Salem Maritime National Historical Park Redesignation and Boundary Study Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MOULTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for supporting this legislation, especially my good friend and workout buddy from Arkansas.

I urge support for my bill, H.R. 2215, the Salem Maritime National Historical Park Redesignation and Boundary Study Act. Salem Maritime was established in 1938 as the Nation's first national historic site. It has spent the ensuing 87 years preserving and interpreting over 600 years of American history. This redesignation is overdue.

National historic sites tend to contain a single historical feature and focus on one theme or period of time, but the Salem Maritime National Historic Site contains a dozen historical structures across nine acres. These sites preserve and share diverse histories, ranging from early American maritime trade to slavery and emancipation to the creation of the National Guard.

In many ways, Salem's history is our Nation's history. Take, for example, the Salem Gunpowder Raid of 1775, which was the first armed resistance to the Royal authority, laying the groundwork for the Battles of Lexington and Concord and, later, the American Revolution.

Mr. Speaker, this is history that our children and our communities should learn. The Salem Maritime National Historic Park does that critical work.

This redesignation will also help to bring more visitors to Salem, including to the city's many small businesses, promoting year-round stability in a city that receives a third of its tourism revenue in 1 month.

As America's 250th anniversary approaches, we should expand Salem Maritime's capacity to share our region's rich history with visitors from across Massachusetts and the country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of H.R. 2215.

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