On April 24, 2013, the House Committee on Natural Resources approved H.R. 1208, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act, by unanimous consent. The bill will now be sent to the floor for a vote, as yet unscheduled.
H.R. 1208 has bipartisan support. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), the Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, introduced the bill along with Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN). The legislation would create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park at Los Alamos, NM; Oak Ridge, TN; and Hanford, WA. H.R. 1208 was considered by the full committee with a number of other bills, and was passed out of the committee by unanimous consent.
In a statement, Rep. Hastings said, “Today the Manhattan Project National Historic Park is one step closer to becoming a reality. This has been a long process and I’m grateful to the community leaders and advocates who have worked tirelessly on its behalf. I’m committed to bringing the bill to the House floor this Congress and working with the Senate to get it signed into law. These facilities have an important, interesting, and historic story to tell and this bill would ensure that their doors remain open to visitors for years to come.”
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on the companion bill, S. 507, on April 23. The Senate Committee may markup the bill in May or June, and the bill will then be sent to the Senate floor for a vote.
The Atomic Heritage Foundation is very encouraged by the speed at which Congress is moving this year. It has been nearly a decade since Congress directed the National Park Service to study whether a Manhattan Project national historical park would be “suitable” and “feasible.” In anticipation of the park, some of the most significant Manhattan Project icons such as the B Reactor have been preserved. But others have been lost, such as the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant at Oak Ridge. Creating the new park will ensure that important facilities and original artifacts remain and the stories of the people who worked on the Manhattan Project are not forgotten.