Gregory F. Murphy

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 4931, the National Park System Long-Term Lease Investment Act. As was noted previously, there is a Senate companion with slight differences that hopefully can be worked out. My bill would give the Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the National Park Service, the authority to extend the lease if the lease has been entered into less than 5 years before the date of extension is to take effect. The Director of the National Park Service would determine if extending the lease is in the best interests of the applicable unit of the National Park Service. Within my district in Dare County, we have a lot of national parks, and we work very well with them. We have a model of an excellent public-private partnership at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, where the National Park Service works with a local vendor to provide necessary marine services. My bill is simple and straightforward. It gives the National Park Service the authority to give an extension of a lease, if the National Park Service thinks it is in the best interests of the National Park Service, for a total duration up to 60 years. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my Democratic colleagues and appreciate the opportunity to attend to any concerns that they have. By granting this authority to the National Park Service, it would encourage other private investors to invest wisely in the hope of being considered for this opportunity to make a win-win with a public-private partnership. Current law does not allow this to happen. Mr. Speaker, I ask your consideration of this bill, and I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 4931.