[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 55 (Thursday, May 1, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3906-S3907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. 
        Torricelli):
  S. 686. A bill to establish the National Military Museum Foundation, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed Services.


            NATIONAL MILITARY MUSEUM FOUNDATION LEGISLATION

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, today I am introducing on behalf of 
myself, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. Torricelli, legislation to create a 
National Military Museum Foundation. The purpose of this legislation is 
to encourage and facilitate private sector support in the effort to 
preserve, interpret, and display the important role the military has 
played in the history

[[Page S3907]]

of our Nation. This legislation is, in my judgment, crucial at this 
particular moment in history, when we are on the verge of jeopardizing 
two centuries worth of military artifacts and negating the possibility 
of such collections in the future.
  It has been the long-standing tradition of the U.S. Department of War 
and its successor, the Department of Defense, to preserve our historic 
military artifacts. Since the days of the revolution to the conflict in 
Bosnia, Americans have been proud of the role that our military has had 
in safeguarding our democracy, and we have tried to ensure that future 
generations will know that role. Over the years we have accumulated a 
priceless collection of military artifacts from every period of 
American history and every technological era. The collection includes 
flags, uniforms, weapons, paintings, and historic records as well as 
full-size tanks, ships, and aircraft which document history and provide 
provenance for our Nation and armed services.
  In recent years, however, the dedicated individuals who identify, 
interpret, catalog, and showcase those artifacts have found themselves 
shortchanged and shorthanded. With financial resources diminishing, not 
only are we cheating ourselves out of the military treasures currently 
warehoused out of public sight, but we are in danger of lacking the 
funds to update our collections with new items.
  ``A morsel of genuine history,'' wrote Thomas Jefferson to John Adams 
in 1817, ``is a thing so rare as to be always valuable.'' Mr. 
President, today, significant pieces of our military history are being 
lost, shoved into basements, or subject to decay. With each year also 
comes less funding, and our artifacts are multiplying at a pace that 
exceeds the capabilities of those who are trying to preserve them. 
Since 1990 alone, the services have closed 21 military museums and at 
least 8 more are expected to close in the next few years.
  We cannot let this proceed any further. Military museums are vital to 
documenting our history, educating our citizenry, and advancing our 
technology. More than 81 museums in 31 States and the District of 
Columbia daily instill Americans from veterans to new recruits to 
elementary school students with a sense of the sacred responsibility 
that military servicemen bear to defend the values that have made this 
country great.
  Military museums teach our servicemen the history of their units, 
enhancing their understanding both of the team of which they are a part 
and the significance of the service they have pledged to perform. And 
when a museum makes history come alive to young children, those 
children learn for themselves what this country stands for and the 
sacrifices that have been made to preserve the freedoms we often take 
for granted.
  Many of our servicemen have learned their military history through 
these artifacts rather than textbooks, and many of our technological 
advances have come as a direct result of these artifacts. The ship 
models and ordinances at U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, MD, 
for example, have been used by the Academy's Departments of Gunnery and 
Seamanship. It has also been reported that a study of an existing 
missile system, preserved in an Army museum, saved the Strategic 
Defense Initiative $25 million in research and analysis costs. These 
museums serve as laboratories where engineers can learn from the 
lessons of the past without going through the same trial and error 
process as their predecessors.
  Yet without adequate funding, these benefits will be lost forever. 
According to a 1994 study conducted by the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation entitled, ``Defense Department Compliance with the 
National Historic Preservation Act,'' the Department of Defense's 
management of these resources has been mediocre, with the cause 
attributed to inadequate staffing and funding.
  More than 80 percent of the museums studied said their survival 
relies heavily on outside funding. When asked about their greatest 
needs, the response was nearly always staff and money. And those 
museums that reported sufficient staffing from volunteers nevertheless 
said that the dearth of funds for restoration and construction 
paralyzed them from fully utilizing the available labor.
  According to the study, money is so tight that brochures and 
pamphlets are often unaffordable, leaving visitors with no explanations 
about the objects they have come to see. A young child might be duly 
impressed by the sight of a stern-faced general, but the historical 
lesson is greatly diminished if the child is not told the significance 
of the event portrayed or why the general looked so grim that day.
  Perhaps most distressing, the study reported ``substantial 
collections of rare or unique historical military vehicles and 
equipment that are unmaintained and largely unprotected due to lack of 
funds and available expertise.'' In addition, the museums were found to 
be struggling so much with the care of items already in house, that 
they were unable to accept new ones. With a new class of military 
artifacts from the Vietnam and gulf wars soon to be retired, one 
wonders whether those artifacts will be preserved. If we do not take 
action to save what we have and acquire what we don't, future 
generations will see these pockets of negligence as blank pages in the 
living history books that these museums truly are.

  Only a Foundation can address these problems. The alternate 
solution--to press the services to devote more money to these 
institutions--is implausible in this budgetary climate. The Secretary 
of Defense must place his highest priority on the readiness of our 
forces. Closely allied to that priority is the effort to improve the 
quality of life for our citizens on active duty. And, as aging 
equipment faces obsolescence, the Secretary has indicated that the 
future will bring an increased emphasis on replacing weapons systems. 
By all realistic assumptions, the amount of funds appropriated for 
museums is likely to continue downward.
  My bill recognizes the growing need for a reliable source of funding 
aside from Federal appropriations. A National Military Museum 
Foundation would provide an accessible venue for individuals, 
corporations, or other private sources to support the preservation of 
our priceless military artifacts and records. A National Military 
Museum Foundation could also play an important role in surveying those 
artifacts that we know to exist. Currently, there is no museum 
oversight or coordination of museum activities on the DOD level. A 
wide-ranging Foundation survey would therefore not only eliminate 
duplication, but would most likely discover gaps in our collections 
that must filled before it is too late.
  Under the proposed legislation, the Secretary of Defense would 
appoint the Foundation's Board of Directors and provide basic 
administrative support. To launch the Foundation, the legislation 
authorizes an initial appropriation of $1 million. It is anticipated 
that the Foundation would be self sufficient after the first year. This 
is a small price to pay to save some of our most precious treasures.
  This legislation is modeled on legislation that established similar 
foundations, such as the National Park Foundation and the National Fish 
and Wildlife Foundation, both of which have succeeded in raising 
private-sector support for conservation programs. My bill is not 
intended to supplant existing Federal funding or other foundation 
efforts that may be underway, but rather to supplement those efforts.
  The premise for establishing a national foundation is, in part, to 
elevate the level of fundraising beyond the local level, supplementing 
those efforts by seeking donations from potentially large donors. I 
also want to emphasize the inclusiveness of the Foundation, which will 
represent all the branches of our armed services.
  Mr. President, statistics reveal that foundations established without 
the mandate of a Federal statute and the backing of an established 
agency seldom succeed. With ever-diminishing Federal funds, we cannot 
expect the Department to put our military museums ahead of national 
security. Truly, an outside source committed to sustaining our museums 
is imperative. I urge my colleagues to support this important 
legislation.
                                 ______