S 2329

110th CONGRESS
1st Session

S. 2329

To establish the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in the State of New Jersey as the successor to the Edison National Historic Site.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

November 8, 2007

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To establish the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in the State of New Jersey as the successor to the Edison National Historic Site.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the `Act Commemorating the LITE, or Lifetime Innovations of Thomas Edison'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings- Congress finds that--

      (1) the Edison National Historic Site, located in West Orange, New Jersey, is a vital part of the national system of parks of the United States that preserves research and development laboratories, library, papers, and artifacts of Thomas Alva Edison, as well as his home;

      (2) the Site is a national historic treasure and contains the largest collection of materials related to Thomas Edison in the world, encompassing an estimated 5,000,000 pages of documents, over 400,000 artifacts, approximately 35,000 sound recordings, and 10,000 books from the personal library of Edison;

      (3) Thomas Edison is one of the greatest inventors in the United States, whose inexhaustible energy and genius produced 1,093 patents in his lifetime, more than any other American, including patents for the incandescent light bulb, the motion picture camera, and the phonograph;

      (4) in 1928, Thomas Edison was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for the `development and application of inventions that have revolutionized civilization in the last century';

      (5) in 1998, Congress again honored Thomas Edison by directing the Secretary of the Treasury to mint a commemorative coin celebrating the 125th anniversary of the invention of the light bulb by Edison, celebrated in 2004;

      (6)(A) the Edison National Historic Site is one of the most endangered historic places of the United States; and

      (B) the National Park Service, in the General Management Plan and Development Concept Plan of the Service, identified the need for numerous actions to preserve, protect, restore, and enhance the Site and determined that sufficient government funds are not likely to be appropriated to complete these necessary actions in the foreseeable future; and

      (7) on November 6, 1997, the National Park Service signed an agreement with the Thomas Alva Edison Preservation Foundation (now the Edison Preservation Foundation), establishing a public-private partnership to jointly raise money to fund identified improvements at the Edison National Historic Site so as to leave the Site unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

    (b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are--

      (1) to recognize and pay tribute to Thomas Alva Edison and his innovations; and

      (2) to preserve, protect, restore, and enhance the Edison National Historic Site to ensure public use and enjoyment of the Site as an educational, scientific, and cultural center.

SEC. 3. THOMAS EDISON NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.

    (a) Establishment- There is established the Thomas Edison National Historical Park as a unit of the National Park System (referred to in this Act as the `Historical Park').

    (b) Boundaries- The Historical Park shall be comprised of--

      (1) all property owned by the United States in the Edison National Historic Site as well as all property authorized to be acquired by the Secretary of the Interior for inclusion in the Edison National Historic Site before the date of the enactment of this Act, as generally depicted on the map entitled the `Edison National Historic Site', numbered 20003B, and dated April 1977; and

      (2) all property authorized to be acquired for inclusion in the Historical Park by this Act or other law enacted after the date of the enactment of this Act.

    (c) Map- The map of the Historical Park shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service.

SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General- The Secretary shall administer the Historical Park in accordance with this Act and with the provisions of law generally applicable to units of the National Park System, including the National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) and the Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

    (b) Acquisition of Property-

      (1) REAL PROPERTY- The Secretary may acquire land or interests in land within the boundaries of the Historical Park, from willing sellers only, by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange.

      (2) PERSONAL PROPERTY- The Secretary may acquire personal property associated with, and appropriate for, interpretation of the Historical Park.

    (c) Cooperative Agreements- The Secretary may consult and enter into cooperative agreements with interested entities and individuals to provide for the preservation, development, interpretation, and use of the Historical Park.

    (d) Repeal of Superseded Law- Public Law 87-628 (76 Stat. 428) is repealed.

    (e) References- Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the `Edison National Historic Site' shall be deemed to be a reference to the `Thomas Edison National Historical Park'.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.

END