Washington Spy Ring National Historic Trail Designation Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8638 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8638 To amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Washington Spy Ring National Historic Trail, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 30, 2026 Mr. Suozzi (for himself and Mr. LaLota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Washington Spy Ring National Historic Trail, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Washington Spy Ring National Historic Trail Designation Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) The Culper Spy Ring was a group of American Revolutionaries who gathered intelligence on British troop movements and fortifications in Manhattan, Long Island, and elsewhere for General George Washington. (2) The Culper Spy Ring is credited with uncovering Benedict Arnold's conspiracy to surrender West Point to the British and saving the Franco-American alliance by uncovering plans to ambush the French army in Rhode Island. (3) Key locations used by the Culper Spy Ring include-- (A) Raynham Hall in Oyster Bay, New York, the home of intelligence operative Robert Townsend; (B) the Arsenal (also known as the Job Sammis House) in Huntington, New York, which was used to store gunpowder during the British occupation of Long Island and the town of Huntington; (C) the Brewster House, a tavern in Setauket, New York, owned by the Brewster family and used to spy on British officers and transfer information to General Washington across the Long Island Sound; and (D) generally,