[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2748 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2748

 To authorize the establishment of a national database for purposes of 
identifying, locating, and cataloging the many memorials and permanent 
                    tributes to America's veterans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 2, 2001

Mr. Dreier (for himself and Mr. Schiff) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in 
addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the establishment of a national database for purposes of 
identifying, locating, and cataloging the many memorials and permanent 
                    tributes to America's veterans.

    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 ``National War Permanent Tribute 
Historical Database Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) there are many thousands of public memorials and 
        permanent tributes throughout the United States and abroad that 
        commemorate military conflicts of the United States and the 
        service of individuals in the Armed Forces of the United 
        States;
            (2) many such permanent tributes have never been 
        comprehensively located, identified, or cataloged;
            (3) there exists a need to collect and centralize 
        information regarding the identification, location, and 
        description of those permanent tributes; and
            (4) an organization known as RVETS, a tax exempt nonprofit 
        corporation, has undertaken a self-funded program to catalog 
        more than 8,000 memorials and permanent tributes located in the 
        United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``permanent tribute'' means any permanent 
        memorial, marker, other than a grave marker, that commemorates 
        any military conflict of the United States or the service and 
        sacrifice of any veteran of the Armed Forces of the United 
        States; and
            (2) the term ``RVETS'' means Remembering Veterans Who 
        Earned Their Stripes, a tax exempt nonprofit corporation;

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE.

    (a) Establishment.--In order to locate, identify, and catalog the 
many thousands of permanent tributes that commemorate the military 
conflicts of the United States, and the service and sacrifice of 
individuals in the Armed Forces of the United States, and to make such 
information readily available for the educational benefit of the 
public, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish and maintain 
the National War Permanent Tribute Historical Database. The database 
shall be comprised of the location, history and background, 
photographs, and other information that enhances the understanding of 
the permanent tributes, and information about the veterans in whose 
honor the tributes are dedicated. The database shall contain 
information on no fewer than 1,000 such permanent tributes and shall be 
made accessible to the public through the Internet site of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs in a format that permits the public to 
submit information on memorials for the purpose of updating and 
expanding the database.
    (b) Assistance.--The Secretary may seek the assistance of the 
National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, the American 
Battle Monuments Commission, and other agencies that the Secretary 
considers appropriate in carrying out this Act. The Secretary is 
authorized to contract with RVETS for any information or services which 
assist in the development and implementation of the database.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary $3,200,000 to carry out this Act.
                                 <all>