Introduction of the Rock Creek National Park act of 2026
Printed in the Congressional Record of Jun 2, 2026.
Text in the Record
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Rock Creek National Park Act of 2026, which would redesignate the United States- owned Rock Creek Park in the District of Columbia as ``Rock Creek National Park.'' Redesignating this park will highlight its significance to the Nation. Rock Creek Park is already a ``national'' park, as it was established by Congress in 1890 ``for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the United States.'' Rock Creek Park was the first federally managed urban park and the third federal park ever created, after Yellowstone and Sequoia. Rock Creek Park was designed to preserve animals, timber, forestry and other interests in the park, and to ensure that its natural state is maintained as much as possible, not only for D.C. residents, but for all Americans. The park also preserves the ancient history of the land, as it was used for temporary settlements and as a quarry for weapons and tools by Native Americans from 7000 BCE until the 1600s. Rock Creek Park offers residents of D.C., Maryland and Virginia, as well as tourists, an escape from our increasingly urban environment. Residents and tourists alike enjoy many activities in the park's 2,000 acres, including hiking and biking, horseback riding, picnicking, tennis and other recreational activities in some of the open fields. Our residents have expressed their appreciation by volunteering to clean up and maintain the park. In 1918, landscape architects John Charles Olmstead and Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. wrote of Rock Creek Park, ``No matter how perfect the scenery of the park may be or may become, no matter how high its potential value, that value remains potential except insofar as it is enjoyed by large and ever larger numbers of people, poor and rich alike.'' Redesignating Rock Creek Park as Rock Creek National Park will help recognize the national status of this remarkable resource in our Nation's capital. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
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From the Congressional Record. This record was last updated Jul 30, 2026. About our data
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The text as printed in the Congressional Record. Agora shows it unchanged, except that it splits it into paragraphs and shows the heading in title case instead of capital letters.
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Printed in the Congressional Record of Jun 2, 2026. Extensions of Remarks are submitted in writing; they are not spoken on the floor.
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In the Record, the heading reads: INTRODUCTION OF THE ROCK CREEK NATIONAL PARK ACT OF 2026.
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