[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S5463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. NICKLES (for himself, and Mr. Inhofe):
  S. 871. A bill to establish the Oklahoma City National Memorial as a 
unit of the National Park System; to designate the Oklahoma City 
Memorial Trust, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.


              oklahoma city national memorial act of 1997

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
with Senator Inhofe to establish the Oklahoma City National Memorial 
and create the Oklahoma City Memorial Trust. The memorial will 
commemorate the national tragedy ingrained in all of our minds that 
occurred in downtown Oklahoma City at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, in 
which 168 Americans lost their lives and countless thousands more lost 
family members and friends.
  The Oklahoma City National Memorial, to be established as a unit of 
the National Park Service, will serve as a monument to those whose 
lives were taken and others will bear the physical and mental scars for 
the rest of their days. It will stand as a testament to the hope, 
generosity, and courage shown by Oklahomans and fellow Americans across 
the country following the Oklahoma City bombing. This will be a place 
of remembrance, peace, spirituality, comfort, and learning. The 
memorial complex will include a special place for children, 19 of whom 
were killed in the blast, to assure them that the world holds far more 
good than bad.
  The memorial site will encompass the footprint of the Alfred P. 
Murrah Federal Building, Fifth Street between Robinson and Harvey, the 
site of the Water Resources Building, and the Journal Record Building. 
Both Park Service and non-Park Service personnel will staff the 
memorial grounds and interpretive center on the site. The Memorial 
Trust, comprised of nine unpaid trustees, will administer the 
operation, maintenance, management, and interpretation of the memorial.
  While the thousands of family members and friends of those killed in 
the bombing will forever bear scars of having their loved ones taken 
away, the Oklahoma City National Memorial will revere the memory of 
those lost and venerate the bonds that drew us all closer together as a 
result.
  I welcome all Members to cosponsor this important piece of 
legislation.
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