Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff’s remarks
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff continues working to establish Georgia’s first National Park.
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate National Parks Subcommittee held a hearing to receive testimony from the National Park Service on recently proposed legislation, including the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve Establishment Act introduced recently by Senators Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock and Congressmen Austin Scott (GA-08) and Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02).
Sen. Ossoff spoke in the hearing on the importance of this bipartisan bill and the transformative impact it would have on Middle Georgia and the entire State.
“Not only will this be transformative for Middle Georgia and its economic development and its tourist economy to establish Georgia’s first ever national park, but it also will be a powerful statement about the relationship between our state and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and its history and an opportunity for Georgians to enjoy outdoor education and outdoor recreation and gorgeous woodland, riverbanks and cultural sites,” Sen. Ossoff said. “Thank you, Chairman King and Senator Daines, for your consideration of this legislation. I’m ready to work with you to make sure that it gets over the line.”
“This is some of the most extraordinary territory in the United States. Continuously inhabited for more than 12,000 years by members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation — exquisite and invaluable cultural artifacts, gorgeous woodlands along the banks of the Ocmulgee River,” Sen. Ossoff continued. “And I’m grateful to the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior for working so closely with my team to develop this legislation. We look forward to working with both of you on a bipartisan basis to incorporate any technical advice that’s necessary to advance this legislation to the Senate floor.”
During the Subcommittee hearing, Michael A. Caldwell, Associate Director of Park Planning, Facilities, and Lands for U.S. National Park Service, said the Park Service supports the intent of the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve Establishment Act and looks forward to working with Congress on it.
Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff’s remarks.
Earlier this month, Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock and Reps. Scott and Bishop introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve Establishment Act, which would establish Ocmulgee Mounds and surrounding areas in Middle Georgia as a National Park and Preserve.
The House bill is cosponsored by 11 other members of Georgia’s Congressional Delegation: Reps. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (GA-01), Drew Ferguson (GA-03), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (GA-04), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Rich McCormick (GA-06), Lucy McBath (GA-07), Mike Collins (GA-10), Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Rick Allen (GA-12), David Scott (GA-13), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14).
The area is the ancestral home of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and has been inhabited continuously by humans for over 12,000 years. American Indians first arrived in the area during the Paleo-Indian Period hunting Ice Age mammals. Around 900 CE, the Mississippian Period began, and Muskogean people constructed mounds for meeting, living, burial, agricultural, and other purposes, many of which remain today and would be encompassed in the new U.S. National Park and Preserve.
Late last year, the U.S. National Park Service released a Special Resource Study that was initiated in response to a bill authored and passed into law by Reps. Scott and Bishop and former Senators Isakson and Perdue in 2019 that had been first introduced in 2014 by Reps. Scott and Bishop and former Senators Isakson and Chambliss.
The new bipartisan bill incorporates information from the Special Resource Study to define the boundaries of the proposed National Park and Preserve in close coordination with the feedback collected from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation; local elected officials; business, faith, agricultural, environmental, and community leaders; Robins Air Force Base; and more.
Please find a transcript of Sen. Ossoff’s full remarks in the Subcommittee hearing below.
SEN. OSSOFF: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Daines. A pleasure to join you and thank you for accommodating me. I’m grateful to you for including in this morning’s hearing S.4216, my legislation to establish the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve, as this is an initiative with overwhelming bipartisan support in the state of Georgia, extraordinary local support.
“I think, Mr. Chairman, you were kind enough to recognize earlier today, Seth Clark, the Macon-Bibb County Mayor Pro Tem and Executive Director of the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, as well as Tracie Revis, who is a citizen and former Chief of Staff of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Director of Advocacy for this Park Initiative.
“This is some of the most extraordinary territory in the United States. Continuously inhabited for more than 12,000 years by members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation — exquisite and invaluable cultural artifacts, gorgeous woodlands along the banks of the Ocmulgee River. And I’m grateful to the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior for working so closely with my team to develop this legislation. We look forward to working with both of you on a bipartisan basis to incorporate any technical advice that’s necessary to advance this legislation to the Senate floor.
“But, I just want to emphasize that not only will this be transformative for Middle Georgia and its economic development and its tourist economy to establish Georgia’s first ever National Park, but it also, will be a powerful statement about the relationship between our state and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and its history and an opportunity for Georgians to enjoy outdoor education and outdoor recreation and gorgeous woodland, riverbanks and cultural sites.
“So, thank you, Chairman King and Senator Daines for your consideration of this legislation. I’m ready to work with you to make sure that it gets over the line.”
Click here to read the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve Establishment Act. Click here to find the Senate version, S.4216, and click here to find the House version, H.R.8182.
Click here to view proposed boundaries of the new National Park and Preserve as part of the Ocmulgee Mounds National Park and Preserve Establishment Act.
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