Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flushing Remonstrance 
Study Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Dutch involvement in North America started 
with Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage on the ship, Half 
Moon, employed by the Dutch East India Company. 
(2) After 1640, New Netherland gradually began 
to transform from a chain of trading posts into a set-
tlement colony. 
(3) As Dutch and English settlers moved closer 
to one another, they began to assimilate in what 
would later become Queens County. 
(4) The Dutch and English settlements had not 
been without conflict. Although the Dutch Republic 
was well known for its toleration of other faiths, Di-
rector General Peter Stuyvesant and his council 
thought that liberty of worship should not be granted 
to Quakers. 
(5) When Quakers began to arrive in Flushing, 
the colonial government issued an ordinance that for-
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mally banned the practice of all religions outside of 
the Dutch Reformed Church. 
(6) On December 27, 1657, 30 Flushing residents 
signed what was later called the Flushing Remon-
strance, objecting to this order. None of the 
remonstrance’s authors were Quakers. 
(7) Dutch colonial authorities proceeded to arrest 
the signers of the Flushing Remonstrance. In 1662, 
John Bowne defied the ban and allowed Quakers to 
hold services in his house. Bowne was fined and ban-
ished to the Dutch Republic for showing contempt for 
secular authority. 
(8) Bowne was later exonerated after appealing 
to the guarantees of religious liberty before the Dutch 
West India Company and returned to Flushing in 
1664. The colony later fell to British control on Sep-
tember 24, 1664. 
(9) The Flushing Remonstrance is now consid-
ered by many to be instrumental in the development 
of religious liberty in the United States and a pre-
cursor to the First Amendment to the United States 
Constitution. 
(10) In 1957, the United States Postal Service 
released a 3-cent postage stamp commemorating the 
300th Anniversary of the signing of the Flushing Re-
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monstrance which read, ‘‘Religious Freedom in Amer-
ica’’. 
(11) Queens remained rural and agricultural 
through the 18th and 19th Centuries. Although its 
Dutch identity diminished, the tolerance of diversity 
that has harbored Quakers and other religious sects in 
the Dutch Colonial period continues to this day. 
Queens is the most ethnically diverse urban area in 
the world, with a population of over 2,200,000 rep-
resenting over 100 different nations and speaking 
over 138 different languages. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
As used in this Act: 
(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(2) STUDY AREA.—The term ‘‘study area’’ means 
the John Bowne House located at 3701 Bowne Street, 
Queens, New York, the Friends Meeting House located 
at 137–17 Northern Boulevard, Queens, New York, 
and other resources in the vicinity of Flushing related 
to the history of religious freedom during the era of 
the signing of the Flushing Remonstrance. 
SEC. 4. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY. 
(a) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a special re-
source study of the study area. 
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(b) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study under sub-
section (a), the Secretary shall— 
(1) evaluate the national significance of the 
study area’s resources based on their relationship to 
the history of religious freedom associated with the 
signing of the Flushing Remonstrance; 
(2) determine the suitability and feasibility of 
designating resources within the study area as a unit 
of the National Park System; 
(3) consider other alternatives for preservation, 
protection, and interpretation of the study area by 
Federal, State, or local governmental entities, or pri-
vate and nonprofit organizations; 
(4) identify properties related to the John Bowne 
House that could potentially meet criteria for des-
ignation as a National Historic Landmark; 
(5) consult with interested Federal, State, or 
local governmental entities, private and nonprofit or-
ganizations, or any other interested individuals; 
(6) evaluate the impact of the proposed action on 
the flow of commerce and commercial activity, job op-
portunities, and any adverse economic effects that 
could not be avoided if the proposal is implemented; 
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(7) identify cost estimates for any Federal acqui-
sition, development, interpretation, operation, and 
maintenance associated with the alternatives; 
(8) analyze the effect of the designation of the 
study area as a unit of the National Park System 
on— 
(A) existing recreational activities, and on 
the authorization, construction, operation, main-
tenance, or improvement of energy production 
and transmission infrastructure; and 
(B) the authority of State and local govern-
ments to manage those activities; and 
(9) identify any authorities, including con-
demnation, that will compel or permit the Secretary 
to influence or participate in local land use decisions 
(such as zoning) or place restrictions on non-Federal 
lands if the study area is designated a unit of the Na-
tional Park System. 
(c) NOTIFICATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS.— 
Upon the commencement of the study, owners of private 
property in or adjacent to the study area shall be notified 
of the study’s commencement and scope. 
(d) APPLICABLE LAW.—The study required under sub-
section (a) shall be conducted in accordance with section 
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