Reconciliation in Place Names Act
Latest action · Sep 30, 2020 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 30, 2020
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Reconciliation in Place Names Act
This bill directs the Department of the Interior to establish the Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names to advise the Board on Geographic Names on renaming geographic features with offensive place names. Generally, an offensive place name is a place name or land unit that recognizes an individual who held racially repugnant views, contains a racial or sexist slur, or is derogatory or otherwise offensive.
The board shall accept or reject a recommendation by the committee to rename a geographic feature with an offensive place name within three years of the date on which it receives the recommendation.
The board shall approve a recommendation of the committee unless it determines that (1) there is a compelling reason and substantial public interest in rejecting the recommendation; or (2) approving the recommendation would violate federal law.
The board shall rename a geographic feature if the board accepts a recommendation by the committee to rename it.
Cosponsors 15
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 30, 2020 to Nov 30, 2020; 12 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NY | Adriano Espaillat | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-TX | Al Green | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-IL | Danny K. Davis | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-PA | Dwight Evans | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-CA | Grace F. Napolitano | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-WA | Pramila Jayapal | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-MI | Rashida Tlaib | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-AZ | Ruben Gallego | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-CA | Ted Lieu | Original | Sep 30, 2020 |
| D-MO | Emanuel Cleaver | Oct 2, 2020 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Nov 16, 2020 | |
| D-TX | Veronica Escobar | Nov 30, 2020 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Natural Resources Committee | Referred Sep 30, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 30, 2020Introduced in House
- Sep 30, 2020Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 170, September 30, 2020, page H5106.
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To create a process by which the Board on Geographic Names shall review and revise offensive names of Federal land units, to create an advisory committee to recommend Federal land unit names to be reviewed by the Board, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Reconciliation in Place Names Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources.
- Advisory bodies
- Forests, forestry, trees
- General Native American affairs matters
- Geography and mapping
- Parks, recreation areas, trails
- Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Racial and ethnic relations
- Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination
- Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 30, 2020Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
