WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Jim Talent (R-MO) today applauded Senate passage of legislation designating 29 counties in eastern Kansas and 12 counties in western Missouri as a National Heritage Area, showcasing the region's contributions to the struggle for equality in the nation.

"This legislation will not only preserve and showcase the pivotal history of our state and the subsequent contribution Kansas made to the nation, but it will also serve as a tool to promote economic development through travel and tourism for our state," Brownback said.

"I am pleased the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area will now have this national designation," said Talent. "The events that transpired along the Missouri-Kansas border were critical conflicts that led up to the Civil War, and we have a responsibility to protect and document the historic significance of this unique piece of American history."

The legislation creates the Freedoms Frontier National Heritage Area by joining communities throughout eastern Kansas and western Missouri to document, preserve and celebrate the significant role Kansas and Missouri played in the political struggle that led to the Civil War and in other historic struggles for equality in the state.

Brownback continued, "I would like to thank Senator Jim Talent and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for their unwavering support of this bill and for moving this bill so quickly. I would also like to commend the steadfast commitment of the Territorial Kansas Heritage Alliance, whose work helped make this bill possible."

National Heritage Areas are regions in which residents, businesses and local governments have joined together to conserve and celebrate heritage and special landscapes. Congress has established over 24 National Heritage Areas around the country, in which conservation, interpretation and other activities are managed by partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and the private sector.

According to the National Park Service, each National Heritage Area is a settled landscape that tells the story of its residents. It is a landscape in which the land and the local environment, over time, have shaped traditions and cultural values in the people who live there, and where the residents' use of the land has, in turn, created and sustained a landscape that reflects their cultures.

Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) cosponsored the legislation and Representative Jim Ryun (R-KS) authored the House version of the bill.