Weekly Legislative Activities Report

The Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs puts out weekly reports on hearings, new legislation and other activities on the Hill. The following is the April 3rd summary.  

In order to obtain the full text of any of the bills that appear below, click on the following link: http://thomas.loc.gov/ . That will take you to Thomas, the Library of Congress legislative tracking system. Enter the bill number in the “Search Bill Text” block, being sure to also click on the “Bill Number” option below the block.

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New Public Laws

On March 30th, President Obama signed into law H.R. 146, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. The law includes nearly 80 measures affecting the National Park Service, including wilderness designations, boundary revisions, special resource studies, national heritage area designations, and special authorities.  It is P.L. 111-11.

Floor Action

On March 31st, the House passed H.R. 1388, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an act to reauthorize and reform the national service laws, as amended by the Senate, by a vote of 275 – 149.  The bill now goes to the President for signature.

Committee Activity

On March 31st, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Bingaman) approved the nomination of Thomas L. Strickland, of Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

On April 1st, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (Boxer) approved the nomination of Thomas L. Strickland, of Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

On March 31st, the House Natural Resources Committee (Rahall) held an oversight hearing on "The California Drought: Actions by Federal and State agencies to address impacts on lands, fisheries, and water users."  The witness was J. William McDonald, Acting Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation.

On April 2nd, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests & Public Lands held a hearing on H.R. 1612 (Grijalva), to amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to expand the authorization of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and the Interior to provide service-learning opportunities on public lands, help restore the Nation’s natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, and scenic resources, train a new generation of public land managers and enthusiasts, and promote the value of public service. The Department strongly supports the bill and would like to work with the committee on some amendments. The witness for the Department was Will Shafroth, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

New Bills Introduced

The following nine bills of interest to the NPS were introduced:

• S. 742 (Chambliss, R-GA) - A bill to expand the boundary of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in the State of Georgia, to redesignate the unit as a National Historical Park, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 1849 (Cleaver, D-MO) -  To designate the Liberty Memorial at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, as the National World War I Memorial, to establish the World War I centennial commission to ensure a suitable observance of the centennial of World War I.
• S. 760 (McCaskill, D-MO) - A bill to designate the Liberty Memorial at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, as the "National World War I Memorial".
• S. 761 (Bond, R-MO) - A bill to establish the World War I Centennial Commission to ensure a suitable observance of the centennial of World War I, and for other purposes.
• S. 766 (Murkowski, R-AK) - A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to issue right-of-way permits for natural gas pipeline transportation utility systems in non-wilderness areas within the boundary of Denali National Park and Preserve.
• H.R. 1912 (Connolly, D-VA) - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against income tax for qualified conservation contributions which include National Scenic Trails.
•  H.R. 1917 (Fattah, D-PA) - To establish the Centennial Historic District in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and for other purposes.
• S. 796 (Bingaman, D-NM) - A bill to modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals on public domain land, and for other purposes.
• S. 816 (Crapo, R-ID) - A bill to preserve the rights granted under the second amendment to the Constitution in national parks and national wildlife refuge areas.