{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=2c92e809-7ff5-43fb-815d-29da65965712", "House Passes Legislation to Preserve Oak Ridge Manhattan Project Sites as National Historical Park", "2014-12-04", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Lamar Alexander", "A000360", "www.alexander.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "***\r\n\u201cOak Ridge continues to serve as a global resource for scientific discovery, and this national historical park will give all Americans the opportunity to learn about the significance of the Manhattan Project and how it continues to shape our history.\u201d\u2013 Lamar Alexander\r\nWASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2014 \u2013 U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) today announced their legislation that would designate three sites of the World War II-era Manhattan Project, including sites at Oak Ridge, as a National Historical Park, has passed the U.S. House of Representatives.\r\n\u201cThe Manhattan Project is one of the most significant events in American history, and this legislation will protect and preserve these sites, including those at Oak Ridge, and designate them as a national historical park,\u201d said Alexander. \u201cOak Ridge continues to serve as a global resource for scientific discovery, and this national historical park will provide the opportunity to learn about the significance of the Manhattan Project and how it continues to shape our history.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe Manhattan Project produced groundbreaking achievements at a critical time in our nation\u2019s history right here in Oak Ridge, Tennessee,\u201d said Fleischmann. \u201cThe legacy of the incredible work done in Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington deserves to be recognized. The advancements achieved by thousands of hardworking men and women at Oak Ridge helped bring an end to World War II. The Manhattan Project continues to serve as one of the most significant accomplishments in American history, and I am proud that our legislation will honor these facilities by designating them as a National Historical Park.\u201d\r\nThe original legislation, introduced by Alexander and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) in the Senate and cosponsored by Fleischmann in the House, passed the House today as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation would designate sites at Oak Ridge as well as Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash., as the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park would include in its designation the Beta-3 racetracks and Alpha Calutron magnets at Y-12 and the K-25 Building site at the East Tennessee Technology Park.\r\nTennessee\u2019s history with the project ties back to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt\u2019s request of Sen. Kenneth McKellar, a Tennessee Democrat, to help him secretly fund a project \u2013 ultimately the creation of the atomic bomb \u2013 to help end the war. McKellar famously asked Roosevelt \u201cwhere in Tennessee\u201d he\u2019d like to locate the project. \u201cThat place in Tennessee turned out to be Oak Ridge, one of three secret cities that became the principal sites for the Manhattan Project,\u201d Alexander said.\r\n\u00a0\r\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=2c92e809-7ff5-43fb-815d-29da65965712"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.011381857097149, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}