April 20, 2007, will mark the 175th anniversary of Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This resolution will write into history the important role that Hot Springs National Park has played in the formation of the Department of the Interior and the National Park System.

   The very idea of setting aside special places in the United States for the future enjoyment of its citizens originated in Hot Springs, Arkansas, when on April 20, 1832, President Andrew Jackson and the United States Congress established Hot Springs Reservation to protect the 47 hot springs in Garland County, Arkansas. That year, Hot Springs Reservation became the first protected area in the Nation and was the only Federal area mentioned by name in the act that established the National Park System.

   The Hot Springs Reservation was then officially renamed Hot Springs National Park on March 4, 1921, becoming America's 18th national park, joining many other national landmarks.

   For more than 200 years, Hot Springs National Park has remained an area of exceptional beauty and magnificence. People have used the hot spring water and therapeutic baths to treat a variety of ailments, and the reservation eventually developed into a well-known resort nicknamed ``the American Spa.'' Well, today Hot Springs National Park protects eight historic bathhouses, and the Bathhouse Row area in Hot Springs National Park is a national historic landmark district that contains the largest collection of bathhouses of its kind in North America. It provides visitors from around the country and the world with leisure activities such as hiking, picnicking, and scenic drives and remains a national treasure to be enjoyed by generations of Americans.

   Hot Springs National Park has played a crucial role in the formation of the United States National Park System. I am proud to sponsor a resolution commemorating its 175th anniversary, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of House Resolution 138 today.