[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 57 (Wednesday, May 11, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   HISTORICAL VANDALISM AT GETTYSBURG

                                 ______


                        HON. MICHAEL A. ANDREWS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 11, 1994

  Mr. ANDREWS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, 1994, the House 
Committee on Government Operations' Subcommittee on Environment, 
Energy, and Natural Resources conducted a hearing on an intrastate land 
exchange in Gettysburg, PA, between the National Park Service and 
Gettysburg College. The land exchange, which the Park Service and 
Gettysburg College undertook to allow the college to move a railroad 
track away from its campus, resulted in the excavation of Oak Ridge, 
considered by many historians to have greatly influenced fighting 
during the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863.
  The focus of the hearing was on the historical significance of Oak 
Ridge and the actions and intentions of Gettysburg College, as well as 
Park Service policies, and whether proper safeguards were taken and 
appropriate public notice was given as to what the results of the land 
exchange would be.
  Mr. Speaker, the underlying issue in this hearing is one that is 
important: Civil War battlefield preservation. I have long worked to 
ensure that the historic land on which the campaigns and battles of the 
Civil War were waged are preserved. Once a battlefield is destroyed, it 
cannot be replaced. It is forever lost to future generations.
  I helped lead the successful effort in 1988 to stop a proposed 
shopping mall development which was to be located on the battlefield of 
Second Manassas. It would not only have destroyed a significant part of 
the battlefield but would have severely impacted the Manassas National 
Battlefield Park. I also worked to subsequently pass legislation that 
created the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, whose excellent report 
details the state of our Nation's Civil War battlefields and provides 
what I think are appropriate and very worthwhile recommendations to the 
Congress and administration. I look forward to the implementation of 
these recommendations.
  The Civil War is the single most important event in our Nation's 
history. America's social and economic foundations before the War were 
forever changed by the War, and its impact continues to affect our 
national debate. The Nation was infused, in President Abraham Lincoln's 
words, with a ``new birth of freedom.'' It is not by coincidence that 
students in this country divide their study of American history by the 
Civil War. Civil rights, women's rights, economic and trade policy were 
issues driven into the 20th century by the Civil War. America was a 
different country before the war, and it was a different Nation after 
the war.
  And so, understanding the Civil War--its reasons, its battles, its 
politics, its costs, its significance--is important in understanding 
who we are as a Nation and where we are going.
  It is almost incomprehensible to imagine young boys and men from 
States like New York and Pennsylvania waging a war against young men 
from Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama. And yet on the first day of 
July 1863, that is what happened across the fields west of Gettysburg. 
The railroad cut of Oak Ridge near Gettysburg, which was the subject of 
the May 9 hearing, was a central part of that first day's fighting. In 
fact, some of the most desperate fighting of the war took place there. 
There is no more historic spot on the battlefield of Gettysburg. And 
now it has been destroyed.
  Often, grasping the significance of events more than 125 years ago is 
difficult, especially when they are explained in the context of 
abstract political theories. There is, however, one tangible legacy of 
the war--its battlefields. With names like Antietam, Chancellorsville, 
The Wilderness, and Glorietta Pass, many remain today, undisturbed as 
reminders and lessons, to see and to feel. Our generation's obligation 
to our history is to protect these important sites from destruction or 
permanent change.
  The Battle of Gettysburg was the greatest battle of the Civil War. It 
was the turning point of the war. Over 150,000 troops converged on the 
tiny hamlet knowing full well the outcome would mark the end or the 
beginning of the end for both sides. Union generals and President 
Lincoln knew it represented an opportunity to destroy the South's most 
powerful army. For Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, it 
was a desperate gamble to change the dynamics of the war by waging war 
on northern soil. Over 50,000 soldiers would be killed or wounded in 3 
hot days of some of the most intense fighting of the war. And it all 
started west of Gettysburg on and near the famous railroad cut of the 
Tapeworm Railroad.
  In the climactic struggle on Oak Ridge, the 16th Maine Regiment found 
itself in the cut itself surrounded by three North Carolina regiments. 
After a fierce defense, the Maine troops surrendered to the 
Confederates poised above the steep sides of the cut. Rather than 
relinquish their State flag and the national standard, the Union 
soldiers tore the banners into small pieces and carried then as prized 
possessions throughout the war until they returned to Maine. It was one 
of the most dramatic moments in the Battle of Gettysburg.
  The destruction of a landmark that played such an important part of 
such an important battle is tragic. The excavation of Oak Ridge near 
Gettysburg is not to be taken lightly. Although the circumstances here 
are different than those of Manassas in 1988, the lesson is the same: 
If great care is not taken by everyone involved, we stand to lose 
important parts of our Nation's vital history. Battlefields cannot be 
rebuilt.
  We should not tolerate the destruction of history, whether willful or 
negligent. Is it right that Congress can overwhelmingly agree to an 
expensive land purchase by a seldom used legislative taking in 
preserving historic battlefields while allowing the Federal 
Government's own land exchange policies to destroy such battlefields? 
Of course not. Should the Department of the Interior have been more 
vigilant in monitoring the upkeep of this historic area after the 
exchange? Probably. Should local leaders have recognized the possible 
consequences of their intentions? Clearly, yes. Would the public have 
agreed with the exchange had it known of the excavation? I doubt it.

  Mr. Chairman, there need not always be a scapegoat or a proven 
wrongdoer. In general, these situations seem to be a combination of the 
work of several interest groups: Local leaders intent on economic 
growth, developers and property owners anxious to realize their own 
goals, and local citizens not fully aware of political decisions or 
their historic significance. Clearly, however, local leaders have much 
responsibility to recognize the larger impact their decisions can have 
on one of our great national treasures. Historic preservation at a 
place like Gettysburg is not just for historians.
  Gettysburg itself represents the best and worst of battlefield 
preservation. It is a massive park in its scope, and history and much 
of it is proudly preserved. Students of history, tourists, military 
leaders from around the world travel there to walk the ground of places 
like Culp's Hill, Little Round Top, and Seminary Ridge in order to 
better understand how and what happened there.
  Yet, despite of the park's many successes, a grotesque observation 
tower blights the landscape, and fast food restaurants border the 
ground of Pickett's charge.
  The Federal Government simply cannot, as it did at Manassas, afford 
to buy off every greedy developer. Nor, however, as in this instance, 
can it stand back and rely solely on the judgment of community leaders, 
even those from a respected university to zealously safeguard our past. 
Too often their local goals may not coincide with the larger national 
purpose of preserving our past.
  It should not be easy to destroy an important part of the battlefield 
of Gettysburg. Congress must take a stronger role if the kind of 
historic vandalism that occurred at Gettysburg is not to be repeated. 
It is our task to preserve our history so that future generations will 
understand and not forget.

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