The U.S. House quietly passed a bill this afternoon that would expand Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
The resolution, sponsored by Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, would add eight acres to the park, as well as a historic, two-bedroom farmhouse that once served as Union General Oliver O. Howard's headquarters. Our colleague Dan Klepal wrote a preview of the bill earlier this week that can be found here:
"The resolution authorizes the Department of the Interior to acquire land by donation or exchange from willing sellers only, and prohibits the department from acquiring the land through condemnation. The Wallis House is currently owned by Cobb County."
“The Wallis House and Harriston Hill will provide tremendous educational and historical value to Kennesaw Mountain Park,” Loudermilk said in a floor speech touting the bill. “It is my hope that the park will quickly acquire this property and restore it to its original condition for visitors
to enjoy for generations to come.”
The House also passed a similar measure from John Lewis that would designate the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site as a national historic park. The designation gives the site, which is actually a collection of buildings significant to King, including his birth home, tomb and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the highest level of historic protection and preservation offered by the federal government, according to the Atlanta Democrat's office. It also adds the masonic lodge of which Dr. King was a member to the list of protected sites.
Lewis’ office said the designation would bring with it federal resources for community grants, education programming, historical markers and park rangers to man the site.
“What Dr. King and others accomplished in Atlanta, the heartbeat of the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century and the headquarters for non-violent action in America, changed this nation forever. I am glad that federal resources will now be used to preserve his home, his church, his masonic lodge and other places important to his leadership for generations yet unborn,” Lewis said in a statement.
Both measures passed unanimously by voice vote. They still need to go through the Senate before they can reach the president’s desk. Johnny Isakson is sponsoring a companion bill to Loudermilk’s in the Senate.
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