| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1704 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within the National |
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| 6 | 6 | | Park Service the National Freedom Settlements Preservation Program, |
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| 7 | 7 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY27, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Ms. K |
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| 11 | 11 | | AMLAGER-DOVE(for herself, Mr. SOTO, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Mrs. |
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| 12 | 12 | | M |
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| 13 | 13 | | CIVER, Mrs. BEATTY, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, and Ms. BROWN) intro- |
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| 14 | 14 | | duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural |
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| 15 | 15 | | Resources |
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| 16 | 16 | | A BILL |
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| 17 | 17 | | To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish within |
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| 18 | 18 | | the National Park Service the National Freedom Settle- |
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| 19 | 19 | | ments Preservation Program, and for other purposes. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Revitalizing and Em-4 |
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| 24 | 24 | | powering Freedom Settlements Through Opportunity, Re-5 |
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| 25 | 25 | | silience, and Education Act’’ or the ‘‘RESTORE Act’’. 6 |
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| 26 | 26 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 |
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| 27 | 27 | | Congress finds the following: 8 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •HR 1704 IH |
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| 31 | 31 | | (1) After the Civil War, over 1,200 Freedmen’s 1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | Settlements and Black Towns were established 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | throughout the United States before and after 3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | emancipation, with at least 200 towns established by 4 |
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| 35 | 35 | | formerly enslaved individuals between 1866 and 5 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 1930, creating safe, self-sustaining, and thriving 6 |
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| 37 | 37 | | communities away from racial violence and economic 7 |
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| 38 | 38 | | discrimination. 8 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (2) Following the end of slavery, many African- 9 |
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| 40 | 40 | | American families who strived for land and housing 10 |
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| 41 | 41 | | security established their homes in Black Towns. 11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | These towns, founded and governed by recently- 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | emancipated African-American people across the 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | country, were known as Freedmen’s Settlements, 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | Freedom Colonies, or Black Towns. 15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (3) African Americans were often denied access 16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | to necessary public systems, such as education, 17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | housing, and neighborhood infrastructure. Across 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | many areas of the United States, African-American 19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | people were barred from utilizing these services be-20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | cause of local segregating laws. 21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (4) Freedmen’s Settlements were established 22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | around the provision of community services, often 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | structured around schools and churches, as Black 24 |
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| 57 | 57 | | •HR 1704 IH |
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| 58 | 58 | | residents came together to fulfill necessary resources 1 |
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| 59 | 59 | | they had been previously denied. 2 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (5) Despite these communities being an exam-3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | ple of African-American communities’ self-sufficiency 4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | amidst a discriminatory society, they were still ter-5 |
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| 63 | 63 | | rorized by violent, White supremacist groups which 6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | initially excluded them from White systems. 7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (6) Due to harsh circumstances which included 8 |
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| 66 | 66 | | violent attacks, exclusion from water and sanitation 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | systems, as well as urban planning to remove Black 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | Towns from railroads, many Freedmen’s Settle-11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | ments, which are predominantly in rural areas, are 12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | underdeveloped and lack accessibility due to many 13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | systemic challenges. 14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (7) Freedmen’s Settlements have been dis-15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | proportionately impacted by economic and commu-16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | nity underdevelopment, but have the potential to be-17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | come thriving communities with proper support and 18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | investment that honors their rich history, meets the 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | current needs of their residents, and uplifts commu-20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | nity resilience and sustainable development. 21 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (8) Many of these Freedmen’s Settlements and 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | Black Towns were destroyed by southern domestic 23 |
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| 81 | 81 | | terrorists, or otherwise became impoverished by cen-24 |
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| 82 | 82 | | turies of public and private divestment. This in-25 |
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| 85 | 85 | | •HR 1704 IH |
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| 86 | 86 | | cludes uncompensated enslaved labor, failed Recon-1 |
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| 87 | 87 | | struction, and the unmet Freedmen’s Bureau’s 2 |
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| 88 | 88 | | postemancipation promises to transition people who 3 |
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| 89 | 89 | | were formerly enslaved into the American economy, 4 |
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| 90 | 90 | | Jim Crow laws, economic and housing discrimination 5 |
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| 91 | 91 | | through redlining, public housing, and transpor-6 |
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| 92 | 92 | | tation policies, and environmental racism. Some 7 |
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| 93 | 93 | | towns withstood systemic racism and racial violence, 8 |
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| 94 | 94 | | and serve as examples of community resilience. 9 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (9) It is difficult to fully quantify and under-10 |
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| 96 | 96 | | stand the history and current status of all the 11 |
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| 97 | 97 | | Freedmen’s Settlements in the United States due to 12 |
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| 98 | 98 | | lack of research and investment in analyzing, pre-13 |
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| 99 | 99 | | serving, and supporting these historic settlements, 14 |
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| 100 | 100 | | towns, and communities, with a large part of this 15 |
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| 101 | 101 | | history held by the descendants of the founders and 16 |
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| 102 | 102 | | residents. 17 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (10) A lack of accurate information is typical of 18 |
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| 104 | 104 | | African-American history following the Civil War, 19 |
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| 105 | 105 | | due to disenfranchisement of African Americans 20 |
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| 106 | 106 | | from predominantly White, institution-based docu-21 |
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| 107 | 107 | | mentation. 22 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (11) Freedmen’s Settlements were often— 23 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (A) poorly recorded; 24 |
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| 113 | 113 | | (B) excluded from historical maps and 1 |
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| 114 | 114 | | databases; 2 |
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| 115 | 115 | | (C) recognized only through oral traditions 3 |
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| 116 | 116 | | and community memory; and 4 |
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| 117 | 117 | | (D) suffered from the negative con-5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | sequences of systemic racism, such as the cal-6 |
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| 119 | 119 | | culated exclusion from crucial infrastructure 7 |
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| 120 | 120 | | like water systems or railroads. 8 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (12) Recognizing and providing resources for 9 |
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| 122 | 122 | | Freedman’s Settlements through Federal identifica-10 |
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| 123 | 123 | | tion, designation of historic status, comprehensive 11 |
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| 124 | 124 | | documentation, funding, and physical commemora-12 |
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| 125 | 125 | | tion would lead to greater equity and investment in 13 |
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| 126 | 126 | | historically disadvantaged communities that have 14 |
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| 127 | 127 | | faced centuries of racism, discrimination, environ-15 |
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| 128 | 128 | | mental and climate injustices, and violence. 16 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (13) A handful of former Freedmen’s Settle-17 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ments have received State or local designation for 18 |
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| 131 | 131 | | their historic status, offering them an opportunity 19 |
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| 132 | 132 | | for preservation and public acknowledgment, such as 20 |
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| 133 | 133 | | the Freedmen’s Town Historic District in Houston, 21 |
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| 134 | 134 | | Texas. 22 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (14) There is an ongoing call, gaining much 23 |
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| 136 | 136 | | traction today, to preserve and document the history 24 |
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| 137 | 137 | | of Freedmen’s Settlements, leading to projects such 25 |
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| 140 | 140 | | •HR 1704 IH |
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| 141 | 141 | | as the Texas Freedom Colonies Project, the Map-1 |
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| 142 | 142 | | ping Blackness Project, as well as the Freedmen’s 2 |
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| 143 | 143 | | Bureau Search Portal created by the National Mu-3 |
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| 144 | 144 | | seum of African-American History and Culture, 4 |
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| 145 | 145 | | among others. 5 |
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| 146 | 146 | | (15) The presence and location of historic 6 |
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| 147 | 147 | | Freedmen’s Settlements should be recorded. There 7 |
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| 148 | 148 | | should be coordinated national, State, local, and 8 |
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| 149 | 149 | | Tribal efforts to preserve and restore Freedmen’s 9 |
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| 150 | 150 | | Settlements. 10 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (16) Freedmen’s Settlements are an integral 11 |
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| 152 | 152 | | component of the heritage of the United States, and 12 |
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| 153 | 153 | | their preservation and revitalization crucial for the 13 |
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| 154 | 154 | | communities themselves as well as a more complete 14 |
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| 155 | 155 | | understanding of American history and the ongoing 15 |
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| 156 | 156 | | struggle for racial equity. Establishing a program to 16 |
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| 157 | 157 | | recognize previously underserved Freedmen’s Settle-17 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ments would help communities identify and record 18 |
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| 159 | 159 | | these settlements, preserve local history, and better 19 |
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| 160 | 160 | | inform development decisions and community plan-20 |
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| 161 | 161 | | ning. 21 |
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| 162 | 162 | | (17) By investing in the preservation of Free-22 |
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| 163 | 163 | | dom Settlements, which include Freedmen’s Settle-23 |
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| 164 | 164 | | ments, Freedom Colonies, and Black Towns, the 24 |
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| 165 | 165 | | United States has an opportunity to honor the leg-25 |
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| 169 | 169 | | acy of self-determination and community-building 1 |
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| 170 | 170 | | that these settlements represent, while also creating 2 |
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| 171 | 171 | | models for sustainable, equitable community develop-3 |
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| 172 | 172 | | ment that can inform broader efforts to address his-4 |
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| 173 | 173 | | torical inequities and build stronger, more inclusive 5 |
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| 174 | 174 | | communities across the Nation. 6 |
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| 175 | 175 | | SEC. 3. NATIONAL FREEDOM SETTLEMENTS PRESERVA-7 |
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| 176 | 176 | | TION PROGRAM. 8 |
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| 177 | 177 | | Division B of subtitle III of title 54, United States 9 |
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| 178 | 178 | | Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 10 |
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| 179 | 179 | | ‘‘CHAPTER 3092—NATIONAL FREEDOM 11 |
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| 180 | 180 | | SETTLEMENTS PRESERVATION PROGRAM 12 |
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| 181 | 181 | | ‘‘309201. Definitions. |
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| 182 | 182 | | ‘‘309202. Purpose. |
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| 183 | 183 | | ‘‘309203. National Freedom Settlements Preservation Program. |
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| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘309204. Authority to award grants. |
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| 185 | 185 | | ‘‘309205. Freedom Settlements Study. |
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| 186 | 186 | | ‘‘309206. Registry. |
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| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘309207. Private Property Protection. |
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| 188 | 188 | | ‘‘309208. Cooperative agreements and memoranda of understanding. |
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| 189 | 189 | | ‘‘309209. Freedom Settlements Advisory Committee. |
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| 190 | 190 | | ‘‘§ 309201. Definitions 13 |
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| 191 | 191 | | ‘‘In this chapter: 14 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ‘‘(1) A |
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| 193 | 193 | | DVISORY COMMITTEE .—The term ‘Advi-15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | sory Committee’ means the Freedom Settlements 16 |
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| 195 | 195 | | Advisory Committee established under section 17 |
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| 196 | 196 | | 309209. 18 |
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| 197 | 197 | | ‘‘(2) F |
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| 198 | 198 | | REEDOM SETTLEMENT .—The term 19 |
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| 199 | 199 | | ‘Freedom Settlement’ means a community estab-20 |
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| 200 | 200 | | lished by formerly enslaved African Americans fol-21 |
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| 203 | 203 | | •HR 1704 IH |
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| 204 | 204 | | lowing emancipation (also commonly referred to as 1 |
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| 205 | 205 | | ‘Freedmen’s Settlements’, ‘Freedom Colonies’, or 2 |
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| 206 | 206 | | ‘Black Towns’). 3 |
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| 207 | 207 | | ‘‘(3) P |
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| 208 | 208 | | ROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 4 |
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| 209 | 209 | | the National Freedom Settlements Preservation Pro-5 |
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| 210 | 210 | | gram established under section 309204. 6 |
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| 211 | 211 | | ‘‘(4) S |
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| 212 | 212 | | TUDY.—The term ‘Study’ means the 7 |
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| 213 | 213 | | study required under section 309205. 8 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ‘‘§ 309202. Purpose 9 |
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| 215 | 215 | | ‘‘The purpose of this chapter is to— 10 |
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| 216 | 216 | | ‘‘(1) recognize the importance of Freedom Set-11 |
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| 217 | 217 | | tlements, including communities established by for-12 |
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| 218 | 218 | | merly enslaved people, free African Americans, and 13 |
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| 219 | 219 | | their descendants, the sacrifices made by those who 14 |
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| 220 | 220 | | used the Underground Railroad in search of free-15 |
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| 221 | 221 | | dom, equality, and material security, and the vision 16 |
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| 222 | 222 | | of Settlements founders; and 17 |
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| 223 | 223 | | ‘‘(2) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 18 |
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| 224 | 224 | | coordinate and facilitate Federal and non-Federal 19 |
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| 225 | 225 | | activities to identify, research, record, preserve, com-20 |
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| 226 | 226 | | memorate, honor, and interpret the history of Free-21 |
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| 227 | 227 | | dom Settlements, their significance as a crucial ele-22 |
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| 228 | 228 | | ment in the evolution of African-American history, 23 |
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| 229 | 229 | | and their relevance in fostering the spirit of racial 24 |
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| 230 | 230 | | justice and wealth equality. 25 |
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| 234 | 234 | | ‘‘§ 309203. National Freedom Settlements Preserva-1 |
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| 235 | 235 | | tion Program 2 |
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| 236 | 236 | | ‘‘(a) I |
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| 237 | 237 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 3 |
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| 238 | 238 | | within the Service a program to be known as the ‘National 4 |
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| 239 | 239 | | Freedom Settlements Preservation Program’. 5 |
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| 240 | 240 | | ‘‘(b) D |
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| 241 | 241 | | UTIES OFSECRETARY.—In carrying out the 6 |
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| 242 | 242 | | Program, the Secretary shall develop a program for the 7 |
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| 243 | 243 | | provision of grants in accordance with section 309204(a), 8 |
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| 244 | 244 | | in consultation with— 9 |
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| 245 | 245 | | ‘‘(1) organizations, experts, and community 10 |
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| 246 | 246 | | leaders who serve African-American communities; 11 |
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| 247 | 247 | | ‘‘(2) organizations involved with Freedom Set-12 |
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| 248 | 248 | | tlements; and 13 |
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| 249 | 249 | | ‘‘(3) residents and descendants of residents of 14 |
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| 250 | 250 | | Freedom Settlements. 15 |
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| 251 | 251 | | ‘‘(c) D |
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| 252 | 252 | | ONATIONS.—The Secretary may accept dona-16 |
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| 253 | 253 | | tions of funds, services, or property for the purposes of 17 |
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| 254 | 254 | | carrying out this chapter. 18 |
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| 255 | 255 | | ‘‘(d) C |
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| 256 | 256 | | ONSENT OFPRIVATEPROPERTYOWNERRE-19 |
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| 257 | 257 | | QUIRED.—Freedom Settlements may only be considered 20 |
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| 258 | 258 | | for a grant under the Program— 21 |
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| 259 | 259 | | ‘‘(1) with the consent of the owner of the appli-22 |
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| 260 | 260 | | cable property; and 23 |
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| 261 | 261 | | ‘‘(2) at the request of an individual, landowner, 24 |
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| 262 | 262 | | private or nonprofit organization, State, Tribal, or 25 |
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| 263 | 263 | | local government, or other entity. 26 |
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| 267 | 267 | | ‘‘(e) SCOPE.—The Secretary may consider the fol-1 |
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| 268 | 268 | | lowing for inclusion in the Program: 2 |
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| 269 | 269 | | ‘‘(1) All units and programs of the National 3 |
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| 270 | 270 | | Park Service determined by the Secretary to pertain 4 |
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| 271 | 271 | | to Freedom Settlements. 5 |
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| 272 | 272 | | ‘‘(2) Historic properties pertaining to Freedom 6 |
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| 273 | 273 | | Settlements. 7 |
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| 274 | 274 | | ‘‘(3) Other governmental and nongovernmental 8 |
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| 275 | 275 | | facilities and programs of an educational, research, 9 |
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| 276 | 276 | | or interpretive nature that are directly related to 10 |
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| 277 | 277 | | Freedom Settlements. 11 |
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| 278 | 278 | | ‘‘§ 309204. Authority to award grants 12 |
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| 279 | 279 | | ‘‘(a) I |
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| 280 | 280 | | NGENERAL.—In carrying out the Program, the 13 |
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| 281 | 281 | | Secretary may award grants to eligible entities described 14 |
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| 282 | 282 | | in subsection (b)(1) for— 15 |
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| 283 | 283 | | ‘‘(1) the identification of Freedom Settlements 16 |
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| 284 | 284 | | that may qualify for the Program; 17 |
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| 285 | 285 | | ‘‘(2) cultural and heritage preservation, restora-18 |
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| 286 | 286 | | tion, and tourism program development of Freedom 19 |
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| 287 | 287 | | Settlements; 20 |
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| 288 | 288 | | ‘‘(3) related research and documentation of 21 |
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| 289 | 289 | | Freedom Settlements; 22 |
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| 290 | 290 | | ‘‘(4) capacity-building to operate and maintain 23 |
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| 291 | 291 | | recognized Freedom Settlement sites; and 24 |
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| 294 | 294 | | •HR 1704 IH |
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| 295 | 295 | | ‘‘(5) educational programming about Freedom 1 |
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| 296 | 296 | | Settlement history. 2 |
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| 297 | 297 | | ‘‘(b) A |
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| 298 | 298 | | PPLICATIONS.— 3 |
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| 299 | 299 | | ‘‘(1) E |
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| 300 | 300 | | LIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Each of the fol-4 |
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| 301 | 301 | | lowing entities are eligible for a grant under the 5 |
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| 302 | 302 | | Program: 6 |
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| 303 | 303 | | ‘‘(A) A property owner of a property asso-7 |
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| 304 | 304 | | ciated with Freedom Settlements. 8 |
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| 305 | 305 | | ‘‘(B) Tribal, State, or local governments. 9 |
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| 306 | 306 | | ‘‘(C) Community organizations that have 10 |
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| 307 | 307 | | demonstrated local leadership and a commit-11 |
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| 308 | 308 | | ment to community development. 12 |
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| 309 | 309 | | ‘‘(2) S |
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| 310 | 310 | | UBMISSION.—To be eligible for a grant 13 |
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| 311 | 311 | | under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to 14 |
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| 312 | 312 | | the Secretary an application at such time, in such 15 |
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| 313 | 313 | | manner, and containing such information as the Sec-16 |
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| 314 | 314 | | retary may require. 17 |
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| 315 | 315 | | ‘‘(c) A |
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| 316 | 316 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 |
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| 317 | 317 | | are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 19 |
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| 318 | 318 | | out this section $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 20 |
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| 319 | 319 | | through 2031. 21 |
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| 320 | 320 | | ‘‘§ 309205. Freedom Settlements Study 22 |
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| 321 | 321 | | ‘‘(a) S |
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| 322 | 322 | | TUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study 23 |
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| 323 | 323 | | to identify key sites that— 24 |
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| 327 | 327 | | ‘‘(1) illustrate the period in American history 1 |
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| 328 | 328 | | when formerly enslaved African Americans estab-2 |
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| 329 | 329 | | lished Freedom Settlements to provide their commu-3 |
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| 330 | 330 | | nities with education, security, and belonging which 4 |
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| 331 | 331 | | were previously denied under slavery and discrimina-5 |
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| 332 | 332 | | tory laws; and 6 |
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| 333 | 333 | | ‘‘(2) may be suitable for inclusion in the Pro-7 |
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| 334 | 334 | | gram. 8 |
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| 335 | 335 | | ‘‘(b) C |
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| 336 | 336 | | ONSULTATION.—The Study shall be conducted 9 |
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| 337 | 337 | | with public involvement and in consultation with— 10 |
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| 338 | 338 | | ‘‘(1) the Advisory Committee; 11 |
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| 339 | 339 | | ‘‘(2) State and local officials; 12 |
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| 340 | 340 | | ‘‘(3) educational institutions; and 13 |
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| 341 | 341 | | ‘‘(4) other interested organizations and individ-14 |
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| 342 | 342 | | uals. 15 |
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| 343 | 343 | | ‘‘§ 309206. Registry 16 |
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| 344 | 344 | | ‘‘The Secretary shall maintain and regularly update 17 |
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| 345 | 345 | | a comprehensive registry of Freedom Settlements, as they 18 |
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| 346 | 346 | | are identified and verified through the research and docu-19 |
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| 347 | 347 | | mentation process outlined in this chapter, including but 20 |
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| 348 | 348 | | not limited to historically documented settlements engaged 21 |
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| 349 | 349 | | in preservation efforts, such as— 22 |
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| 350 | 350 | | ‘‘(1) Nicodemus, Kansas; 23 |
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| 351 | 351 | | ‘‘(2) Africatown, Alabama; 24 |
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| 352 | 352 | | ‘‘(3) Mound Bayou, Mississippi; 25 |
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| 356 | 356 | | ‘‘(4) Eatonville, Florida; 1 |
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| 357 | 357 | | ‘‘(5) Boley, Oklahoma; 2 |
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| 358 | 358 | | ‘‘(6) Hobson City, Alabama; 3 |
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| 359 | 359 | | ‘‘(7) Allensworth, California; 4 |
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| 360 | 360 | | ‘‘(8) Freedmen’s Town Historic District, Hous-5 |
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| 361 | 361 | | ton, Texas; 6 |
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| 362 | 362 | | ‘‘(9) Independence Heights, Texas; 7 |
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| 363 | 363 | | ‘‘(10) Mossville, Louisiana; 8 |
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| 364 | 364 | | ‘‘(11) Oberlin Village, North Carolina; 9 |
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| 365 | 365 | | ‘‘(12) Kinloch, Missouri; 10 |
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| 366 | 366 | | ‘‘(13) New Philadelphia, Illinois; 11 |
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| 367 | 367 | | ‘‘(14) Rosewood, Florida; 12 |
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| 368 | 368 | | ‘‘(15) Weeksville, New York; 13 |
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| 369 | 369 | | ‘‘(16) Freedman’s Village, Arlington, Virginia; 14 |
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| 370 | 370 | | ‘‘(17) Sandy Ground, New York; 15 |
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| 371 | 371 | | ‘‘(18) Princeville, North Carolina; 16 |
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| 372 | 372 | | ‘‘(19) Greenwood District (Black Wall Street), 17 |
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| 373 | 373 | | Tulsa, Oklahoma; and 18 |
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| 374 | 374 | | ‘‘(20) Freedmen’s Town, Dallas, Texas. 19 |
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| 375 | 375 | | ‘‘§ 309207. Private Property Protection 20 |
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| 376 | 376 | | ‘‘Nothing in this chapter— 21 |
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| 377 | 377 | | ‘‘(1) authorizes the Secretary to require or af-22 |
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| 378 | 378 | | fect the management or use of private property with-23 |
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| 379 | 379 | | out the written consent of the owner of the private 24 |
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| 380 | 380 | | property; or 25 |
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| 384 | 384 | | ‘‘(2) prohibits the Secretary from providing 1 |
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| 385 | 385 | | land management guidance or requirements relating 2 |
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| 386 | 386 | | to private property as a condition of a grant pro-3 |
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| 387 | 387 | | vided to the owner of the private property under this 4 |
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| 388 | 388 | | chapter. 5 |
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| 389 | 389 | | ‘‘§ 309208. Cooperative agreements and memoranda 6 |
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| 390 | 390 | | of understanding 7 |
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| 391 | 391 | | ‘‘The Secretary may enter into cooperative agree-8 |
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| 392 | 392 | | ments and memoranda of understanding with, and provide 9 |
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| 393 | 393 | | technical assistance to, the heads of other Federal agen-10 |
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| 394 | 394 | | cies, States, units of local government, Tribal govern-11 |
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| 395 | 395 | | ments, regional governmental bodies, African American- 12 |
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| 396 | 396 | | serving groups, residents and descendants of residents of 13 |
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| 397 | 397 | | Freedom Settlements, scholars of this specific history, and 14 |
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| 398 | 398 | | nonprofit organizations such as the Chisholm Legacy 15 |
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| 399 | 399 | | Project, Ubuntu Climate, and the Texas Freedom Colonies 16 |
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| 400 | 400 | | Project, educational institutions, and private entities— 17 |
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| 401 | 401 | | ‘‘(1) to achieve the purposes of this chapter; 18 |
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| 402 | 402 | | ‘‘(2) to facilitate cooperation with the Advisory 19 |
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| 403 | 403 | | Committee; and 20 |
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| 404 | 404 | | ‘‘(3) to ensure effective coordination of the Fed-21 |
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| 405 | 405 | | eral elements and non-Federal elements provided a 22 |
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| 406 | 406 | | grant or other assistance under the Program with 23 |
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| 407 | 407 | | System units and programs of the Service. 24 |
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| 411 | 411 | | ‘‘§ 309209. Freedom Settlements Advisory Committee 1 |
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| 412 | 412 | | ‘‘(a) I |
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| 413 | 413 | | NGENERAL.—In carrying out the Study under 2 |
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| 414 | 414 | | section 309205, the Secretary shall establish a committee 3 |
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| 415 | 415 | | to be known as the ‘Freedom Settlements Advisory Com-4 |
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| 416 | 416 | | mittee’ to assist with the Study. 5 |
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| 417 | 417 | | ‘‘(b) C |
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| 418 | 418 | | OMPOSITION.—The Advisory Committee shall 6 |
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| 419 | 419 | | be composed of members, appointed by the Secretary, 7 |
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| 420 | 420 | | who— 8 |
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| 421 | 421 | | ‘‘(1) are residents or descendants of residents 9 |
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| 422 | 422 | | of Freedom Settlements; 10 |
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| 423 | 423 | | ‘‘(2) have demonstrated expertise in— 11 |
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| 424 | 424 | | ‘‘(A) African-American history; or 12 |
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| 425 | 425 | | ‘‘(B) Reconstruction or Jim Crow era his-13 |
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| 426 | 426 | | tory; or 14 |
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| 427 | 427 | | ‘‘(3) are community leaders and advocates for 15 |
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| 428 | 428 | | African-American community heritage, preservation, 16 |
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| 429 | 429 | | and development.’’. 17 |
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| 430 | 430 | | Æ |
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