for African-Americans and has been the 

24 home course of both the Royal Golf Club and the 

25 Wake Robin Golf Club, the Nation’s first golf clubs 


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1 for African-American men and women, respectively. 

2 The golf course was named for John Mercer 

3 Langston, the first African-American Congressman 

4 from Virginia, elected in 1888. 

5 (6) Each of the three courses contains valuable 

6 historic components that must be maintained. 

7 (7) Langston Golf Course is listed on the Na8 tional Register of Historic Places. 

9 (8) Langston Golf Course is believed to be the 

10 first regulation course built in the United States al11 most entirely on a refuse landfill. 

12 (9) The first American-born golf professional of 

13 African-American ancestry was John Shippen, who 

14 was born in 1879 in the Anacostia area of Wash15 ington, DC, placed fifth in the second United States 

16 Open golf tournament in 1896 at 16 years of age, 

17 and helped found the Capitol City Golf Club in 

18 1925. 

19 (10) The Capitol City Open golf tournament 

20 has made Langston Golf Course its home for the 

21 past 40 years. 

22 (11) The Capitol City Golf Club, renamed the 

23 Royal Golf Club and Wake Robin Women’s Club, 

24 has historically promoted a safe golf facility for Afri25 can-Americans in Washington, DC, during an era of 


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1 few available facilities, and these two clubs remain 

2 the oldest African-American golf clubs in the United 

3 States. 

4 (12) The Langston facility provides important 

5 recreational outlets, instructional forums, and a 

6 ‘‘safe haven center’’ for the enhancement of the lives 

7 of inner city youth and other residents in Wash8 ington, DC. 

9 (13) The Langston, Rock Creek, and East Po10 tomac golf courses provide a home for the Nation’s 

11 important minority youth ‘‘First Tee’’ golf instruc12 tion and recreational program in Washington, DC. 

13 (14) The Langston, Rock Creek, and East Po14 tomac golf courses have traditionally provided addi15 tional quality of life value to Washington, DC, and 

16 regional residents and visitors and the golf courses 

17 will reach their considerable potential once upgraded 

18 to meet their athletic and historical promise. 

19 (b) MANAGEMENT OF GOLF COURSES.— 

20 (1) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 

21 section, the following apply: 

22 (A) ROCK CREEK.—The term ‘‘Rock 

23 Creek’’ means the federally owned golf course 

24 and related facilities located at 16th and Rit25 tenhouse NW, Washington, DC 20011, within 


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1 the boundaries of 16th Street NW to the East; 

2 Military Road NW to the South; Beach Drive 

3 NW to the West; and Sherrill Drive NW to the 

4 North. 

5 (B) LANGSTON.—The term ‘‘Langston’’ 

6 means the federally owned golf course and re7 lated facilities located at 26th and Benning 

8 Road NE, Washington, DC 20002, within the 

9 boundaries of Anacostia River to the East; 

10 Hickory Hill Road to the Northeast; Valley 

11 Road NE to the Northeast; Azalea Road NE to 

12 the North; Ellipse Road NE to the West; M 

13 Street NE to the North; Maryland Avenue NE 

14 to the Northwest; 22nd Street NE to the West; 

15 26th Street to the West; and Benning Road NE 

16 to the South. 

17 (C) EAST POTOMAC.—The term ‘‘East Po18 tomac’’ means the federally owned golf course 

19 and related facilities located at 972 Ohio Drive 

20 SW, Washington DC 20024, within the bound21 aries of Ohio Drive to the East, South, and 

22 West; and Buckeye Drive SW to the North. 

23 (D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

24 means the Secretary of the Interior, acting 


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1 through the Director of the National Park 

2 Service. 

3 (c) LEASE EXPIRATION DATES.—The Secretary shall 

4 ensure, that upon the expiration of the lease currently in 

5 force for East Potomac, that any new lease for East Poto6 mac shall be set to expire on the same date as the lease 

7 currently in force for Langston and Rock Creek and upon 

8 the expiration of Langston, Rock Creek, and the new lease 

9 for East Potomac, the lease referred to in subsection (d) 

10 shall commence. 

11 (d) LEASE.—The lease referred to in subsection (e) 

12 is a lease for the continued operation and maintenance 

13 of Rock Creek, Langston, and East Potomac as golf 

14 courses. A lease entered into under this section shall in15 clude the 3 golf courses in one lease agreement and re16 quire that the golf courses be operated and maintained 

17 in a manner that— 

18 (1) retains the historic nature of the courses in19 cluding an appropriate commemoration of the 

20 Langston Golf Course’s historic place in African21 American golf history; 

22 (2) at least 2 of the 3 courses maintain fees re23 lated to use of the golf courses to be affordable in 

24 light of the current fee system used today at the 

25 courses; 


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1 (3) may allow fees collected at one golf course 

2 to subsidize the maintenance and operation of one or 

3 more of the other golf courses; and 

4 (4) allows for a long-term ground lease on the 

5 3 courses. 

6 (e) REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.—The Secretary 

7 shall solicit proposals, through a competitive process, to 

8 procure the lease described in subsection (d) and may, 

9 after such solicitation, enter into agreements to procure 

10 the lease. The Secretary shall solicit the request for pro11 posals under this subsection in such a manner which en12 sures, to the greatest extent practicable, the participation 

13 of disadvantaged business enterprises among the equity 

14 partners of the sponsors of the proposals. 

15 (f) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN LAWS.—The Na16 tional Park Service Concessions Management Improve17 ment Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C. 5951 et seq.) shall not apply 

18 to requests for proposals submitted and leases and agree19 ments entered into under this section. 

Æ 


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