James K. Polk Presidential Home Study Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 443) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the James K. Polk Home in Columbia, Tennessee, as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes.

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Mr. Speaker, President James K. Polk lived in Columbia, Tennessee, from 1819 until 1824. Other than the White House itself, the Columbia, Tennessee, site is the only surviving residence of our 11th President. It is the repository of many original artifacts from his life.

Although he served a single term, Polk left our Nation with a remarkable legacy of public accomplishments, including expansion of our Western territories and the establishment of the U.S. Naval Academy. My home State of California owes him a particular debt of gratitude.

Indeed, he made four campaign promises and, in 4 years, he fulfilled all four.

President Polk left office in 1849, and returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where he lived for 3 months before his death.

The James K. Polk home in Columbia, Tennessee, was designated as a national historic landmark in 1961. In April of 2015, the National Park Service completed a reconnaissance survey of the home and determined that the site warrants a special resource study.

H.R. 443 would authorize the special resource study of the James K. Polk home to evaluate its national significance and the suitability and feasibility for a potential designation of the area as a unit of the National Park Service.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Again, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Hanabusa) for her support, and I ask for adoption of the measure.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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