Good afternoon.  The Subcommittee on National Parks will come to order. We have a long list of bills to consider today, including the following:

      S. 1633, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of including the battlefield and related sites of the Battle of Shepherdstown, as part of the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia or Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland;

      S. 1993 and H.R. 2197, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to modify the boundaries of the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in the State of Ohio;

      S. 2207, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tennessee as a unit of the National Park System;

      S. 2254, to designate the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area in the State of Mississippi;

      S. 2262, to authorize the Preserve America and Save America's Treasures historic preservation programs;

      S. 2329 and H.R. 2627, to redesignate the Edison National Historic Site in the State of New Jersey as the Thomas Edison National Historical Park;

      S. 2512, to designate the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area in the State of Mississippi, and

      H.R. 3998, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct special resource studies of several sites throughout the country.

      The final bills on the agenda are S. 2502, and the House companion measure, H.R. 3332, which would authorize a memorial to be established at Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Hawaii.

      For those who do not know, the Kalaupapa community is located on a remote peninsula on the Island of Molokai.  For over one hundred years, from 1866 to 1969, Kalaupapa was the community where patients with Hansen's disease, also known as leprosy, were forced to live.  Many of the older patients continue to live out their lives at Kalaupapa today.

      S. 2502, which I sponsored, along with Senator Inouye, and H.R. 3332, which was sponsored by Congresswoman Hirono and Congressman Abercrombie, would authorize a non-profit organization consisting of Kalaupapa residents and their family and friends, and known as "Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa," to establish a memorial at a suitable location in the park to honor the memory of the 8,000 residents who lived at the Kalaupapa and Kalawao communities.

      The memorial has strong local support, and I am not aware of any opposition or controversy.  I hope we will be able to move the bill through the committee quickly.

      It appears that most of the other bills on the agenda today are also non-controversial, and I will work with Senator Burr to see if we can move those forward as well, with amendments where necessary.

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