[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 111 (Tuesday, September 19, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H7749-H7750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING NEED FOR CATALOGING AND MAINTAINING PUBLIC 
 MEMORIALS COMMEMORATING MILITARY CONFLICTS AND SERVICE OF INDIVIDUALS 
                            IN ARMED FORCES

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 345) expressing the sense of the 
Congress regarding the need for cataloging and maintaining public 
memorials commemorating military conflicts of the United States and the 
service of individuals in the Armed Forces.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 345

       Whereas there are many thousands of public memorials 
     scattered throughout the United States and abroad that 
     commemorate military conflicts of the United States and the 
     service of individuals in the Armed Forces;
       Whereas these memorials have never been comprehensively 
     cataloged;
       Whereas many of these memorials suffer from neglect and 
     disrepair, and many have been relocated or stored in 
     facilities where they are unavailable to the public and 
     subject to further neglect and damage;
       Whereas there exists a need to collect and centralize 
     information regarding the location, status, and description 
     of these memorials;
       Whereas the Federal Government maintains information on 
     memorials only if they are Federally funded; and
       Whereas Remembering Veterans Who Earned Their Stripes (a 
     nonprofit corporation established as RVETS, Inc. under the 
     laws of the State of Nevada) has undertaken a self-funded 
     program to catalogue the memorials located in the United 
     States that commemorate military conflicts of the United 
     States and the service of individuals in the Armed Forces, 
     and has already obtained information on more than 7,000 
     memorials in 50 States: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) the people of the United States owe a debt of gratitude 
     to veterans for their sacrifices in defending the Nation 
     during times of war and peace;
       (2) public memorials that commemorate military conflicts of 
     the United States and the service of individuals in the Armed 
     Forces should be maintained in good condition, so that future 
     generations may know of the burdens borne by these 
     individuals;
       (3) Federal, State, and local agencies responsible for the 
     construction and maintenance of these memorials should 
     cooperate in cataloging these memorials and providing the 
     resulting information to the Department of the Interior; and
       (4) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
     Director of the National Park Service, should--
       (A) collect and maintain information on public memorials 
     that commemorate military conflicts of the United States and 
     the service of individuals in the Armed Forces;
       (B) coordinate efforts at collecting and maintaining this 
     information with similar efforts by other entities, such as 
     Remembering Veterans Who Earned Their Stripes (a nonprofit 
     corporation established as RVETS, Inc. under the laws of the 
     State of Nevada); and
       (C) make this information available to the public.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H. Con. Res. 345 introduced by the gentleman rom California (Mr. 
Rogan)

[[Page H7750]]

addresses the need for a cataloged list of the many different public 
war memorials of the United States. Thousands of public memorials 
dealing with the United States' involvement in military conflicts exist 
throughout the world. However, there is no index or record as to their 
location nor is there a cataloged assessment as to their condition.
  Unfortunately, many of these memorials suffer from neglect, disrepair 
or have been relocated or stored in facilities where they are not 
accessible to the public.
  Currently, the Federal Government only keeps track of those memorials 
that are federally funded; however, nonprofit organizations such as 
Remembering Veterans Who Earned Their Stripes have undertaken self-
funded programs in an attempt to catalog these memorials.
  H. Con. Res. 345 urges the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
the National Park Service, to collect and maintain information on 
public memorials commemorating military conflicts of the United States. 
The resolution also urges a coordinated effort between the Federal 
Government and other organizations like Remembering Veterans Who Earned 
Their Stripes and collecting and maintaining this information which 
would then be available to the public.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation is ready to move forward, and I urge my 
colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 345.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rogan) a Member who is the author of 
this legislation.
  Mr. ROGAN. Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank my dear friend, the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen), the distinguished chairman, for 
yielding the time to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 345, which addresses 
the need to create a cataloged list of the thousands of public war 
memorials in the United States. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is the 
product of over a decade-long effort by Vietnam War veteran Brian 
Rooney and the nonprofit organization he founded, Remembering Veterans 
Who Earned Their Stripes, otherwise known as RVETS based in North 
Ridge, California.
  Mr. Rooney believed that war memorials preserve the memories of our 
veteran's sacrifices and serve as a reminder of America's history. He 
discovered that today there is no detailed index or record of the 
thousands of public memorials dedicated to America's involvement in 
military conflicts, more importantly, dedicated to those who gave their 
lives for freedom.
  Mr. Rooney investigated conditions for years. He found that these 
memorials suffer from neglect, disrepair and have been relocated or 
stored in facilities where they are not accessible to the public. 
Currently, the Federal Government monitors only those memorials that 
are federally funded. We have relied on the hard work of individuals 
like Mr. Rooney who have conducted this arduous task.
  H. Con. Res. 345 urges the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
the National Park Service, to collect and maintain information on 
public memorials commemorating military conflicts of the United States.
  It urges a coordinated effort between the Federal Government and 
other entities like RVETS in collecting and maintaining this 
information which would then be made available to the public. RVETS 
already has cataloged over 7,000 monuments. They already have done most 
of the work needed to establish the database.
  H. Con. Res. 345 is a bipartisan effort to honor our veterans. I want 
to thank Brian Rooney for his dedication not just to the country as a 
Vietnam war veteran, but for the decade he has spent conducting this 
search so that veterans could be honored.
  I understand, Mr. Speaker, that this morning there has been some 
partisan bickering going on with respect to some of these resolutions, 
but I would just urge all of my colleagues to put that aside today so 
that we can appropriately honor veterans who have served our country 
and who have given their life and service for our country, and vote to 
support this bipartisan resolution.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Gilman), the chairman of the Committee on International 
Relations.
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of H. 
Con. Res. 345, and I urge its adoption by the House, and I commend the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Rogan) for helping to bring this matter to the floor at this time.
  This legislation which urges the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Park Service, to gather and maintain information on public 
memorials commemorating U.S. military conflicts and to make that 
information available to the public, which will be very useful to the 
entire nation. It further urges that the Federal Government cooperate 
with private entities in accomplishing that important goal.
  Mr. Speaker, there are literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of 
memorials and monuments dedicated to our fighting men and women of our 
Nation's military. These include monuments commissioned and dedicated 
by the Federal Government, State governments and various localities. 
Over time, their number has grown to the point where it has become 
difficult to keep track of all of the monuments that are now in 
existence.
  This legislation will help simplify matters by requesting the 
Interior Department to initiate action to collect and disseminate 
information, a step they have undertaken on all of these monuments. The 
end result will be helpful to both tourists and researchers alike, but 
particularly to all of our veterans organizations.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to lend this bill their full 
support, and I thank the gentleman for yielding the time to me.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 345.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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