119-s791

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 791 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 791

 To establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in 
 the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park 
 System, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 27, 2025

 Mr. Van Hollen (for himself and Ms. Alsobrooks) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
 Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in 
 the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park 
 System, and for other purposes.

 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 ``Justice Thurgood Marshall National 
Historic Site Establishment Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds that--

    (1) Thurgood Marshall--
        (A) led the National Association for the 
 Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and 
 Educational Fund from 1940 to 1961; and
        (B) successfully argued 29 of 32 civil rights cases 
 before the United States Supreme Court, including the 
 landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case that 
 ended racial segregation of public schools;

    (2) President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall 
 to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for 
 the 2nd Circuit from 1961 to 1965;

    (3) President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall 
 to serve as United States Solicitor General from 1965 to 1967;

    (4) nominated by President Lyndon Johnson and confirmed by 
 the Senate, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American 
 to serve on the United States Supreme Court, serving as an 
 Associate Justice from 1967 to 1991;

    (5) as a result of his long legal career, Thurgood Marshall 
 is credited with ending legal segregation in the United States;

    (6) Public School 103, now known as the ``Justice Thurgood 
 Marshall School'', located at 1315 Division Street in 
 Baltimore, Maryland, was the site of the elementary education 
 of Thurgood Marshall;

    (7) the Justice Thurgood Marshall School is owned and 
 operated as a museum by the Beloved Community Services 
 Corporation, which has completed a historic restoration for 
 adaptive reuse of the School;

    (8) Congress authorized the National Park Service to 
 prepare a special resource study of Public School 103 in 2019 
 which was transmitted by the National Park Service to Congress 
 in 2023; and

    (9) in the special resource study referred to in paragraph

    (8) , the National Park Service found that Public School 103 met 
 the criteria for national significance and suitability for 
 addition to the National Park System.

    (b) 

=== Purpose ===
-The purpose of this Act is to preserve, protect, and 
interpret for the benefit of future generations the significant 
historic contributions of Justice Thurgood Marshall by--

    (1) establishing the elementary school attended by Marshall 
 as a national historic site; and

    (2) providing for the administration of the National 
 Historic Site as an affiliated area of the National Park 
 System.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Management entity.--The term ``management entity'' 
 means the management entity for the National Historic Site 
 designated by 

section 4

    (e) .

    (2) National historic site.--The term ``National Historic 
 Site'' means the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic 
 Site established by 

section 4

    (a) .

    (3) School.--The term ``School'' means the building located 
 at 1315 Division Street in Baltimore, Maryland, known as Public 
 School 103, which is owned and managed by the Beloved Community 
 Services Corporation, a nonprofit organization established in 
 Baltimore, Maryland.

    (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of the Interior.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL NATIONAL 
 HISTORIC SITE.

    (a) In General.--There is established as an affiliated area of the 
National Park System the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic 
Site.

    (b) Boundary.--The National Historic Site shall consist of the 
School, as generally depicted on the map entitled ``Justice Thurgood 
Marshall School National Historic Site Proposed Boundary'', numbered 
962/194939, and dated September 2024.
            (c) Ownership.--The School shall continue to be owned, operated, 
and managed by the Beloved Community Services Corporation.
            (d) Administration.--The National Historic Site shall be managed in 
a manner consistent with--

    (1) this Act; and

    (2) the laws generally applicable to units of the National 
 Park System.

    (e) Management Entity.--The Beloved Community Services Corporation 
shall be the management entity for the National Historic Site.

    (f) Agreements.--The Secretary--

    (1) may provide technical assistance to, and enter into 
 cooperative agreements with, the management entity for the 
 purpose of providing financial assistance for the marketing, 
 marking, interpretation, and preservation of the National 
 Historic Site; and

    (2) shall enter into an agreement with the management 
 entity that delineates the roles and responsibilities for the 
 management of the area consistent with the policies and 
 standards that apply to units of the National Park System.

    (g) Limited Role of the Secretary.--Nothing in this Act authorizes 
the Secretary--

    (1) to acquire the School; or

    (2) to assume overall financial responsibility for the 
 operation, maintenance, or management of the National Historic 
 Site.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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