Sodrel Opening Statement to National Parks Subcommittee
Sodrel Opening Statement to National Parks Subcommittee
Clarksville, IN, Oct 4 -
Congressman Mike Sodrel (R-IN) made the following opening statement at a field hearing for the House Subcommittee on National Parks. The field hearing, which was held in Clarksville, was held to discuss the possible extension of the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail to Clarksville.
Thank you Chairman Pearce, for hosting this hearing today and for bringing the Subcommittee to Southern Indiana. Let me be the first to welcome you and the Parks Subcommittee to Clarksville, Indiana. We appreciate having you and your staff here for this hearing.
Mr. Chairman, I can go on about the history of Clarksville and the important role it played in opening Western expansion of the United States. But we have a host of expert witnesses who can share with us more on this subject than me. So I will leave the historical accounts to them. Therefore, let me shift gears to discuss what I believe Congress needs to do regarding the inclusion of Indiana and other Eastern states in the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.
Currently, the Lewis and Clark Historic National Trail begins at Wood River, Illinois and includes the Western Legacy States. While the National Park Service has included historical sites as part of the trail east of Woods River, I believe it is time to include the Eastern states as part of the journey. I believe Congress should pass the bill I cosponsoredH.R. 5053for the purpose of extending the trail to include the entire path taken to Point Disappointment and the return route to Washington, DC to report their findings to President Jefferson.
In 2004, Congress asked the National Park Service to begin looking into the historical significance of eastern sites when it passed H.R. 3819. Since then, the National Park Service has yet to begin the study.
Too often Washington makes the task more difficult than it should be. I would recommend to the Park Service to use the vast resources of books written on the subject, such as "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose considering he did most of the work for you already. Books like Undaunted Courage are great works of research and I would recommend it to anyone making a study of the trip.
I hope this hearing will allow the Park Service to shed some light on its progress and share with us when Congress can expect to see the report.
Thank you Mr. Chairman. I very much look forward to hearing from our panelists and I yield back the balance of my time.
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