[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3683 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3683

To preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California, 
   by providing for the immediate acquisition of the memorial by the 
                             United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2006

 Mr. Sessions introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California, 
   by providing for the immediate acquisition of the memorial by the 
                             United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial (referred to in this 
        Act as the ``Memorial'') has proudly stood overlooking San 
        Diego, California, for more than 52 years as a tribute to the 
        members of the United States Armed Forces who sacrificed their 
        lives in defense of the United States;
            (2) the Memorial was dedicated on April 18, 1954, as ``a 
        lasting memorial to the dead of the First and Second World Wars 
        and the Korean conflict'' and now serves as a memorial to 
        American veterans of all wars, including the War on Terrorism;
            (3) the United States has a long history and tradition of 
        memorializing members of the Armed Forces who die in battle 
        with a cross or other religious emblem of faith, and a memorial 
        cross is fully integrated as the centerpiece of the 
        multifaceted Memorial, which is replete with secular symbols;
            (4) the patriotic and inspirational symbolism of the 
        Memorial provides solace to the families and comrades of the 
        veterans it memorializes;
            (5) the Memorial has been recognized by Congress as a 
        National Veterans Memorial and is considered a historically 
        significant national memorial;
            (6) 76 percent of the voters of the city of San Diego 
        supported donating the Memorial to the United States, only to 
        have a California superior court judge invalidate that 
        election;
            (7) the city of San Diego has diligently pursued every 
        possible legal recourse to preserve the Memorial in its 
        entirety for persons who have served in the Armed Forces and 
        who will serve and sacrifice in the future; and
            (8) Congressional action is necessary to preserve the 
        Memorial because the city of San Diego is under a district 
        court order to remove the Memorial from city property by August 
        1, 2006.

SEC. 2. ACQUISITION OF MEMORIAL.

    (a) In General.--To effectuate the purpose of section 116 of 
division J of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (16 U.S.C. 431 
note; 118 Stat. 3346), which designated the Memorial as a national 
memorial honoring veterans of the United States Armed Forces to 
preserve a historically significant war memorial, there is vested in 
the United States all right, title, and interest in and to, and the 
right to immediate possession of, the Memorial, as described in 
subsection (d).
    (b) Compensation.--
            (1) In general.--The United States shall pay to each owner 
        of property the title to which is taken by the United States 
        pursuant to this section compensation in an amount equal to, as 
        applicable--
                    (A) the agreed negotiated value of the property; or
                    (B) the valuation of the property according to an 
                applicable judgment.
            (2) Source of funds.--A payment under paragraph (1) shall 
        be made from the permanent judgment appropriation established 
        pursuant to section 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
            (3) Full faith and credit.--The full faith and credit of 
        the United States is pledged to the payment of any judgment 
        entered against the United States with respect to a taking of 
        property pursuant to this section.
            (4) Failure to negotiate settlement.--If the applicable 
        parties do not reach a negotiated settlement with respect to a 
        taking under this section by the date that is 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense may 
        initiate a proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction to 
        determine the amount of compensation to be paid by the United 
        States with respect to the taking.
    (c) Maintenance.--On acquisition of the Memorial by the United 
States, the Secretary of Defense shall--
            (1) manage the property subject to the taking; and
            (2) offer to enter into a memorandum of understanding with 
        the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association for the continued 
        maintenance of the Memorial by the Association.
    (d) Legal Description.--
            (1) In general.--The Memorial referred to in this section 
        is the portion of Pueblo Lot 1265 of the Pueblo Lands of San 
        Diego, California, as depicted on the map of San Diego County, 
        California, numbered 36, prepared by James Pascoe, dated 1879, 
        and on file in the office of the County Recorder of San Diego 
        County, and more particularly described as the area bounded by 
        the back of the existing inner sidewalk on top of Mt. Soledad, 
        being a circle with radius of 84 feet, the center of which is 
        located as follows:
                    (A) Beginning at the southwesterly corner of Pueblo 
                Lot 1265, S. 17 degrees, 14'33" E. (record S. 17 
                degrees 14'09" E.), 607.21 feet along the westerly line 
                of that lot from its intersection with the north line 
                of La Jolla Scenic Drive South, designated as parcel 2 
                in City Council Resolution No. 216644 (August 25, 
                1976).
                    (B) Thence N. 39 degrees 59'24" E., 1147.62 feet to 
                the center of the circle.
            (2) Survey.--The exact boundaries and legal description of 
        the Memorial shall be determined by a survey to be prepared by 
        the Secretary of Defense.
            (3) Prohibition on expansion.--On acquisition of the 
        Memorial by the United States, the boundaries of the Memorial 
        shall not be expanded.
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