(Washington, DC) – The U.S. House Resources Committee's Subcommittee overseeing the National Parks will hold a hearing on Congressman James E. Clyburn's Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act on Tuesday, September 14th at 10:00 a.m. in the Longworth House Office Building, Room 1334. A hearing is the first step toward passage of the legislation.
This legislation, H.R. 4683, was introduced on June 24, 2004, and calls for the creation of a Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor and a commission to help Federal, State, and local authorities manage the Corridor and its assets. To fund this effort, the legislation authorizes $1 million per year over 10 years for the project. In addition, the bill calls for one or more Coastal Heritage Centers at appropriate locations within the Heritage Corridor.
These recommendations grew from a National Parks Service study released earlier this year that underscored the need to preserve, protect and interpret endangered Gullah/Geechee cultural heritage sites along the Georgia and South Carolina coast. This year the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Gullah/Geechee coast as one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Sites in America because they fear encroachment on these communities will result in the extinction of the culture, its language and customs.
WHO: Congressman James E. Clyburn (D-SC)
Cynthia Porcher, Cultural Heritage Researcher, who conducted the National
Parks Study on Preserving the Gullah/Geechee Culture
U.S. House Resources Committee's National Parks Subcommittee Members
WHAT: Hearing on Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act Hearing
WHEN: Tuesday, September 14, 2004
10:00 a.m.
WHERE: Longworth House Office Building, Room 1334
Washington, DC
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