African-American Burial Grounds Network Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1179 To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National Park Service the African-American Burial Grounds Network, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 13, 2019 Ms. ADAMS (for herself and Mr. MCEACHIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National Park Service the African-American Burial Grounds Network, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African-American Bur- 4 ial Grounds Network Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1179 IH (1) From 1619 until 1865, millions of African 1 Americans throughout the United States were 2 enslaved. 3 (2) Slaveholders often controlled where and how 4 the dead were buried, and prohibited burials on valu- 5 able land. As a result, slave burial grounds were 6 often confined to remote areas or marginal property. 7 (3) Such burial grounds were rarely docu- 8 mented, and they infrequently appear on historical 9 maps. A lack of accurate information is typical of 10 African-American cemeteries from before the Civil 11 War. 12 (4) Following the end of slavery, many African- 13 American families continued to face restrictions on 14 where they could bury their dead. Across much of 15 the United States, local laws segregated burial sites 16 by race. African-American burial grounds often 17 failed to receive the type of maintenance and record- 18 keeping that predominantly White burial grounds 19 enjoyed. 20 (5) Many African-American burial grounds 21 from both before and after the Civil War are in a 22 state of disrepair or inaccessibility due to overgrowth 23 of vegetation, crumbling physical structures, and 24 other challenges. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1179 IH (6) There is no official national record or data- 1 base for African-American burial ground locations, 2 and the location of many sites is unknown. As a re- 3 sult, the family members and descendants of those 4 interred are unable to visit these sites to honor and 5 remember their ancestors. 6 (7) Abandoned African-American burial 7 grounds are often discovered when construction 8 projects inadvertently disturb human remains, slow- 9 ing or halting completion of those projects. 10 (8) The presence and location of historic Afri- 11 can-American burial grounds should be recorded, 12 and there should be coordinated national, State, 13 local, and Tribal efforts to preserve and restore 14 these sites. 15 (9) African-American burial grounds are an in- 16 tegral component of the heritage of the United 17 States. 18 (10) Creating and maintaining a network of 19 previously abandoned, underserved, and other Afri- 20 can-American burial grounds will help communities 21 identify and record burial grounds and preserve local 22 history while better informing development decisions 23 and community planning. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1179 IH SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are to authorize the Na- 2 tional Park Service to coordinate and facilitate Federal 3 and non-Federal activities to identify, interpret, preserve, 4 and record unmarked, previously abandoned, underserved, 5 and other African-American burial grounds. 6 SEC. 4. U.S. AFRICAN-AMERICAN BURIAL GROUNDS NET- 7 WORK PROGRAM. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subdivision 1 of division B of sub- 9 title III of title 54, United States Code, is amended by 10 inserting after chapter 3085 the following: 11 ‘‘CHAPTER 3086—U.S. AFRICAN-AMERICAN 12 BURIAL GROUNDS NETWORK 13 ‘‘§ 308601. Definitions 14 ‘‘In this chapter: 15 ‘‘(1) NETWORK.—The term ‘Network’ means 16 the African-American Burial Grounds Network es- 17 tablished under section 308602(a). 18 ‘‘(2) BURIAL GROUND(S).—The term ‘burial 19 ground’ means any natural or prepared physical lo- 20 cation, whether originally below, on, or above the 21 surface of the earth, into which as a part of the 22 death rite or ceremony of a culture, human remains 23 are deposited. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1179 IH ‘‘(3) HISTORIC.—The term ‘historic’ means 1 properties that can reasonably be considered to date 2 back at least 50 years. 3 ‘‘§ 308602. U.S. African-American Burial Grounds Net- 4 work 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 6 with the National Parks Service, shall establish, within the 7 Service, a program in accordance with this chapter to be 8 known as the ‘U.S. African-American Burial Grounds 9 Network’. The Network shall include burial grounds deter- 10 mined by the Secretary to relate to the historic African- 11 American experience from among applications for inclu- 12 sion submitted by an individual, private or non-profit or- 13 ganization, State, local, or Tribal government, or other en- 14 tity. 15 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—In carrying out the 16 Network, the Secretary shall have the following duties: 17 ‘‘(1) Review existing and new studies and re- 18 ports to inform consideration of sites for the Net- 19 work. 20 ‘‘(2) Provide technical assistance to and work in 21 partnership with the public, Federal, State, local, 22 and Tribal governments, other public entities, edu- 23 cational institutions, and private nonprofit organiza- 24 tions in identifying, documenting, preserving, re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1179 IH searching, evaluating, and interpreting African- 1 American burial grounds. 2 ‘‘(3) Engage in consultation and public engage- 3 ment with descendant, local, and other communities 4 historically associated with identified burial grounds 5 by geography, genetics, or culture. 6 ‘‘(4) In accordance with section 304, provide 7 technical assistance and support to ensure that the 8 locations of unmarked and unrecorded African- 9 American burial grounds are documented. The Sec- 10 retary is directed to make this information available 11 in a public database, except in such circumstances in 12 which the Secretary determines that the privacy and 13 safety of the burial ground warrants the information 14 being protected. 15 ‘‘(5) Develop a program to train States, units 16 of local government, regional governmental bodies, 17 organizations, educational institutions, and private 18 entities to carry out the purposes of this Act. 19 ‘‘(6) Produce and disseminate appropriate edu- 20 cational and training materials relating to African- 21 American burial ground identification methods and 22 best practices for caring for artifacts, developing in- 23 terpretive tours and exhibits, preserving burial 24 ground landscapes, heritage tourism initiatives and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1179 IH sources for grants, such as handbooks, maps, inter- 1 pretive guides, or electronic information. 2 ‘‘(7) Produce and disseminate appropriate edu- 3 cational materials about African-American burial 4 grounds through curriculum-based experiences, les- 5 son plans, and primary materials. 6 ‘‘(8)(A) Create and adopt an official, uniform 7 symbol or device for the Network; and 8 ‘‘(B) issue regulations for the use of the symbol 9 or device adopted under subparagraph (A). 10 ‘‘(c) DONATIONS.—The Secretary may accept mone- 11 tary donations to further the purposes of this chapter. 12 ‘‘(d) CONSENT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNER RE- 13 QUIRED.—Burial grounds shall only be considered for ad- 14 dition to the Network with— 15 ‘‘(1) the consent of the property owner; and 16 ‘‘(2) at the request of an individual, landowner, 17 private or nonprofit organization, State, or local gov- 18 ernment, or another entity. 19 ‘‘§ 308603. Authority to make grants 20 ‘‘The Secretary may make grants to public, Federal, 21 State, local, and Tribal governments, other public entities, 22 educational institutions, and private non-profit organiza- 23 tions in accordance with this section for— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1179 IH ‘‘(1) the identification of African-American bur- 1 ial grounds that may qualify for the Network; 2 ‘‘(2) the preservation and restoration of Afri- 3 can-American burial grounds that have been in- 4 cluded in the Network; 5 ‘‘(3) interpretation of African-American burial 6 grounds; and 7 ‘‘(4) related research and documentation for 8 sites that have been included in the Network. 9 ‘‘§ 308604. Cooperative agreements and memoranda 10 of understanding 11 ‘‘The Secretary may enter into cooperative agree- 12 ments and memoranda of understanding with, and provide 13 technical assistance to, the heads of other Federal agen- 14 cies, States, units of local government, Tribal govern- 15 ments, regional governmental bodies, organizations, edu- 16 cational institutions, and private entities to achieve the 17 purposes of this chapter and ensure effective coordination 18 of the Federal and non-Federal elements of the Network 19 described in section 308602 with System units and pro- 20 grams of the Service. 21 ‘‘§ 308605. Private property protection 22 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall be construed— 23 ‘‘(1) to authorize the Secretary to require or af- 24 fect management or use of private property without 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1179 IH the written consent of the owners of the affected pri- 1 vate property; or 2 ‘‘(2) to prohibit the Secretary from providing 3 land management guidance or requirements related 4 to private property as a condition of grants or other 5 assistance provided to the owners of that private 6 property under this chapter.’’. 7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 8 for title 54, United States Code, is amended by inserting 9 after the item relating to chapter 3085 the following: 10 ‘‘3086 U.S. African-American Burial Ground Network .......................... 30861’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Feb 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1179.IH H1179 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS