Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 5852, the Weir Farm National Historical Park Redesignation Act, introduced by Representative Jim Himes. In 1882, American artist Julian Alden Weir traded a still life painting he had acquired in Europe for a 153-acre farm in Branchville, Connecticut. Inspired by the farm's rural setting, Weir spent the next 36 years developing a new approach to landscape painting and gained a reputation as a leader of the American Impressionists. In 1990, Congress established the Weir Farm National Historic Site to preserve the structures and rural landscape that inspired Weir's transition into American Impressionism. Today, the 68-acre site includes more than a dozen structures, as well as historic gardens, orchards, fields, and hundreds of historic painting sites. The National Historic Site also maintains a museum collection containing more than 200,000 archives and objects, including original paintings, sculptures, and prints. H.R. 5852 would redesignate the Weir Farm National Historic Site as the Weir Farm National Historical Park to conform with the National Park Service's standard pattern of nomenclature and to help promote increased visitation to the area. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.”