[Senate Report 111-267]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 537
111th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 111-267
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COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG HOME STUDY ACT
_______
August 5, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2933]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 2933) to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the
suitability and feasibility of designating the Colonel Charles
Young Home in Xenia, Ohio, as a unit of the National Parks
System, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that
the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Beginning on page 1, strike line 6 and all that follows
through page 3, line 19, and insert the following:
SEC. 2. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 2933 is to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the
suitability and feasibility of adding the Colonel Charles Young
Home, in the State of Ohio, as a unit of the National Park
System.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
In 1974, the Colonel Charles Young house in Wilberforce,
Ohio, was designated a National Historic Landmark. Charles
Young (1864-1922) is recognized because he was the third
African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at
West Point, the highest-ranking black officer in World War I,
and the first black military attache in American history. In
addition to his military achievements, he was an accomplished
musician and linguist. Young lived in this house while teaching
at Wilberforce University from 1894 to 1898. During his service
as a professor of science and military tactics at the
university, he met with such men as poet Paul Laurence Dunbar
and W.E.B. DuBois.
Colonel Young commanded the legendary ``Buffalo Soldiers''
in combat in the Spanish-American War and the Mexican
expedition against Pancho Via. In 1902, Young commanded Troop 1
at the San Francisco Presidio and then was appointed acting
superintendent of the Sequoia and General Grant National Parks,
California (which at the time was administered by the War
Department). Following his service in the West, Young was
appointed U.S. military attache to Haiti by President Theodore
Roosevelt. Colonel Young's experiences in the Army between 1884
and 1922 illustrate the changing nature of race relations in
the United States during a period spanning from the end of the
Civil War to the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.
Colonel Young was nationally known at the time of his death.
Today, the home remains a meeting place for the local Omega
Psi Phi Fraternity. In a 2008 review as part of the National
Historic Landmarks Program of the National Park Service, the
unoccupied structure was listed in ``threatened'' status due to
the condition of the home.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 2933 was introduced by Senators Voinovich and Brown on
January 20, 2010. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a
hearing on the bill on March 21, 2010. The Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources considered the bill and adopted an
amendment at its business meeting on June 16, 2010. The
Committee ordered S. 2933 favorably reported with an amendment
at its business meeting on June 21, 2010.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on June 21, 2010, by a voice vote of a quorum
present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 2933, if amended as
described herein.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
During the consideration of S. 2933, the Committee adopted
an amendment that struck the Congressional findings section and
renumbered the subsequent sections. The amendment is explained
in detail in the section-by-section analysis, below.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 provides the short title as the ``Colonel Charles
Young Home Study Act''.
Section 2(a) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct a special resource study.
Subsection (b) directs the Secretary, in conducting the
study, to evaluate the Colonel Charles Young home to determine
the suitability and feasibility of adding the site as a unit of
the National Park System, including consideration of
alternatives for the preservation, protection, and
interpretation of the home by Federal, State, or local
government entities or any other interested individuals, and to
identify the costs estimates for any Federal acquisition,
development, interpretation, operation, and maintenance
associated with the range of management alternatives.
Subsection (c) directs the study to be conducted in
accordance with section 8 of Public Law 91-383, which sets
forth requirements for National Park Service studies.
Subsection (d) requires the Secretary to prepare and submit
for review the results, conclusions, and recommendations of the
study.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 2933--Colonel Charles Young Home Study Act
S. 2933 would require the National Park Service (NPS) to
conduct a special resource study of the Colonel Charles Young
Home in Xenia, Ohio. Colonel Young was an African-American who
served in the U.S. Army between 1884 and 1922. In the study,
the NPS would evaluate the resources of the site and determine
the suitability and feasibility of designating it as a unit of
the National Park System. The NPS would have three years to
complete the study and report to the Congress on its results.
Based on information provided by the NPS and assuming the
availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that carrying
out the study required by S. 2933 would cost about $250,000
over the next three years. Enacting S. 2933 would not affect
direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures would not apply.
S. 2933 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
On June 21, 2010, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
4514, the Colonel Charles Young Home Study Act, as ordered
reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on June
16, 2010. H.R. 4514 and S. 2933 are very similar, and the CBO
cost estimates are the same.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Alan Eder and
Deborah Reis. The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine,
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 2933.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 2933, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
S. 2933, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the
March 17, 2010 Subcommittee hearing on S. 2933 follows:
Statement of Daniel N. Wenk, Deputy Director, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear
before you to provide the Department of the Interior's views on
S. 2933, a bill to authorize a special resource study to
determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the
Colonel Charles Young Home in Xenia, Ohio, as a unit of the
National Park System.
The Department supports enactment of S. 2933. However, we
believe that priority should be given to the 47 previously
authorized studies for potential units of the National Park
System, potential new National Heritage Areas, and potential
additions to the National Trails System and National Wild and
Scenic River System that have not yet been transmitted to the
Congress.
S. 2933 authorizes a special resource study, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Army, to determine the
suitability and feasibility of designating the Colonel Charles
Young Home as a unit of the National Park System, and to
consider other alternatives for preservation and protection of
the home and interpretation of the life and accomplishments of
Colonel Young for future appreciation by the public. The bill
also authorizes consultation and collaboration with the Ohio
Historical Society, Central State University, Wilberforce
University and other interested Federal, State or local
governmental entities, private and nonprofit organizations or
individuals in accomplishing the resource study. The home is a
National Historic Landmark. We estimate the cost of this study
to range from $200,000 to $250,000, based on similar types of
studies conducted in recent years.
Colonel Charles Young was the third African-American to
graduate from West Point, and a distinguished African-American
officer in the United States Army, commanding troops in combat
in the Spanish-American War and the Mexican expedition against
Pancho Villa. Colonel Young was one of the first military
attaches in the United States, serving in Haiti and Liberia,
and a pioneer of techniques in military intelligence. The
experience of Colonel Young in the Army between 1884 and 1922
illustrates the changing nature of race relations in the United
States during a period spanning from the end of the Civil War
to the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.
Colonel Young was a friend and associate of other
distinguished African-Americans of the period, including poet
Paul Laurence Dunbar from nearby Dayton, Ohio; and as the
commander of an Army unit assigned to protect and develop
Sequoia National Park and General Grant National Park in the
State of California, Colonel Young is recognized as the first
African-American to be the superintendent of a National Park.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would
be happy to answer any questions that you or other Committee
members may have regarding this bill.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 2933, as
ordered reported.