Homestead National Historical Park

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1472, offered by our colleague, Congressman Smith of Nebraska, would redesignate the Homestead National Monument of America to simply the Homestead National Historical Park.

Congress authorized this commemoration in 1936 after acquiring the site of the Daniel Freeman homestead. It was set aside as a lasting memorial to the settlers who built the American West as a result of the Homestead Act of 1862 and its successors.

In total, 207 million, or 10 percent, of all land in the United States was settled under the Homestead Act. The name of the monument with the redundant qualifier ``of America'' has made it an anomaly within the National Park system. This bill simply removes that redundancy and conforms more clearly with the naming customs of the National Park Service.

Redesignating the unit as a national historical park will further clarify the unit's characteristics in keeping with the modern designations that the Park Service maintains.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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