PRINTER'S NO. 1672
No. 155 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY C. WILLIAMS AND GERLACH, JANUARY 23, 2002
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, JANUARY 23, 2002
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging Congress to appropriate money to purchase certain land in
2 Valley Forge National Historical Park.
3 WHEREAS, In the winter of 1777-1778 General George Washington
4 and the Continental Army camped at Valley Forge to be close to
5 the British Army occupying the City of Philadelphia; and
6 WHEREAS, During this encampment the volunteer citizen
7 soldiers endured great hardships such as cold, hunger, disease
8 and poor lodging, and they were badly equipped and supplied; and
9 WHEREAS, About 2,000 soldiers died from pneumonia, typhoid,
10 dysentery and other diseases; and
11 WHEREAS, At Valley Forge the leadership of General George
12 Washington helped hold together this group of citizen soldiers;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, Through the training of General Washington and Baron
15 von Steuben these ill-equipped volunteers were marshaled into an
16 effective fighting force which helped defeat a military power,
17 the British, at Yorktown in 1783; and
1 WHEREAS, The first State park was founded at Valley Forge in
2 1893; and
3 WHEREAS, Governor Samuel Pennypacker of Pennsylvania compared
4 a visit to Valley Forge to a pilgrimage and urged every American
5 to visit the site; and
6 WHEREAS, Valley Forge has been visited by Presidents of the
7 United States and numerous dignitaries from around the world;
8 and
9 WHEREAS, In 1975, as part of the United States Bicentennial
10 Celebration, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania conveyed the
11 Valley Forge State Park to the United States Government; and
12 WHEREAS, Act 1975-53 authorizing the conveyance said the land
13 was to be used for "historical purposes"; and
14 WHEREAS, The development of land privately owned within
15 Valley Forge National Historical Park boundaries would violate
16 the spirit of the conveyance from the Commonwealth to the United
17 States Government; and
18 WHEREAS, The Secretary of the Interior has the authority to
19 acquire privately held property within the boundaries of the
20 Park; therefore be it
21 RESOLVED, That it is the sense of the Senate of the
22 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that locating a large housing
23 development within the boundaries of the Valley Forge National
24 Historical Park is against the spirit of the original conveyance
25 to the Federal Government approved by the Commonwealth; and be
26 it further
27 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
28 strongly urge the Secretary of the Interior to exercise
29 authority under Public Law 94-337 and acquire the land to be
30 developed; and be it further
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1 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
2 urge the Congress of the United States to appropriate moneys
3 sufficient for the purchase of this property; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
5 the President of the United States, to the presiding officers of
6 each house of Congress and each member of Congress from
7 Pennsylvania and to the Secretary of the Interior.
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