Congress Passes Rep. Cleaver’s Legislation to Reauthorize the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the House of Representatives passed S. 1942, the National Heritage Area Act (NHAA), to support National Heritage Areas across the country. Included in the legislation was Rep. Cleaver’s Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area Reauthorization Act, which reauthorizes the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) for another 15 years. The NHAA also establishes standard criteria for the funding, management and designation of National Heritage Areas throughout the United States and sets an annual authorization of $1 million for all National Heritage Areas, including the FFNHA.

“For more than 15 years, Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area has helped tell the full story of our regional history while supporting local economies by bringing tourists to museums and historical sites throughout the area,” said Congressman Cleaver. “With passage of the National Heritage Area Act, I’m thrilled that we will be able to preserve these invaluable assets, boost tourism and stimulate economic activity in communities across Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas, and continue to enlighten the next generation about our shared history.”

“Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area brings tourists interested in our Civil War history to the communities up and down the Kansas – Missouri border,” said Lucinda Adams, Freedom’s Frontier Executive Director. “This supports local economies as the tourists eat at restaurants, purchase gas, and stay in our hotels—bringing the benefits of tourism alongside our historical importance as one of the birthplaces of the Civil War.”

Established in 2006, the FFNHA is one of 55 National Heritage Areas throughout the United States. FFNHA tells the stories and builds awareness of Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas’ past, present, and future, including the Kansas-Missouri border war, the Civil War, and the settlement of the western frontier and rural America. The FFNHA supports and promotes roughly 323 partners, including historic sites, museums, historical societies, libraries, and other cultural-heritage tourism destinations in 41 counties across the Missouri-Kansas border. Some notable FFNHA partners in the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri include the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Truman Presidential Library, American Jazz Museum, the National WWI Museum and Memorial, and more.

In September 2021, Rep. Cleaver joined Reps. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) to introduce the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area Reauthorization Act to preserve the FFNHA as a National Heritage Area. Following passage by the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, the NHAA will now go to President Biden to be signed into law, ensuring the FFNHA can continue to serve communities across the region for years to come.

Official text of the NHAA is available here.

Official text of Rep. Cleaver’s Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area Reauthorization Act is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus.